(upbeat rock music fades) - [Tom] On this episode of UTR we search Saginaw County for a classic place to stay, some authentic Mexican munchables, and a museum and theater that will amaze you.

Then we chow down on some genuine smokehouse barbecue, and show you a zoo you need to do.

Get ready to explore the cool people, places, and things that make this part of Michigan a great place to eat, learn, stay, and play.

(upbeat rock music) - [Announcer] Pure is what you make of it, it's taking it all in and never taking anything for granted.

(joyful music) The sunsets, the moon rises, and you realize the end of one perfect summer day is the beginning of another.

Pursue your pure in Pure Michigan.

- [Announcer] A visit to the Stahls auto collection will take you back to a time when cars were more than just a way to get around.

A fantastic assortment of gas pumps, neon signs, and automated music machines dating back 150 years that must be seen and heard.

Info at stahlsauto.com.

(upbeat music) - I've been around the world, but there's one place I keep coming back to, and the more I explore, the more I realize it's the place to be.

I'm Tom Daldin and this is Under the Radar Michigan.

(energetic upbeat music) (energetic upbeat music fades) - [Tom] Well, for today's UTR adventure, we started off by heading to charming Chesaning, a classic small Americana-type town with a big personality and tons of friendly folks.

It's only about a half hour Northwest of Flint, and Southwest of Saginaw, but no matter what direction you're coming from, it's totally worth the drive.

- And it's here where we found a place to stay that made even me feel special.

(chuckles) Oh.

Yeah, I know, that's tough to do.

- [Tom] You can describe the Stone House Inn with a single word, it's an amazing place to stay.

Wait, what?

Sorry.

anyway, it's the kind of classic home that puts its arms around you and makes you feel as though everything is as it should be.

And Denise Ebenhoeh is the innkeeper extraordinaire who takes great care during your stay.

- I'll be honest, Denise, I could sit here on this front porch all day long and wave at people as they drive by, and I don't even care if they wave back, I mean, it's, what a relaxing experience, it's the first thing you see when you come here, you walk up and you see this incredible porch, and the stonework, hence the name.

- Yes, the Stone House Inn.

- Right.

When was this built and for who?

- [Denise] 1909 For the Louis Perrot family.

- Oh, Louis Perrot.

(laughs) - Louis Perrot.

- The stonework, amazing.

- It is.

- And the beveled leaded glass inside- - Yeah- - Tell me about that.

- Gorgeous.

Well, the whole first floor is pretty much all the bubbled glass, it's the doors, the windows, the built-in cabinets.

- Yeah, the craftsmanship that they had back then was just absolutely amazing.

- Yeah.

- How would you describe the experience here?

- Relaxing, to get away from the hustle and bustle of everyday life and big towns.

We're a small town.

- Right.

- [Denise] A farming community.

Come here, relax.

- This is what I love about bed and breakfast.

Look, this is a perfect place for a romantic getaway.

- Yeah.

- But like you said, if you just wanna come to just to visit charming Chesaning.

So do we get breakfast in the morning?

- Oh, you sure do.

(Denise laughs) - Oh, well, tell me where we're gonna get.

- Well, you said bed and breakfast, I'm not a bed and breakfast.

- Oh, you're a- - I'm an inn.

- Oh, an inn, what's the difference?

- Bed and breakfast, somebody is there preparing your meal for you in the morning, I have options for you to help yourself too, so- - Oh, mm, okay.

I stand corrected, I'm in an inn, but still, it's like a bed and breakfast.

- Yeah, yeah.

Everybody thinks it's a bed and breakfast, but I just like to clarify.

- Oh, so you're an inn.

- I don't wanna disappoint.

- So you're an, oh, you could not disappoint with this place, it's absolutely amazing.

What do you love about this town?

- Oh, I mean, we're not that big.

- [Tom] Yeah.

- You could just get out and walk, ride your bike, go down to the river.

The river is four blocks away, beautiful rock rapids.

I mean, spend time outdoors, come back, grab a book, relax.

I guess what I really like about owning this is to have families come in, and spend time together, and reconnect.

- I was just gonna say it'd be a great thing, a place for a family reunion, if you get all the rooms, bring everybody here.

- Yeah.

- All those great little restaurants, you can shop in town.

- Sure.

