Watching the Water, photo by derekspacelewis.
I can have 2 photos of the most beautiful place in America in a week, right?
Check it out background big and in Derek’s Sleeping Bear Dunes slideshow.
Michigan’s Sleeping Bear Dunes is the most beautiful place in (Good Morning) America!
Please Just Come, photo by Happyhiker4
On Leelanau.com yesterday, I reported that the Sleeping Bear Dunes have been named the most beautiful place in America by the viewers of Good Morning America.
Today I’ve been reading here and there of folks who are wondering if in fact the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore deserves that distinction. They say a picture is worth a thousand words, so here’s 1600+ pictures of the Sleeping Bear Dunes from the Absolute Michigan pool on Flickr. Even better, here’s the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore homepage – take a trip and decide for yourself!
One of my favorite photographers who shoots in the dunes is Mark Lindsay. See this photo bigger and also in his Dunes slideshow.
Sunset for Fishing on the Great Lakes?
Fishing, photo by kevindooley.
On this photo Kevin writes:
I think one of our best indicators of the planet’s health is the price of a fish sandwich. Notice how much the price has gone up in last 5 years? It’s because we’re depleting our fisheries.
Seems to me an Earth without fish is not a good sign.
Here in the Great Lakes we are waging a desperate battle against invasive species including Asian Carp and zebra & quagga mussels. Today on Absolute Michigan I featured a sobering article about how we are losing the battle to control sea lamprey, a longtime invasive that we once had under control due to funding cuts that are projected to get even worse in the years to come. Click through to check it out and to go up close with the US Fish & Wildlife Service’s lamprey control efforts via Michigan Radio and also Mike Rowe of Dirty Jobs.
View this big as the Great Lakes and in Kevin’s Lake Michigan Sunsets slideshow.
USCGC Mackinaw at the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival
USCGC Mackinaw, photo by loomisman.
The Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival (July 29 – August 7, 2011) has been held every year in Grand Haven. It features a parade of ships and a couple street parades, music, carnival, fireworks and all kinds of events and exhibits about the history of the United States Coast Guard. They explain:
The festival unofficially began in 1924 as a Coast Guard personnel only picnic when the local Coast Guard station held rowing competitions for those service members stationed in Grand Haven. Today the Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival has become a premier event with attendance of over 350,000 people including the nations highest ranking Coast Guard dignitaries from Washington, D.C.
The focus of the annual Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival is the National Coast Guard Memorial Service honoring those who sacrificed their lives in the service of their country while fulfilling their motto “SEMPER PARATUS” (“Always Ready”). Each year since the first picnic in 1924 and the first festival in 1937, we have celebrated our heroes, the men and women of the United States Coast Guard with fun filled family events at the annual Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival. Grand Haven is honored by its designation as “Coast Guard City, USA” by an Act of Congress and signed by the President of the United States on November 13th, 1998.
Check this out bigger in in Drew’s Grand Haven Coast Guard Festival slideshow.
Michigan in Pictures has more about the US Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw.
Sunset over Cecil Bay
Wilderness State Park, MI, photo by Matthew Hart Photography.
Check this out background big and in Matthew’s Mackinac/Wilderness State Park slideshow.
More black & white photography on Michigan in Pictures.
St. Joseph Lighthouse
St. Joseph Lighthouses, photo by KentV999.
The page on the St. Joseph Pier Lights from Terry Pepper’s Seeing the Light says that while the first lighthouse in St. Joseph is thought to be in the home of Captain Pickering in 1832, where the family put lanterns in their windows so ships would know where the entrance to the St. Joseph River was located:
St. Joseph’s first Federal lighthouse was constructed in 1859 on the hill above the harbor, and served the area until 1906 when the north pier was extended 1,000 feet, and the cast iron pier head light installed.
…The inner pier light was built in 1907, to serve as a rear range for the existing pierhead tower, allowing vessels to line up accurately on the channel from far out in the Lake. Over a a steel frame, the structure was encased in 3/8 inch steel plates. Twenty-six feet square, the building was capped by an octagonal cast iron lantern room, and equipped with a Fourth Order lens manufactured by Chance Brothers of Birmingham, England. At some point thereafter, this lens was removed from the tower, to be replaced by a Fourth Order Fresnel lens manufactured by Sautter & Cie, of Paris, the lens that remains in the tower to this day.
