Featured Articles

Built in 1925-1926 on the highest point overlooking Gull Lake, the W.K. Kellogg Manor House near Battle Creek and Kalamazoo is one of the most stately homes in Southwest Michigan. The 32-acre site — with its caretaker’s cottage, boathouse, authentic Dutch windmill, lakeside pagoda, carriage house and a greenhouse with a potting shed — is surrounded by expansive gardens where special events are held during the warm-weather months.

As founder and president of Promote Michigan, Dianna Stampfler is one of the state’s most passionate cheerleaders. The Plainwell resident has more than 20 years of marketing and public relations experience. She also is a newspaper and radio journalist and is active in a number of tourism organizations. Among her clients is ShowSpan Inc. so expect to see her in action this month at the Grand Rapids International Wine, Beer & Food Festival.

Grown in a rich array of hues, poinsettias lend elegance and warmth to winter décor, while their colorful star-shaped bracts — according to a 16th-century legend — symbolize the Star of Bethlehem.

Mixologist Rob Hanks of Reserve Wine and Food in Grand Rapids prides himself on his creative concoctions featuring locally produced spirits. Last year, his passion paid off when his “Shipwreck Rum Punch” was recognized as 2012’s top pick in the New Holland Artisan Spirits “Art of the Cocktail” competition.

Scattered throughout Michigan, high-end motor coach and RV resorts are popping up to welcome travelers who want to relax in the lap of luxury. Many also offer options for lot ownership. Providing gated access, well-apportioned amenities and classy services, these communities are the seasonal homes for those on the go.

Following the Erie Canal’s completion in 1826, Lake Michigan’s Manitou Passage between the Manitou Islands and mainland was the most direct course for commercial schooners and leisure steamers sailing between Chicago and the Straits of Mackinac.

One of the best things about summer in Michigan is gathering around the campfire with a group of family or friends — enjoying song, stories and s’mores!

The Lake Michigan Circle Tour route is the culmination of innovation and hard work by visionary Jack Morgan of the Michigan Department of Transportation. Just 14 months after Morgan introduced his Circle Tour concept in 1987, agreement to designate and fund it was reached between the governors of Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois and Indiana. In 1998, the route was mapped and signs were posted along all 1,100 miles of Lake Michigan’s shoreline.

You are invited to follow in the Northern Michigan footsteps of one of the world’s most noted authors—Ernest Hemingway.

When families head to northern Michigan for vacation, it is to escape the day-to-day activities back home and to simply kick back and relax. Often, dealing with meals is the last thing someone wants to deal with. Chef Kristin Karam is banking on that, literally.

From picking asparagus to packaging fresh-cut zucchini, many aspects of farming were ingrained in Kellie Fox growing up in Walkerville.

For 24 years in the mid to late 1800s, the community of Fayette was a bustling company town tucked beneath towering limestone bluffs along Bay de Noc at the Garden Peninsula’s Snail Shell Harbor.