Hello Michigan Folks- I just wanted to say that you folks have a very beautiful state.  I've spent the last 3 days in northwest Michigan for a family reunion in the Petoskey/Charlevoix area.  The family certainly enjoyed the views...

Today we visited Mackinac Island and wished we had more time to spend taking in all of the sights.  Tomorrow we'll be returning to the Lone Star State; I'm thinking maybe I'll retire up here, the only thing is my wife can't stand the cold.  So, I say, 'Two Thumbs Up!'

P.S., I really enjoyed going into public venues and NOT seeing gang graffiti, thugs and 'bangers.  Maybe I was not looking in the right spots, but since I'm a LEO, I'm usually quick to pick up on the indicaters.

Northern lower MI and the UP is definitely a wonderful place to be.  I have family in the Petoskey, Travers City area and I love getting away from the shit hole lower part of the state to relax and unwind.  Every time I go up (usually twice a year) I say to the wife that I want to stay up there and never go back home.  

Just one bit of advice.  Before you retire to "up here", come and stay for a week or two sometime between the last of January through mid March.  It gets damn cold and a ton of snow everywhere.  It could be a big culture shock for you and your wife.  (since you said that she "can't stand the cold")

There are plenty of bad places in MI, Detroit for one.
That's the kind of place where you keep your doors locked, drive real fast, and keep your hand on your gun.

Where I live is pretty safe, but were are surrounded by three very large, and very violent citys. You almost have to drive right through Hastings, to get from one to the other. So I carry a gun everyday.

SE Michigan would be the sweaty, stinky area between the ball sack and the pucker hole, if you were comparing parts of the state to parts of the body.

Good advice about staying during the winter months; on our trip to Harbor Springs, we passed a sign that said Nub's Nob.  Later that day I saw a brochure depicting that same sign, only it was covered in snow.  Yup, I bet it really gets deep in them thar parts.

Beautiful countrysides...

Culture shock?  Hell, I'm still trying to adjust to a 'grinder' and 'pop'!

I'm hoping the UP doesn't turn into a suburb by the time I retire.  The energy policy and global warming will take care of the winters, though I enjoyed them in the 90's

Speaking of adjustment, just wait till we try to feed you chili with beans in it.  I personally like mine without, but finding it that way is about impossible.  Fresh water fish RULE.  Pasties are good too with or without rutabega.  Hmmm must be hungry this morning.  

Thanks for the kind words about our state.  Feel free to bring your law makers when you return.

Isn't that called 'soup'?

Quoted:

Pasties are good too

We passed by a couple of shops that had this advertised; I pointed it out to my wife & she cracked up laughing.  We both agreed that we didn't know that they were edible

I'm guessing that 'pasties' are what we call pastries?

ETA: NO! I will not bring up any of my law makers to that pristine spot in Michigan!  They'll get up there and start crapping on everything like they're doing down here in Austin!!!!!

Nope,  pasties misspelled at pastries?!!!!!  Pure blasphemy.    "pasties" are a cornish "meat-pie" kind of food thing found pretty much only in northern Michigan.  Pronounced "pass-tee" not "pay-stee" ( like the things strippers put over their nipples).
Pasties are what the old U.P. miners would take to work with them for lunch in the iron/copper mines.  Pasties are gooooooood eatin'. Period.  
 You and the misses missed out on a great meal when you passed up the pastie shops.


"Made originally as a meal for the miners of Cornwall, England, Pasties date back about 800 years. Wives would bake meat and vegetables in a crust and wrap it in many layers of linens or newspapers for their husband's lunch. It provided a warm and filling meal in the cold, damp mines. Pasties arrived in Michigan over 150 years ago with immigrants who came to work in the iron and copper mines in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The Pastie provided a hot and nutritious meal that had good holding capacity and could be eaten anywhere. This full-bodied flavor soon became a favorite with locals and visitors alike. A trip to Northern Michigan is not complete without a Pastie."

 Shame on you!  next time you're here you damn well better get some pasties.

Got kinda old when it was pastie day in the cafeteria.  Especially when all I was hoping for was a grilled mozz and about 6 glasses of whatever (read Sat/Sun mornings ).

Quoted:

Shame on you! next time you're here you damn well better get some pasties.

Thanks for the history and culture lesson.  This way I won't sound so durn provincial when I order a Pastie...I will damn well try some.  While I'm at it, I'm gonna eat another grinder and hit the Big Boy restaurant again.  My grandkids loved it.  It gave them a greater appreciation of the Austin Powers movie that featured a Big Boy blasting off into outer space.

So they are screwing up in Austin to eh?  Ok you can keep'm.

I grew up in the UP in a small town near Michigan Tech University.  Pasties were a staple in my diet growing up.  Every time I go back up there, I bring a couple dozen back down.  I have to get my wife to learn how to make some.  I wish I could find a similiarly paying job up there.  If I could, I'd kiss the armpit of MI goodbye.

Before you retire here come visit for a week or two in Late January / Early February.  The Traverse Bay area gets a LOT of snow, and it gets pretty cold also.  The UP gets colder, and even more snow if you are in the right places.

It's not the cold that sucks, it's the damn black flies

I couldn't help but notice the traffic regulatory signs with the snowmobile on it.  Also interesting were the signs indicating snow parks up the hills from the banks of the lake on US 31.

Quoted: I grew up in the UP in a small town near Michigan Tech University.  Pasties were a staple in my diet growing up.  Every time I go back up there, I bring a couple dozen back down.  I have to get my wife to learn how to make some.  I wish I could find a similiarly paying job up there.  If I could, I'd kiss the armpit of MI goodbye.

Ah, now it's coming together.  I was wondering where the common sense came from!  Sad thing is I could make comparable money in MQT, but I'm not ready to hunker down quite yet.  

Cjklekar

Yep you are right it is a very nice place to visit and even a better place to Live, I have lived here all my life. The southern part is in places a lot rougher. But for the most part very nice. Just stay north of Saginaw and you are in heaven all the time, glad you enjoyed it.    

I like Michigan very much.  I went up to Sawyer to the Warren Dunes State Park to the beach with my sister a few weeks ago and had a great time!

Quoted: I grew up in the UP in a small town near Michigan Tech University.  Pasties were a staple in my diet growing up.  Every time I go back up there, I bring a couple dozen back down.  I have to get my wife to learn how to make some.  I wish I could find a similiarly paying job up there.  If I could, I'd kiss the armpit of MI goodbye.

Pasties or pastries? BIG difference!