East Coast elites gonna East Coast elite

Thank you. I was really, truly concerned about it.

But just in case their children can't get into an Ivy and are slumming it at Notre Dame, I thought I'd share my fears they'd stop over during a visit at my vacation spot.

 

Lakes Huron and Michigan are quite warm. (Erie is a wading pond.) Superior is where you go to cryogenically freeze your testicles in liquid hydrogen.

You want spectacular beach swimming, hit the UP shores of Lake Michigan along U.S. 2.

 

I'm from rural MN. But have been an East Coast elitist for 13 years. I did not know that about Gary, Indiana. The headline grabbed me, story was interesting.

I will say the Travel section does seem to enrage people fairly often. There have been stories about Minneapolis that were mocked by Minnesotans on Twitter and Baltimore folks go nuts whenever the Times dares write about them in way they think is condescending.

 

Conversely, Alabama is an attention whore state. Whenever someone writes a remotely praiseworthy travel article about Birmingham (They aren't hosing down blacks in the street anymore, honest!) people lose their shit with glee.

 

It's all PR-driven. I'm from Roanoke, VA, and a couple of years ago there was a flood of articles proclaiming it the next big outdoor tourist spot or a fun weekend getaway. I think the NYT may have even done one. The city had just hired some PR agency to pitch pieces.

 

I've seen a couple pieces the past few months suggesting Staunton might be the "next Asheville or Roanoke." Somebody must have gotten a look at the playbook.

 

I hear the Ozarks would be a good place to invest.

 

Absolutely correct about beaches along U.S. 2. Directly west of St. Ignace are several miles of them. Great spot to spend a summer afternoon.

Funny thing about Michigan's U.P. — the southern coast (along Lake Michigan) doesn't get too hot in the summer, because of SW winds coming over the lake. And in the winter, that area is spared the worst of the snowstorms because NW winds off Lake Superior bring those.

Relative to this thread, I don't think you can buy the New York Times anywhere in the U.P.

 

Pretty sure you can get it on Mackinac Island at the Grand Hotel during prime summer season. I'll check the next time I'm slumming around.

 

While you're there, ask which direction on the trail around the island is the shortest. Or when the bridge swings over ...

[/oldNorthernMichiganjokes]

 

One of my best friends has a daughter playing field hockey for Michigan State. Some of the photos he posts of the surrounding area are breathtaking.