Pure Michigan Connect - Michigan's Travel and Tourism Blog

Pure Michigan Connect - Michigan's Travel and Tourism Blog

Dearborn

The holidays are a busy time of year. There are parties, shopping and preparations to be made for family visits. That’s why it’s nice to sometimes just take in the scenery of the season. There are some great events coming up this month with some amazing light and holiday displays to enjoy at your leisure. For a full list of events check out michigan.org.

Holly Dickens Festival
December 9 – 11, 2011, Holly
See the characters from Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” come to life on the streets of Historic Downtown Holly during the annual Holly Dickens Festival. Make special memories with your family while enjoying carriage rides, caroling choirs, hot roasted chestnuts and much, much more amidst unique shops and the Victorian atmosphere of the holidays. Head to the Holly Dickens Festival site for full event details and schedule.

Candle Light Christmas Walk
December 9 – 11, 2011, Marshall
The Marshall Historical Society’s Christmas Candlelight Tour is a highly personalized walking tour of five private homes decorated for the holidays. This is a walking tour of approximately 1.5 miles at a slow pace. Ticks are $20 sold in advance and only 600 tickets are sold. For more information, call (269) 781-5163.

The Big, Bright Light Show
Now-January 1, 2012, Rochester
You are invited to brighten your holidays in downtown Rochester with The Big, Bright Light Show! All the buildings on Main Street from the south bridge to Romeo Rd. will be covered in over a million points of light, along with East and West Fourth Street. Also, there will be large, lighted displays on Walnut from Third to University, The Dazzling Tree of Lights at the Depot Plaza (E. University & Water), and The Snowflake Spectacular on the Western Knitting Mill on Water Street. For more information on this event, visit their website or call (248) 656-0060.

Christmas at Crossroads Holiday Magic
Now – December 30, 2011, Flint
This holiday fantasyland features thousands of sparkling lights and Michigan’s most spectacular moving light display, the Huckleberry Railroad. The entire village is aglow with colored lights and more lights decorate the railroad’s locomotive, coaches and trackside displays. For information and reservations call (800).648-PARK or visit the Christmas at Crossroads Holiday Magic site.

Holiday Nights at Greenfield Village
December 9 – 10, 16 – 23, 26 – 27, 2011, Dearborn
Marvel at the splendor of a turn-of-the-century old-fashioned holiday experience complete with carolers and live reindeer along candlelit paths at this historic location.  For more information visit the Holiday Nights site. You can also call (800) 835-5237 or (313) 982-6001.

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Photo credit - Berlin SohnGuest Blogger Michelle Martin has moved out of state, but her Michigan memories have taught her that there is no place like home.

I am what is called a New York City transplant—I live here, but I’m certainly not from here.

I am the cliché: the starry-eyed Midwestern girl who journeyed to the Big Apple in search of fame and romance, destined to make all my dreams come true. My cozy little Shoe Box, a nickname for my studio apartment which is only slightly bigger than an actual shoebox, is truly an Upper East Side haven, steps away from the Metropolitan Museum of Art and nestled among the classic and quaint brownstones that NYC is famous for. That must be what my jaw-dropping rent payment is for—quaintness. Read more…

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Statewide

Michigan Map

Free Fishing Weekend
June 11-12, 2011, Statewide
Get hooked on fishing over these two days when no fee or license is required on inland waters and the Great Lakes. All fishing regulations apply.
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Photo Credit - National Archives General Records of the U S Government

The Emancipation Proclamation

I grew up in the city of Detroit in the 1960s and ‘70s. As a white minority attending school at Detroit Public Schools, I learned a lot about – and developed a deep appreciation for – African-American history and culture. One of my earliest church choir memories was learning “Lift Every Voice and Sing.”

While living in Detroit in the midst of the Civil Rights movement, “white flight,” and school bussing to other districts, I witnessed first-hand the struggles as well as the triumphs of racial issues. This developed in me an acute sensitivity for racial and ethnic harmony.

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“With his horses killed, his men dead, and his supports overwhelmed and driven back, the enemy rushed upon the battery. Van Pelt, as the last act of his young life, drew his sword and sprang to the front of his pieces, with that inexplicable frenzy which supplies with strength as with courage, he cried with a voice of thunder, ‘Don’t dare touch these guns.’  Onward the inexorable wave of glistening bayonets surged, over and past him, burying him under his lost guns.”

- New York Herald newspaper, 1863

Civil War Weekend - Greenfield Village

Gettysburg, Abraham Lincoln, General Custer. You probably learned all about these names in history class. But had you ever heard Lieutenant George Van Pelt’s story, or know why he defended the battle guns in the Loomis Battery right to the end of his life? He was willing to die for this battery because it was a source of pride for Michigan during the Civil War and in several key battles for the Union.

Hidden stories like these are a central part of Discovering the Civil War, the traveling exhibition on display this summer at Henry Ford Museum. This year marks the 150th anniversary of the war, and for the first time, this exhibit – which usually tours the country in three parts – has come together for the ultimate Civil War buff to dive into.
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