- I just love the fact that the fireplace in the living room, that's pewabic tile?

- [Denise] Pewabic tiling out Detroit, yep.

- [Tom] But they'll never, ever build places like this again.

- No.

- So- - [Denise] 18-inch thick stone walls all around the first level, upstairs, second floor is all the Saginaw brick.

- [Tom] And I just love that little, like, love seat, that's halfway up the stairs.

- Yes, be a great place to set and read a book.

- I bet you recline up there daily.

- Daily, with my lemonade.

- Yeah, you're too busy being an innkeeper.

(both laugh) Well, keep on innkeeping, because, like I said, we need places like this, because it really is a gem.

- Well, thank you, thank you, thank you for coming here.

- Oh, shucks, it's nothing.

My house is a semi-precious stone, (both laugh) if that.

(Denise giggles) - [Tom] I'm telling you, we had such a deeply relaxing time that I almost forgot what we were doing here in the first place, but as always, the cameras were a dead giveaway.

Heck, I even learned the difference between an inn and a bed and breakfast, bonus.

If you're looking to have a restful, or even romantic rendezvous with that special someone, the Stone House Inn is a wonderful place to whittle away your worries, and just be the two of you again.

It even got me to relax, and that's saying something.

(air whooshes) So with a good night's sleep tucked safely under our proverbial pillows, don't tell housekeeping, we bid a fond farewell to charming Chesaning and headed about a half hour Northeast to the awesome city of Saginaw, and it's here where we discovered the true taste of Mexico.

- I think Mexican food is on just about everybody's comfort food list, and we found a really comfortable place in Saginaw where you can enjoy some.

(upbeat music) - [Tom] T & T Authentic Mexican is just that.

It's down to earth, the real deal, and a gastronomic gold mine if you love the savory selections of south of the border, and Toyo Rosas is the passionate man who makes sure that when you leave here, you're feeling the festive and full flavors of Mexico.

- You know what?

I could always tell when somebody has pride in their business, because when you walk in here, the place is immaculate, and also you can't walk in here without a smile on your face.

I mean, again, you can tell you have pride in your heritage, in your food, in your restaurant, just because the way it's decorated.

- Yes.

- I mean, I was gonna ask you, what made you decide to serve Mexican food, but that's probably because it's- - Well, actually it's just my family raising, raised in the kitchen with my grandmother, my mother, and it's just always been like one of our traditions to just get together on Sunday and have a big Mexican feast.

(laughs) - You sound like Italians.

(both laughs) We do the same thing.

- Oh yeah.

- And speaking, a lot of these recipes are your grandma's recipes?

- Yes.

- My grandmother's, my mother's, both sides of the family, and it's just like it's crazy because, I mean, never in a million years I thought I'd be in the food industry.

We originally started off in a food truck, and I mean, at the time I had a mechanic in a tire shop repair, how that jumped to a food business, I have no idea, but I told my wife one morning and I said, "I think I want a food truck," and she said, "Why do you think that?"

I said, "I don't know, I like to cook, so I started getting the food truck and then it went from there."

- It's weird, it's like some of the best foods that we've ever had on the show were from mother's, grandmother's recipes, great grandmother's recipes, they didn't come outta chef school- - No, definitely not - They came from great grandma.

- Yeah.

Yeah, everybody asked me, "When did you go to chef school?"

I said, "When I was about four years old in my grandma's kitchen," that was chef school.

(both laugh) - Yeah, so it all started with the food truck?

- Yes.

- That's also a tough business.

- That is a tough business, but you know what?

It was the way to get into the business I'm in now because it was so many learning experience, frustrations, disappointments, and good days, but I mean, it was just like they say, the strong survive, the only strong survive, but I mean, we had our rough moments, we had our good moments, but I mean, we just kept on push and push and push, and that was it.

- Now, I've heard people talk about your carne asada, explain what that is for people that don't know what carne asada is.

- It's actually grinded-up steak.

- [Tom] Yeah.

- A lot of people do it differently.

We here, we grind up our steak and then it's really, really fine.

It almost looks like ground beef, and a lot of people get it mistakenly, like, "Man, that's ground beef," no, it's not, it's steak.

There's a lot of people, if you know steak, you're gonna know the steak, you know what I mean?

