This summer, enjoy the three C’s of Michigan

Cars: For car enthusiasts and history lovers alike, a trip to Michigan would not be complete without a stop in Dearborn. The city’s rich automotive history comes from it being the home of one of the great American car companies, Ford. Visitors can tour both the Ford River Rouge Factory and the Henry Ford Museum. The museum features many of the vehicles that have made American history, from the first Model T to Kennedy’s Presidential limousine to the bus where Rosa Parks was arrested and even the Oscar Meyer Wienermobile. You can also see other important artifacts, such as the Ford Theatre chair in which Lincoln was assassinated, and Thomas Edison’s laboratory. The Ford Museum, known as the largest indoor-outdoor history museum, has an outdoor complex called Greenfield Village. The village features nearly one hundred historical buildings that were removed from their original locations. Since the village houses buildings from the seventeenth century to the present, its intent is to show how Americans lived and worked since the founding of the country. Staffers in each of the buildings dress in period costume and demonstrate activities such as glass blowing, pottery and metalwork. A guide will also take you around the village in a vintage Ford Model T. For more details about the museum, visit thehenryford.org.  

If you’re not a fan of period costume and old-time activities, but still want to get up close and personal to a true American craft, consider taking a tour of the Ford River Rouge Plant. Tours of the plant, which leave from the museum, take you behind the scenes of how Ford autos are assembled from start to finish. This industrial complex has been where Ford has built cars since its Model A beginnings. Just as Ford has truly evolved the automobile industry, so does the plant continue to evolve itself: several buildings have converted into “green structures,” meaning they operate in environmentally-friendly conditions. Fittingly, the plant became a National Historic Landmark in 1978.   

Cherries: About four hours from Dearborn, and in the northern part of the state, lies Traverse City, known as the Cherry Capital of the World. Its National Cherry Festival is held every year in the first full week of July (this year, the dates are July 3-10). The festival includes activities such as music shows, wine tastings, and of course lots of eating (cherries and other foods, too). Since the festival has over the years crowned a Cherry Queen, and has the Guinness World Record for baking the largest cherry pie (17 feet, 6 inches, 28,350 pounds in 1990), it promises a cherry good time! Visit cherryfestival.org for more information about this year’s festival.  

If you happen to visit Traverse City later in July, you will miss the cherries, but you can enjoy the Traverse City Film Festival. Now its sixth year, this festival (to be held July 28-Aug. 1 this year) is run by documentary filmmaker and Traverse City resident, Michael Moore (of “Fahrenheit 9/11” fame). Though Traverse City may not seem like a place as recognizable as Tribeca in New York to hold a film festival, it is not stopped from being diverse in the range of films it shows. According to the festival’s website, the one in 2009 screened films from 30 countries located in five continents. It is also worth mentioning that free screenings of classic movies such as “The Goonies” that are projected onto an inflatable screen on the bay have drawn crowds as large as 12,000. Further information on the film festival can be found at traversecityfilmfest.org.  

Carriages: Even further north in the state is Mackinac Island (pronounced Mak-in-aw), a truly unique place that can only be reached by “mainlanders” by ferry and its roads can only be traversed on foot, bicycle, or horse-drawn carriage. That’s right, unlike its fellow Michigan city Dearborn, there are no cars—or virtually any other motor vehicles—allowed on the island. However, the unusual modes of transportation make visiting the island all the more fun. You can take an eight-mile bike ride along the island’s outer perimeter, or sit back and let the horses take you from one destination to the other through private or group carriage tours. The carriages even act like taxis (for a fare price) or even whisk a bride and groom away to their honeymoon suite after their island wedding (mict.com has all of the information on carriage services). No matter which way you choose to travel, make sure you’re able to take in all of the island’s features, such as the elegant shops and galleries filled with one-of-a-kind art pieces, the breathtaking architecture of the buildings, such as the Victorian-style Grand Hotel, and for something sweet, one of the many Mackinac fudge shoppes (with some confectioners having been in business for decades). This is one island you’d be happy to get lost in.

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