On January 26, 1837, our beautiful mitten was granted statehood. As the Great Lakes state celebrates its 187th birthday, our team shares 187 things we love about Michigan.

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  1. We have the coolest shaped state
  2. And the nicest people
  3. Two peninsulas. One state.
  4. 11,000 inland lakes larger than 5 acres
  5. The greatest number of different foods grown of any state except California
  6. Longest freshwater shoreline in the US & more shoreline than any other state in the lower 48 (yes, more than California)!
  7. Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
  8. You don’t have to pay money to go to the beach
  9. Yoopers and Trolls
  10. The handy map, of course
  11. Sea Shells City’s Giant Clam
  12. Cherry pie from Grand Traverse Pie Company and The Cherry Hut
  13. Christmas time in Frankenmuth
  14. Weekend getaways on Mackinac Island
  15. Surfing the Great Lakes—in winter
  16. 3,177 miles of Great Lakes shoreline (and no sharks or stinging eyes!)
  17. Rollerblading the TART Trail
  18. Freshwater fishing. There is no bad fishing season.
  19. Fall color hikes, bikes and drives
  20. Cherry blossoms

  21. Trilliums in bloom
  22. Michigan barns have their own styles
  23. Bonfires on the beach
  24. Ernest Hemingway
  25. Empire Asparagus Festival
  26. Beaches and skiing both in the same state
  27. Sunsets in Pentwater, Ludington, Manistee, Onekama, Frankfort, Empire, Glen Arbor, Leland, Elk Rapids, Charlevoix, Petoskey, Harbor Springs … pretty much everywhere
  28. Sunrises on Lake Huron
  29. Ancient copper mines
  30. Elmore Leonard
  31. Village Cheese Shanty
  32. Walking over the Mackinac Bridge each September
  33. 20,000 miles of quality trout streams
  34. Michigan musicians like The Accidentals, Drew Hale and Jack Senff (listen to our summer mixtape)
  35. Vasa Trail
  36. Our sweet, small towns
  37. Pyramid Point
  38. Award-winning wine
  39. Trout Unlimited founded on the Au Sable River
  40. Rick and Marty Lagina

  41. Jim Harrison
  42. The 45th Parallel
  43. Uncle John’s Cider Mill
  44. 40 of the state’s 83 counties adjoin at least one of the Great Lakes
  45. Morel mushrooms
  46. Empire Beach
  47. The Northern Lights
  48. Vernors (which we also use to cure all colds)
  49. Petoskey Stones
  50. White Pine Village
  51. Madonna (Born in Bay City)
  52. Adams Fly invented on Boardman River
  53. Stormy Kromer
  54. Blueberries
  55. Cheeseburger Festival in Caseville
  56. ‘Up North’ is anywhere north of Bay City
  57. Faygo
  58. “All Summer Long” by Kid Rock (you’ve gotta admit it’s catchy)
  59. Turquoise waters of Glen Lake
  60. North Country Trail (Michigan hosts more miles of the North Country Trail than any of the other seven states the trail traverses.)

  61. Detroit-style pizza
  62. Craft beer greats like Bell’s, Founders, Stormcloud, Short’s and so many more
  63. Cruising state highways (especially M-22, M-119, M-185)
  64. The S.S. Badger
  65. Moose in the Upper Peninsula
  66. Wilderness State Park
  67. Longest-running wolf study in the world: wolves on Isle Royale
  68. Horses on Mackinac Island
  69. Christopher Paul Curtis, author of Bud, Not Buddy (born in Flint)
  70. Leelanau Conservancy
  71. Better Made and Great Lakes Potato Chips
  72. Motown (Aretha, Stevie Wonder, The Temptations)
  73. Watching boats going through the Soo Locks
  74. Farmers Markets
  75. Pasties
  76. Lighthouses. And lots of them. (116 to be more precise)
  77. Beach volleyball after work
  78. Fayette Historic State Park
  79. Ice Cream (Moomers, Hudsonville, Michigan State University Dairy Store, Jones Homemade Ice Cream, House of Flavors)
  80. Black squirrels (and red and gray!)