Check it out on black and in Kent’s St. Joseph MI slideshow.
To beat the heat, check out the St. Joseph Lighthouse slideshow from the Absolute Michigan group on Flickr which features a lot of wintertime shots!
Surf Michigan!
Surf_3883, photo by ON THE MOON STUDIO.
The Great Lakes are receiving more and more attention as a surfing destination, and hot spots like Frankfort, Marquette and Grand Haven (where this kiteboarder is tearing it up) are becoming destinations for kayakers, surfers, paddle boarders and kite boarders.
We have some great videos at Michigan: Great Lakes Surfing Capital on Absolute Michigan. See more surfing on Michigan in Pictures. There’s also Northern Michigan Surf on Facebook and in the Surfing slideshow from the Absolute Michigan pool!
Check this out background big and see more in Paul’s slideshow.
North light
North light, photo by R.J.E..
June in Ludington. More about the North Pier Light (a wintry view at that).
Don’t miss the Michigan June Calendar on Absolute Michigan. Lots of fun stuff to do when you’re not soaking up a Michigan sunset!
Check it out bigger and on the map. More from R.J.E. on Michigan in Pictures.
And yes, we have sunsets.
Catching a wave to the Petoskey Stone Festival
petoskey stone in surf, photo by northernlightphotograph.
The 6th annual Antrim County Petoskey Stone Festival takes place on May 28, 2011 in Barnes Park in Eastport. The Petoskey Stone is of course Michigan’s state stone.
Almost a century after the founding of Petoskey, on June 28, 1965, Governor George Romney signed a bill that made the Petoskey Stone Michigan’s official State Stone. It was fitting that Miss Ella Jane Petoskey, the only living grand-child of Chief Petosegay, was present at the formal signing. The legislation is very general. The bill simply states that the Petoskey Stone is the State Stone. The designation of Hexagonariapercarinata was made by Dr. Edwin C. Stumm in 1969. Dr. Stumm made this distinction based on his extensive knowledge of fossils.
This specific fossil coral is found only in the rock strata known as the Alpena Limestone. The Alpena Limestone is part of the Traverse Group of Devonian age. The Alpena Limestone is a mixture of limestones and shales. The outcrops of these rocks are restricted to the Little Traverse Bay area near Petoskey.
Check this out bigger and in Tim’s slideshow. See more of Tim’s photos on Michigan in Pictures.
You can read the story behind the Petoskey name on Michigan in Pictures (and learn about the little known holiday “Throw in a Petoskey Stone Day”).
May is Blossom Time in Michigan!
Traverse MI 1950s East Grand Travese Bay Cherry Blossoms Photo by Phil Balyeat Avery Card 58253 S1155661 National Cherry Festival Postmark 1961, photo by UpNorth Memories – Donald (Don) Harrison.
The annual National Cherry Festival got its start around 1910, as cherry growers in the Grand Traverse area began to hold informal “blessing of the blossoms” ceremonies each year at blossom time in May. Businesses jumped on the bandwagon (cherry truck?) in 1925 for the formalized “Blessing of the Blossoms Festival” which was such a big deal that in 1930 they expanded to 3 days and in 1930 President Herbert Hoover attended the opening. The next year the Cherry Festival was declared a national affair and in 1933 they moved it to summer.
Although it’s now a summertime affair (July 2-9, 2011), the wineries on the Old Mission Peninsula hold an annual Blossom Days celebration (May 14 & 15 this year). My informal read of the cherry blossoms here says that tart cherry blossoms will be in full swing with sweets kicking off.
Apparently in 1906 there was some sort of spiritual attraction of orchards, because to the south in Benton Harbor, the Reverend W. J. Cady of the First Congregational Church in Benton Harbor was the first to urge his parishioners to drive through the orchards and view the fruit blossoms. Cady termed them “symbols of life renewed” and his sermon is credited with the birth of the Blossomtime Festival. Now the Blossomtime Festival in St. Joseph/Benton Harbor is shared between the oldest and largest multi-community festival in the state of Michigan. Join them this Saturday (May 7) for the Grand Floral Parade and more!
Check this photo out big as a cherry orchard, in Don’s slideshow and see another cool old orchard photo right here.
Michigan in Pictures 