031926 ~ Spring Into Spring! - Nick Nerbonne

Earlier this week, the Mackinac bridge was closed.

People were sending in videos showing not inches of snow,

but feet of snow up in the upper peninsula.

Those are hardy people up there.

As for those of us down here,

what do they call us? The trolls?

Yeah.

The trolls.

We are looking ahead to spring.

Spring is going to spring this coming Friday.

Joining us to talk about all of this is Nick Nerbin from Travel Michigan

on our pure Michigan moment.

How very different of a life do they live up in the upper peninsula, Nick?

The U.P. is a special place for so many different reasons.

The amount of history up there,

the different cultures from all around the world that have helped settle and develop

the upper peninsula, the natural resources up there.

913 miles of Lake Superior shoreline.

So many wonderful things to do and see in the upper peninsula.

Personally, the snow is one of my favorite things about the upper peninsula.

I love that snow.

I wish I would have been up in the U.P.

Saturday through about Tuesday or Wednesday,

so I could have been part of all of that snow.

It at least looked incredible.

Oh my goodness.

You have to love snow to love that.

But you do point out a lot of great things about Michigan's upper peninsula.

And it all starts with those resources.

The natural resources they have up there.

It is glorious, isn't it?

Well, I would love to just point one thing out that happened earlier this week.

I saw where the Q and O peninsula announced they had surpassed 300 inches of snowfall for the season.

We two, you know, four skiers and snowmobiles

and people who like to enjoy winter recreation.

That's great news.

That means there's great conditions and plenty of snow to enjoy them.

And then about two days later,

Jackson Hole Wyoming said,

we've passed 300 inches of snow for the year.

So if you think about that,

we're the T-tons and Jackson Hole,

a destination known around the world for its skiing and snowboarding and so forth.

The Q and O announced 300 inches before Jackson Hole.

So in Michigan, we have truly four season experiences

that are incredibly unique.

And now you want to talk about the U.P.

and then spring officially arriving this Friday,

tomorrow at 1046 AM.

Waterfalls.

We have over 300 waterfalls across the upper peninsula.

And with all that snowfall,

they should be spectacular this year.

Oh, that's a really good point.

So we've got your Michigan Spring bucket list.

Michigan officially arrives at 1046 AM Friday.

Nick Durbin, media and digital director with travel Michigan

from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

Here on the Lucian Lance Show, 1290 WLBY.

So let's look ahead to warmer weather

and what we can do in Michigan.

And we'll start with those waterfalls, right?

Oh, 300 waterfalls across the upper peninsula,

including Tequaminon Falls,

which is the second largest waterfall by volume,

east of the Mississippi.

And so you can begin with the largest Tequaminon Falls.

But there are so many unique hidden gems throughout the upper peninsula.

You know, some of the more popular and accessible waterfalls

like Canyon Falls, it's right off of the highway 41

as you're heading from Nagani near Marquette

up into the Keywood and Up Peninsula.

And it's part of kind of a local county park

where there's a trail that you walk back

into what they call the Grand Canyon of the Upper Peninsula.

So during the spring, you know,

what's that trail falls out?

And you know, you might want to bring your boots

because it might be a little muddy and damp for a little while.

But as the trails dry out in the upper peninsula,

places like Canyon Falls, they're absolutely gorgeous.

And you know, laughing white fish falls,

another one with a short hike down into the waterfalls.

But then up in pictured rocks, national lakeshore,

chapel falls, munishing falls,

some way unique waterfalls across the UP.

Did you call them laughing?

Laughing white fish falls is another unique waterfall

where it's interesting because it's got these kind of rocky ridges

throughout as it falls at the water cascades down

from a top of a cliff.

So I don't know why they call it laughing white fish,

you know, but it kind of almost gives you that impression

with that the sound of the water fluttering down

those ridges and cliffs that maybe there's some white fish

laughing through.

Oh, wow, that is cool.

I've not heard that before.

Let's keep on the water theme and we're going to go

paddling next.

So there are really unique water trails,

including the here on River Water Trail

that passes through Washington County and into Ann Arbor.

And then also up north, the chain of lakes water trail,

which is passes from Antrim County down through Torch Lake

and a bunch of different lakes throughout that region.

Those water trails are designed to explore

not just, okay, here's a lake or here's a river.

What they do is they connect communities.

Like, for example, you can paddle from Ellsworth all the way

down to Elk Rapids on the chain of lakes water trail.

And then with the here on River Water Trail

from Milford all the way down into Ann Arbor.

So some really unique paddling experiences.

All right, now don't laugh at me, okay.

It's been a long time since I was in a canoe.

When you go down the river, so you're going with the flow

of the river, right?

Yes.

How do you get back up again?

Well, a lot of these outfitters, what they do is they spot a car.

So they will help you drop your car off at the end point

where you'll be taking off when you're taking out of the water.

