Greetings from the Mitten of Michigan!
We are currently hanging out in Grayling, MI, the gateway to "up north" of Michigan, the self-proclaimed Canoe Capital Of The World, and home to the Camp Grayling, the largest National Guard training site in the country. You have now learned more about Grayling, MI than most Michigan residents know.
Our Mid-west Adventure 2015 began a couple days ago in Minneapolis. Our main targets for this trip are an endangered sparrow that is easiest to find near Minneapolis, an endangered warbler that is only found in a small part of Michigan, and a few other birds we missed during spring migration that summer up here.
This also marks our first visit to Minneapolis and to Michigan, so the trip has been filled with First Impressions. To assist those readers who may be planning a visit, or could be inspired to plan a visit by the sanguine words of this blog, here are some tips informed by these impressions:
- If you ever come to this part of the country, do bring an industrial-sized container of DEET. Gangs of mosquitoes hold several large territories, giant ticks hang from branches to fall silently on unsuspecting blood-filled tourists, and blinding clouds of flies surround you at all moments. Actually, I exaggerate; the flies just obscure your vision and don't follow you inside. Usually.
- Minneapolis has an inordinate number of excellent brew pubs making their own beer, charcuterie, and other delectables. You will not go hungry here, but I do advise planning some gym visits else you may be shopping for a new belt before you leave!
- Summer weather has been surprisingly warm and a bit humid; 75F-80F temps at 11PM don't seem that unusual, so fashionable Mid-westerners can saunter the streets at night in their Bermuda shorts and Birkenstocks in comfort. But beware midnight thunderstorms that dump buckets of rain and keep your rain jacket close!
- Prince apparently does not busk on street corners here, and contrary to popular belief, Andrew Zimmern's ghost does not haunt the restaurants of Minneapolis at night. The city offers many entertainment options, but those are not two of them.
- You may find a White Castle restaurant. If you are from the West, you probably heard of this from the famous movie, "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle" or from your Eastern friends who lament that they can't find these restaurants out West. My advice after one visit: keep driving.
- Don't make the same tragic mistake we did, and fail to reserve time to visit Mall of America. This Temple to Capitalism is the second-largest mall in the US and gets more visitors than any other. It even has its own hotels and an amusement park! How could we miss this??!?!?
Enjoy your trip, and maybe we'll see you there!
Oh, and if you're looking for birds, we can tell you that Murphy-Hanrehan Reserve south of Minneapolis is still a good place for Henslow's Sparrow, although expect to walk miles of grassy, wet, mosquito-y trails through the fields to find one. And, if you failed to sign up for a tour to find the endangered Kirtland's Warbler in May and June, do not despair! Come to Grayling, wander through the right kinds of stands of Jack Pine in the morning, and listen carefully, and you will find your bird!
Next up: night birding for Whip-poor-wills and then off to North Dakota!
Cheers,
Me
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