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With a fresh coat of snow on the ground, a carriage drawn by a team of Belgian draft horses treks 2.5 miles through the wooded countryside toward the cozy Elk Antler Cabin. There, a roaring fire and a mouth-watering dinner await. Along the way, guests of Thunder Bay Resort in Hillman are given a rare opportunity to view one of the Midwest’s private elk herds – 35 head – on the resort’s 160-acre enclosed preserve along the eastern edge of the Pigeon River Country State Forest.

Generations ago, train travel was a primary means of transportation around Michigan. Yet many of today’s children have never experienced the adventure of riding the rails with the clacking of the wheels along the tracks, the faint aroma of the locomotive’s exhaust in the air and the feel of the wind in their hair while aboard the open gondola car.

On a busy summer day, visitors fill the tiny Jampot shop in Eagle Harbor waiting patiently to purchase wild berry jams, hearty fruitcakes, savory baked goods and confections handmade by the monks of the Holy Transfiguration Skete, Society of Saint John.

As early as the 1820s, Michigan lighthouses have been protecting the Great Lakes shorelines. Today, one of the rarest experiences is to spend the night in one of these historic and often romantic beacons. Nationally, only a dozen or so lights have been converted into bed-and-breakfast inns with a handful of them found right here in Michigan.

Fueled by thriving automotive and tourism industries in 1919, Michigan residents (nearly 3.9 million) and visitors were anxious to get outside to explore the woods, waters and abundant natural resources that surrounded them. It became important to not only provide spaces for such outdoor activities, but also to set policies to preserve and protect them. And with the passage of Public Act 218 signed by Gov. Albert Sleeper on May 12 of that year, the Michigan State Park Commission was officially organized.

A lot has changed at 185 Mount Tabor Road in Buchanan since the first grapevines were planted there in 1968. Incorporated as Tabor Hill Winery in 1972 and housing an award-winning restaurant since 1982, one of Michigan’s oldest wineries has now begun its next phase of life under new ownership, while celebrating a direct line to its historic past.