And I mean, it's like, I go out west a lot and that's a big seller out there, carne asada tacos, and like around here, you ask for a taco, you're gonna get a crunchy taco with ground beef, lettuce, tomato, cheese.

Out there you're gonna ask for a taco, you're gonna get a carne asada taco.

- Right.

- And it it's different.

I mean, I didn't understand at first and now I do understand it, because tacos are different out west in Mexico, and you know this may, but yeah.

- Food, that's the spice of life, literally, plus food is a great way to travel the world.

- Yes.

_ And to introduce yourself to multiple cultures, and it's a lot cheaper than an airplane ticket.

- Oh yeah, yeah, for sure.

- I got one more question for you, does the T & T stand for Tacos for Tom?

- (laughs) Yeah.

- It does?

- No.

Originally me and my brother-in-law got into the business, so my name is Toyo, his last name was Thompson.

- But I can still have a taco, right?

- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, definitely, definitely.

(both chuckle) - [Tom] Well, Toyo only had to offer once, because we were so ready to enjoy his genuine Mexican cuisine, I think we tried almost everything on the menu, and some things twice.

So next time you're anywhere near Saginaw, take your mouth to T & T Authentic Mexican.

When you're done eating, your mouth will thank you for it.

(air whooshes) - You know, whenever I go to a city, I like to visit their signature theater and their art museum, to get an idea of the level of culture they have there.

Well, the culture level in Saginaw is so high you're gonna need sandbags to hold it back.

- [Tom] And that's because the Saginaw Art Museum and the Temple Theater right downtown are two shining stars of this community.

Actually, they're more like cultural comets because of their longstanding and rich contributions to this entire region.

Heck, they're so cultured, they even put Under The Radar on the marquee.

Wait, what?

Wow.

Now, not only does Thor Rasmussen have one of the coolest names this side of Orion's Bel, he also happens to head up both of these great institutions.

So we sat down at the museum and moved our mouths.

- Why don't you start off by telling people about this amazing space?

- Sure, so the Saginaw Art Museum, behind the physical building there's a garden, and the garden itself has gone through some iterations through the years, but it was originally designed when the home was built and where the museum is housed, but it's designed in a way, and the plants that are in the garden now, there's something in bloom from spring right in through late fall.

- And it's not something you just look at, I mean, people can come here, they can come out here, can you bring a lunch out here and just enjoy the gardens?

You have weddings out here?

- Sure, yeah, it's an active space, it changes from week to weeks, especially during the spring and summer season, there's something else that's to notice or bloom.

We use it for special events like weddings, as well as public events hosted by the museum, it provides sort of a piece of calm in the environment, there's a lot of discussion about mental health in the world today- - Yeah.

- And that's part of what we can provide in this space is, somebody just to clear their head.

- What I think is so cool about it is that it's this historic home that has this really cool mid-century modern attachments to it, so it's like different environments, and the exhibits in there, the art is world class.

- I think that one of the interesting things about the museum is that we have our permanent collection, which mainly focuses on older pieces of art, European and American paintings.

19th, late 18th-19th century works, but it creates a thread with what we're able to do with our temporary exhibitions.

So we can have this connection between the art inside the museum that might be older with more current or contemporary artists, and try and connect the dots for people.

- Art is the icing on the cake of life, I've always said that, so I just love places like this.

Well, jumping over to the theater now.

It is the theater of downtown, it's your signature theater.

Every theater has some secrets, are there any secrets in that theater?

- Well, we continue to discover more and more about the theater even now, and I wouldn't say that they're secrets, but there's some interesting features that are at the theater.

When the theater was restored in 2003, sort of to its original glory, some of the painting work, they incorporated little gremlins in the paint work that sort of is an interesting feature for people to find in the paint itself that you won't see right away, but once you see it, you can't unsee it.

- It's such a historic monument for the city, as is this museum.

Thanks for doing what you do, because places like this, they enrich the community and they bring people in from out of town.

Like I said, I would easily, in a heartbeat, bring my family back here, bring friends back here, because this museum is, I keep saying world class, I'll go beyond that, it's beyond world, what's beyond world class?

- Universe class?

- There you go, it's universal class, there you go.

You can use that if you want.

- I'll copy it.

- [Tom] If you're looking for a little culture to even out your intellect, now you know where to find it.

