ethnic oddities 4 T

[Sapphire]

Alright, no picking on Frankenmuth. LOL

It's a popular Michigan weekend vacation spot - we've been up there a few times, mostly to buy the cheese, summer sausage and a family-style chicken dinner at Zehnder's, which is actually really good. The chicken is tasty, the food that comes with the chicken is better.

The Christmas crap store Jack referred to is called Bronners. Unfortunately, I have to agree with Jack's assessment - most of what they sell IS crap, or at least extremely ugly. I've bought one ornament there - a custom one for my husband and I with our names/wedding date on it. Otherwise, I only go in there when out-of-town relatives force me. LOL

Frankenmuth is only about 2 hours from us - we'll occasionally go there on a Sunday morning, wander around, buy cheese and sausage, have dinner and then hang out for the nightly laser shows. It's a nice day trip for us. But it's definitely a tourist trap - most anything you can buy there/do there can be bought/done elsewhere for less.

Thing is, so many people flock there thinking it's "the best Michigan has to offer," because nearly everyone on the planet equates ALL of Michigan with Detroit. When we travel to Europe, we don't tell people we're from Detroit - they rush to get away from us as soon as possible. LOL

The reality is, most of Michigan is an incredibly beautiful state. Southeastern Michigan is mostly industry - automotive and such - but that's a very small corner of our state. We have thousands of square miles of nearly untouched forests, rolling hills, lakes that are larger than most seas, and even a few mini-mountains in our Upper Penninsula. The boating and sailing here is wonderful - you can sail for days on our lakes and never see land or another person. We also have beautiful islands to visit, along with some of the best cross-country skiing you'll find. Granted, downhill skiing is pretty pathetic here - we don't have huge mountains like Colorado or Switzerland - but if you enjoy cross-country skiing and winter camping like we do, Michigan is the place to be.

Sorry, I know I'm off on a tangent. I'm a Michigan transplant and used to be really critical of Michigan, thinking the whole state was like the Southeastern corner where I live. I've learned better over the years and really hope others will take the time to discover some of what we have to offer.