And then they have shuttle vans and other vehicles

that take you back to where you put in.

Yeah.

And then when you float down your cars already there,

they take care of the canoes and kayaks for you

or tubes, whatever vehicle that are vessels

that you're floating down the river in.

Wow.

And so that's part of the experience.

Like on the flat river up near Traverse City,

I've paddled it many, many times.

We have our own kayaks and we paddle a lot on our own.

So we have a vehicle that carries the kayaks.

And we drop the kayaks off at the put in point,

then we drive down and drop off that vehicle at the end

and then come back, hop in the boats and paddle down.

And there you go.

So it's not physically possible to canoe back up the river

that doesn't happen?

I think in some cases it might be.

Like a larger river, like the Grand River

and those kinds of places where it's a slower current,

you would have to be in pretty good shape

because it's a lot of energy,

expended paddling against the current river.

But I think it is traditional when it is a flowing river

that you'll be taking out and then having a vehicle

so that you would get a shuttle back to the beginning

or however that works.

Because I think with lakes, that's one of the great things

about it is you don't have to do that.

You can put in a one spot, paddle around and explore,

like some of the pictured rocks experiences

that they take you out there by a boat

with the kayaks in the big large boat.

Drop you off, get you out there with your guide

and off you go exploring.

Wow, you are so active.

I can't get over everything you do.

You're amazing.

Michigan has some of the most amazing

for four seasons recreation in the country.

We have someone like just talking about paddling something

that's the diverse experiences from the here on Riverwater

trail to pictured rocks.

That's all in one state.

We have so many wonderful recreation opportunities

and I'd love to enjoy them.

You are amazing.

All right, so Nick, let's go now on a bike.

Where can we take our bikes?

Well, so on the trip, Riverwater, it's incredible resource

and now with the new park opening up heading south

from the downtown area toward the Gordi Hal Bridge,

there is going to be nearly five miles

of connected river walk, paved sidewalk,

it's going to be incredible.

So you can ride from Park Plaza or from wherever you are

and downtown Detroit all the way up to Belle Isle

to go across the bridge and offer on to Belle Isle

if you want to do that.

You can explore up and down the Detroit River

front, stop at a cafe, grab a cappuccino.

If the kids are with you, ride the carousel.

It's a truly a destination for enjoying those experiences.

Oh, how fun.

All right, next is one of my favorites

and that's watching a sunrise on Michigan's sunrise side.

Well, they call it the sunrise side

because you're looking east along the east coast

of the lower peninsula along the lake here on shoreline.

And this is actually one of my favorite things to do.

You know, I love watching the sunrise.

It's my favorite time of the day.

You know, sometimes it can be a little painful

if you have to get up at 5.30 in the morning

and the mids, the sun comes up really early.

But the still and tranquility in peace

that you get watching the sunrise,

especially over a great lake, like Lake Huron,

there's so many wonderful destinations from Port Huron

up to the tip of the thumb in Port Austin.

One of my favorites is Tawas Point State Park

over there on their east Tawas

and then heading up the coastline

to Ascoda, Alpina, Alpina.

So many beautiful places to enjoy the sunrise side.

Taka and Nick Nurbin from Travel Michigan,

the Peer Michigan folks,

about his Michigan Spring bucket list.

And I hope many of our listeners

are gonna incorporate these items into their own list

because you're gonna have so much fun around our great state.

I want to ask you a question now.

Another dumb question.

They say there are no dumb questions.

The sand dunes, they're only on the west side of the state.

There are dunes throughout the state.

And you know, there are even dunes

in the middle of the state, believe it or not.

Oh, and those are from ancient dunes

from the ancient lake that once covered most of the state.

And so there are dunes that are throughout the state,

but I think for the larger dunes that we picture

as what are the sand dunes in Michigan?

Yeah, on the lower peninsula,

those are typically found along the west side of the state

because the prevailing winds

and the way the glacial marines set up.

But the grand sable dunes,

we can do an entire segment on the grand sable dunes,

which are located at picture rocks, national lakeshore.

They're also over 300 foot tall.

They look like the sleeping bear dunes in some ways,

in terms of like a very tall, expansive,

duned complex along the shore of Lake Superior.

So we have many wonderful dunes,

including the silver lake sand dunes,

which are over in kind of the western part of the state

between Luttington, down south of Pentwater

and Muskegon and Whitehall.

They have ORVs available.

It's the only dune in Michigan

where motorized vehicles are allowed to be out on the dunes.

They have a special season for it,

begins April 1st and they're actually outfitters

where you can rent an ORV and go out there

with appropriate safety precautions and helmets

and whatever, they have them all available there.

And I've done this.

I've rented an ORV and it was a four-seater.

So I had people with me and we went up

and went all up and down the dunes.

They have special directions where they tell you

which way you have to go up or down

and you can drive right out to Lake Michigan.

And stand there on the beach.