The Saginaw Art Museum and the Temple Theater are the kind of inspirational institutions any community would love to call their own, but lucky for Saginawnians, they're right here, bonus.

(air whooshes) (air whooshes) - So what do you do if you go to a place that has such good barbecue you can't stop thinking about it?

Simple, you go back and get some more.

- [Tom] And that's exactly what we did, because Baldwin's Smokehouse BBQ in Saginaw offers up some of the best meat-covered bones you'll ever et, not to mention their sensational sides and welcoming ways.

Yep, this place is bonafide barbecue, because Pastor Roy Baldwin and his wonderful wife, Evelyn, makes sure everything is prepared with love, passion, and pride.

- There's an old, old saying that I just made up, there's nothing better than great barbecue.

I mean, good barbecue will make your whole month, and your barbecue is amazing.

I also have to say, I love your awesome retro sign out front, but tell me a little bit about that sign.

- Well, it used to be a cowboy and we refaced it, and we took the guns away and put a knife and the fork there.

- It's just so perfect, it's like something you'd see in old Las Vegas, it's just iconic, and you could see it from the highway, for goodness sake.

So Evelyn, how did this all start?

- Oh, well, we had always, well, for years and years, we've always been cooking and grilling, and people would be in our neighborhood and say, "Oh, we were just in the neighborhood and just decided to stop by," because when we cook, we never knew how to cook for just him and I, we would always be cooking for the masses.

- Well, how did you get so good at, is it just come natural?

Was it these old family secrets?

- No, actually, in the south we didn't really barbecue, but when I moved to Michigan in the early 70's, used to be a Kmart across the street, I bought a $10 Kmart grill and I just fell in love with grilling, and coming from a family of 14- - [Tom] You learn to cook.

- [Roy] I learned to cook.

- Yeah, yeah.

- Yeah.

- [Tom] You ever cook for your flock?

- Oh yeah.

- Really, I'm coming to your church, oh my gosh.

- Oh yeah, lots of time.

Yeah.

- Can you name off everything on the menu, Evelyn, real fast?

Go, hit it.

(Evelyn laughs) - Baby beans, coleslaw, mac and cheese, potato salad, candied yams, collard green, green beans, smothered cabbage, fries, dressing, triple threat, ribs, tips, chicken, fish, perch, or catfish, shrimp, burgers, smokehouse burgers, smokehouse salad, want me to keep on going?

- No, I just wanted to give the folks at home about 30 reasons why you need to come to Baldwin's Smokehouse- - [All] BBQ.

- It's part art, part science, and a lot of love, right?

- Yeah, yeah.

And I've watched the shows on TV, instead of me sleeping sometime, I'm laying there thinking about how to put together a recipe, how to make this or that, you know.

Like one of the things on the recipe is cabbage soup.

- [Tom] Yeah.

- You guys have to try it.

So that just came from me just laying there, imagining, wonder what would it taste like if I put this and that, and this and that.

And so she was always popular with making mac and cheese and sweet potato pies, so we kinda just put everything together.

- It's gotta be rewarding now to go from little backyard barbecue to having this incredible restaurant where you're sharing your love, your food, your sauce, your secret rub, with the community.

- Yeah.

Yeah, it's been awesome, because we love people, being a full-time pastor, we just love people and we get a chance to meet a lot of people, like, for example, if we never had a restaurant, we wouldn't have met you guys.

- Good point, good point.

Well, would you mind if we went in there, and sat down, and ate a mess of your awesome barbecue?

- Oh, absolutely.

- Oh, that'd be great.

- And when I say mess, I mean we're gonna make a mess as we eat the mess.

- Well, we got plenty of napkins.

- You got any wet naps?

- Yep.

- I need a whole cart of those.

(upbeat music) - [Jim] Well, as you know, UTR loves barbecue so much that we could hold out no longer, so we sat down, napkined up, and went to work on some of the best sides and meat you'll ever eat.

- Holy cow, that's good, and I can say that 'cause Roy's a pastor.

- [Tom] So if you love barbecue and you love that loving folks who love what they do love that you love their food, you're gonna love Baldwin's Smokehouse BBQ because what they're serving up is so darn good, there's no liking here, there's only love.

Mm, mine.