  81. Author Jerry Dennis
  82. Tom Brady (played at University of Michigan)
  83. Straits of Mackinac
  84. Winter sports: tubing, snowboarding, downhill skiing, cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, sledding, fat tire biking
  85. Sandy beaches
  86. Water skiing
  87. Cheesy potatoes. We could eat them every single day.
  88. Apple orchards
  89. Arch Rock
  90. Summer picnics
  91. Ironton Ferry
  92. Loons
  93. Michigan round white potatoes—they make the best mashed taters!
  94. Joshua Davis
  95. North and South Manitou Islands (and Mackinac, Beaver, Hog, Garden, Bois Blanc)
  96. Fort Mackinac, Fort Holmes, Colonial Michilimackinac
  97. Holland Tulip Festival
  98. National Ski Hall of Fame in Ishpeming
  99. Tahquamenon Falls State Park
  100. Leland Blue + Frankfort Green (coolest rocks ever)

  101. Our neighbors in Canada
  102. Greenfield Village
  103. Traverse City Film Festival & Fresh Coast Film Festival
  104. Grand Traverse Conservancy
  105. Two-tracking
  106. Ice wine
  107. Panfish fishing inland lakes
  108. Motor City
  109. May Erlewine
  110. National Cherry Festival and U.S. Navy Blue Angels
  111. Strawberries in June
  112. Tunnel of Trees fall color tours
  113. S’mores—these are a few of our fave recipes
  114. Ice skating in downtown Grand Rapids
  115. Birch trees
  116. Being in the snow belt
  117. Interlochen Center for the Arts
  118. Kiteboarding
  119. Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
  120. Hunting in the largest state forest system in the nation

  121. Sugar Loaf Mountain, near Marquette, and Sugar Loaf in Cedar
  122. Paddleboarding on Lake Michigan + every Great Lake
  123. Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive
  124. Spring’s tree buds (much overlooked)
  125. Canoeing the Manistee River
  126. Porcupine Mountains State Park—camp in a yurt
  127. Literally everything at Cherry Republic
  128. World’s Longest Breakfast Table at Battle Creek Cereal Fest
  129. Ice boating. Yes, this is a thing.
  130. White-tailed deer
  131. Harbor Beach, the world’s largest man-made freshwater harbor
  132. The Lions, and Tigers and Red Wings. And the Pistons, sometimes
  133. Brockway Mountain Drive, Copper Harbor
  134. Gallagher’s Farm Market
  135. Booming craft distilleries (Grand Traverse Whiskey, Northern Latitudes, Iron Fish, Coppercraft and way more)
  136. Bayview Mackinac Race (Port Huron to Mackinac Island sailboat race)
  137. Gordie Howe International Bridge
  138. Sandhill cranes
  139. Torch Lake
  140. Little Traverse Conservancy

  141. Kellogg’s
  142. Bavarian Festival in Frankenmuth
  143. Shinola watches
  144. Kayaking the Sleeping Bear shore
  145. Hiking Manistee National Forest
  146. The historic and beautiful Grand Hotel
  147. Cycling Leelanau Peninsula
  148. White pines
  149. Great Lakes Charter Fishing
  150. Cherry sausage
  151. Mackinac Island fudge
  152. Zingerman’s
  153. Whitefish
  154. Trout: brook, brown and rainbow
  155. Greektown, Detroit
  156. Jeff Daniels
  157. Classic cars
  158. Henry Ford Museum
  159. Maple syrup
  160. Mackinac Island’s lilacs

  161. Arcadia Bluffs
  162. Ice climbing at Pictured Rocks
  163. Michigan’s Adventure
  164. Cops & Doughnuts
  165. Grand Island
  166. Painted turtles
  167. Long summer days; sunsets at 9:30
  168. Meijer (without an “s”, or with, whatever you prefer)
  169. Michigan auto industry
  170. Crooked Tree Center for the Arts
  171. Fox Theatre
  172. Hops. So many hops.
  173. Winter steelhead fishing
  174. Crystal-clear ice (it looks like you’re walking on water! Photo proof)
  175. Leelanau Cheese Company
  176. Art Prize in Grand Rapids
  177. International Auto Show
  178. The Mystery Spot
  179. These awesome 13 ski runs
  180. Snowshoeing to local wineries
  181. Mom-and-Pop resorts
  182. Marquette’s Ore Docks, especially during Orehenge in November and January
  183. Pumpkin patches galore
  184. Sunflower season!
  185. Chasing the northern lights
  186. Exploring the Keweenaw Peninsula
  187. Traverse Northern Michigan magazine (humblebrag)

Photo(s) by Dave Weidner