It is a really neat experience.

Oh, that's incredible.

I didn't know that about all the dunes,

especially the one in the middle of the state

you were talking about, the ancient one.

Yeah, there are dunes over,

even just north of Mount Pleasant

where I went to high school,

just along the US 127 that goes up the middle of the lower

peninsula, you can see dunes

along the side of the highway as you're driving.

You're like, yeah, that is a sand dunes.

So it is very interesting how the dunes

have proliflated across the state.

Incredible.

Next is to watch for a certain kind of flower

on the hill sides around Michigan.

What is that?

I lived in Traverse City for almost 20 years

and one of my favorite spring activities

was to go out and hike the trails

out at Slivenberg Dunes National Lakeshore

as the trilliums began to bloom.

And this is really in some time in May,

you know, you've got the Morales season

that begins in late April, early May.

And then as we progress further into the month of May,

the temperatures warm up a little warmer,

the days get a little bit longer.

Some of the wildflowers begin to bloom

the trillium and the way that it grows,

it kind of occupies one larger area

and kind of grows throughout that area.

There's an area on Peerwood Point Trail

in Slivenberg Dunes National Lakeshore near Glen Arbor

in which the entire hillside,

I'm talking acres of white trillium blooms.

If you get there during the right three or four day period

when they're all in bloom,

you can get some incredible photos

of the trilliums across the entire hillside.

And I understand it is illegal to pick trillium

on public land in Michigan, Nick.

Yeah, it is a protected species of flower for that reason.

And we definitely advise, please leave those

for everyone to enjoy.

So you're looking for the three paddled white flower.

It does fade though to like a pink purple flower later.

You'll see different colors of trillium.

The white is the dominant color,

but you'll see the pink.

And there's even the rare species of trillium

where there's a green streak in the middle of the blossom.

So it's like a green and white blossom.

So yeah, there are some different looks

to the flowers on the trillium,

but the beautiful white trillium is one of my favorites.

That must be stunning to see just acres

of them all together.

What is that?

It's spectacular.

I've stumbled upon them,

even down in Southern Michigan.

There's a trail that I hike just south east

of Grand Rapids where I live.

And the trilliums are out there too.

So they're across the state.

And also I know in Ann Arbor at the Farm Park

over there, east of downtown,

down in that area, along Washington,

on Boulevard, there are trillium that bloom there.

So you can go find them there too.

I did not know that the County Farm Park is beautiful.

Okay, so that's number six on your list

to capture photos of a hillside covered

and Michigan trilliums in bloom.

Our final point today is to visit something

that a lot of us never get a chance to see or go into.

Well, we've talked about Lake Huron and the Sunrise side.

They have some of the more unique lighthouses

across the state and Port Huron,

the Fort Graschot Lighthouses,

the oldest lighthouse in Michigan.

And I mentioned Thomas Point.

It's such a unique lighthouse

because when they built it 100 plus years ago,

they built a lighthouse at the end of the point.

And this natural isthmus that is being formed

that comes out of the shore from Lake Huron

into Thomas Bay.

It basically forms Thomas Bay.

It is constantly growing and still is to this day.

The sand and erosion wave action is growing.

And within about 25 years,

the lighthouse was a half mile off of shore.

So they had to build a new lighthouse.

And currently they have the second lighthouse

is when you see all the photos.

And then the true navigational beacon

is actually at the end of the point,

which is a more of a temporary structure.

It's a metal structure that can be relocated if needed

because it's a unique story about Great Lakes lighthouses.

But of course, over where I live on the west side of the state,

Holland, Grand Haven, St. Joe,

so many gorgeous lighthouses

and then up in the upper peninsula too.

Spectacularizes like Eagle Harbor

and the Q&A peninsula.

We have the most lighthouses of any state,

so plenty to choose from.

And you can go up in some of them, right?

There are many like Point Betsy up near Benzie

in Benzie County, west of Traverse City

and you're sleeping bare dunes.

They have a friends group,

the friends of the Point Betsy lighthouse

that operates public hours,

mostly during the summer month,

between Memorial Day and Labor Day,

where they give tours.

And you can go up in the tower

and see the for now lens,

see what the lighthouse keeper,

the view that they used to see from up there.

When it was manned by a full-time lighthouse keeper.

And so yeah, there are several that offer tours.

I know that little sable point over there

by Silver Lake Sand dunes also offers tours.

Incredible, thank you so much.

This is a wonderful spring bucket list, Nick.

And I hope everyone gets a chance to check off

all of those boxes.

Your trip begins where?

At Michigan.org.

Michigan.org is where it starts.

Get on that site and check it out

and plan your next trip around the great state

of Michigan.

Our thanks to Nick Nurbin,

median digital director with travel Michigan,

the folks behind the pure Michigan campaign.

He's on the area each week right here

on Ann Arbor's talk station, 1290 WLBY.