Spectacular Stargazing on the Lakefront

Ellison Bay, WisconsinThe drive: 5 hours It’s rare to find a place where you can see the actual Milky Way spilling itself across the firmament and contemplate the cosmos on an elemental level. But one of the best spots to do so in the Upper Midwest is Newport State Park in Ellison Bay, near the … Read more

A Pastry Tour of the Kringle Capital

Racine, WisconsinThe drive: 1.5 hours Among travelers whose plans center on food, I’m of a particular subset: I map out trips around baked things. And if we’re talking a hyperregional specialty, all the better. (Ask my husband, whom I’ve dragged on tours of the sfogliatelles of Naples, the bagels of Montreal, and all the clangers … Read more

As Pure as Michigan Gets

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, MichiganThe drive: 5.5 hours On a glorious late-summer day a couple of years ago, my wife, Rebecca, and I hiked the modest incline in Sleeping Bear Dunes that leads to Pyramid Point, not far from the town of Glen Arbor. We ascended 1.2 miles through the beech and maple forest … Read more

A Two-Wheel Trip to Milwaukee

chicago to milwaukeeThe bike ride: 10 hours Friendships are based on two things: common interests and complaining. My friend Patryk excels at the latter. For years, he complained that I never invited him on my long-distance cycling trips around the Midwest. When I asked him to ride with my bike team, he complained about that, … Read more

A Drinking Tour of Harbor Country

New Buffalo and Three Oaks, MichiganThe drive: 1.5 hours I could tell you that my lifelong besties and I make an annual pilgrimage to southwest Michigan’s Harbor Country for the sunsets, which turn the sky and lake into a painter’s palette of lavender and saffron and indigo and invite us to contemplate the fleeting nature of … Read more