Ask a Local: Michigan

[Music] here in Michigan we often will talk about the state as being the mitten here is your mitten and here is Grand Rapids [Music] Grand Rapids is a very walkable city and a very community-oriented lace it's very family friendly is known for its design because it has a rich tradition of being furniture city a lot of that tradition and investment in design has really established Grand Rapids as a place that's interested in art and a part of that has now manifested itself as ArtPrize ArtPrize is this two and a half week event filled with art

from both local and international artists and art is everywhere like sometimes there's art in the river actually all the time there's art in the river furniture city is basically becoming veer City I have actually heard that there's more than 60 breweries here there's founders there's harmony elk brewing and Grand Rapids Brewing there's also new Pollan brewing you can visit them on what they call at the Ale there's also an excellent restaurant scene here there are a lot of foodies who are interested in having a really good meals with their beers so Michigan I'll be honest

with you it's cold like it's a really hope but that's why we have excellent beer because it keeps us warm and then in the summertime we have the beaches which is then why we have excellent beer because it keeps us cold [Music] the difference between Detroit and Michigan is that we're like the pretty cool cousin for the Motor City but we're also this place that is always inventing something new or the comeback kids and we have so much to show the glory of driving around Detroit is that you see the old merged with the new

Detroit has such a spirit of experimentation our art projects reflect our lives chef's started coming here for the same reason so we have all this great experimental food the first you have to koi Thai Street food spicy tasty delicious lady of the house you have to get the Parisian pan it's the best ham I've ever had the best Pam I've ever had okay and I don't even like him but we also have our traditional Detroit standbys so you have to go to Lafayette Coney on Vicki's barbecue where you're gonna get your down-home barbecue try the

barbecue shrimp of course the Motor City is also the Music City we invented Motown and techno you have to listen to music while you're here Ravens lounge live music usually the Blues Motor City wine usually has the Jasmine inside and the DJ outside old Miami old Miami is another staple you're always gonna see the locals there they're always gonna have great techno you're always gonna want to dance these aren't the kind of places where there's coat-check and you wear your heels you're look if you're a real big fan of techno you have to go to

Detroit electronic music festival also known as movement three days of dancing around Memorial Day weekend one of my favorite things about Detroit is that in an hour drive maybe two I can be in the middle of nowhere can be next to water it can be next woods there's all these places to explore and it's very outdoorsy so we're located along the lake shore of Lake Michigan on the wheel and off Peninsula Michigan is known for its four seasons in the springtime we have mushroom hunting also the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes is a great place to

visit it was voted the most beautiful place in America summertime people are here camping for those more adventurous you can take a ferry from Leland to north manitou island where you can remote camp during the summer the various tribal communities host pow wows which are social and cultural gatherings there's also artists with crafts and you can try the local native foods in October when the leaves are changing the color tour is a big event people come from all over to come and see the colors change and against the water it's really a beautiful sight and

the wintertime we have a lot of great things you can do in fact we are known for cross-country ski race called avasta and where people come from all over the world to participate so here on the leona peninsula there's famous state road called m22 it's really a great time and a beautiful drive taking in everything you see whether - trail or visiting the shops or restaurants the village chief shanty otherwise known as the Chi shop in a fish town is a great place to get sandwiches but you need to get there early because the pretzel

bread goes quick this part of Michigan is becoming known for the vineyards and the micro breweries you got to stop in and have a glass of local wine you know when you talk to someone that isn't from here and then they just say to you do you know how lucky you are at some point you kind of take a look at it and go yet we really are it's a really beautiful place [Music] you