(air whooshes) (air whooshes) (gentle music) Well, after an outstanding barrage of barbecue, we left Saginaw and a pile of wet naps on the table, and headed south to Birch Run, but not to shop, sorry, honey, but to have a close up encounter with the wild world of animals at the Wilderness Trail Zoo.

This is a zoo you truly need to do, because of their dedication to conservation and animal awareness, not to mention that this place is where you can have a real close encounter with countless critters.

Kelsie Bailey is the super supervisor at the zoo, and she took me and the crew on a Michigan safari we'll never forget.

- You know, after doing the mile loop here, this is an amazing zoo.

- Well, thank you, we appreciate it.

- The biggest compliment that I've read about this zoo is you can get so much close, up close and personal with the animals than almost any other zoo, and that's by design, I'm sure.

- Oh, yeah, yep.

Yeah, so all of our cages, they're pretty up close and personal, you can see everything pretty close.

Most of the animals here are retired animals, so they're a lot older, but they're still pretty active for the most part, but yeah, you get pretty close up to 'em.

- Did this zoo really start like over 30 years ago with two sisters?

- Yep, it sure did, yes, with two sisters and their husbands.

- What they just said, "Let's start a zoo"?

- Yeah, they just- - "You guys wanna go bowling or start a zoo?"

"Let' start a zoo."

- Let's just start a zoo.

Yeah, so they're just big animal lovers, they love animals more than anything, and they just started rescuing animals, and that's how it all began, and it started with bison, so, yep, Lynn Pollard and Shirley Pollard, they had bison and they started out with them, and it just grew from there.

- It is gotta be the best job- - It is, it's so much fun.

- I mean, this is your office.

- It is.

Yep, every day you get to come out and walk in the woods, and see all these beautiful animals, and get greeted every morning, and it's amazing.

- [Tom] How long have you been here?

- [Kelsie] Five years.

- [Tom] Five, what's the most rewarding thing for you?

- The most rewarding thing, I would say, is definitely those bonds you build with the animals.

- Yeah, I mean, there's something special, all they want is your love, it's all they want, unless it's me going in there, then they want my thigh meat- - Right.

- Yeah, exactly, but, yeah, for you, you've got such connection with them that I'm envious of.

- Yeah, yep, and it's also, it's rewarding when you get to see these people enjoy all of the animals as much as you do.

So it's always nice to see people come in and get to enjoy the company as much as we love being here too.

- Yeah, well, it's 92 degrees today, but there's so much shade here, I've never seen so many happy families, and I hope the animals look out and go, "Hey, I made them happy today- - Aw.

- It was worth it."

(giggles) - This is such an extraordinary zoo, if people wanna help maintain these animals and maintain, is there a way people can do that?

- Oh, absolutely.

So there's a couple different ways you could do that, we have what's called Sponsor an Animal here, which is a really cool thing we do.

So what that is is it's $30 and that goes towards any animal of your choice that you like here, and so what we'll do is that $30 goes towards that animal for enrichment, little goodies, treats, special toys that they can play with, things like that, to keep their mind stimulated, and then we also we'll send you out a picture of that exact animal, then we'll get a fact sheet of that animal, a certificate saying that you sponsored that animal, and then the following year your name will be on a banner that says, "Thank you for supporting and sponsoring our animals in the 2022 season."

or whatever season it may be.

- Awesome, awesome.

- Yeah.

- One last question, what was that exotic animal I was feeding corn to?

- Oh, the exotic animal, the Canadian geese.

(Lynette laughs) - Oh.

Oh, I've got those in my backyard.

Can I have my quarter back?

(both laugh) Eh, maybe not.

(laughs) - [Tom] We saw so many amazing and fascinating animals that day, and we even saw a ton of higher primate families having a natural blast.

There were also some animals there that were a bit on the strange side.

- (roars) I'm the endangered exotic unnecessary TV show host, (roars) but you can feed me.

Anyone wanna?

Sir, are you gonna finish that sandwich?

Oh, no?

- [Tom] Heck.

As we were leaving, we even got to meet a little baby fox.

Like I always say, don't just go to the zoo near you, go experience a zoo you don't normally do, and the Wilderness Trail Zoo in Birch Run is a great one to explore.

I also always say to go explore new places in and around the great state of Michigan, and the Saginaw County area is a great place to start, or finish, or even hang around in the middle, if you want, I do all three, bonus.

(happy music) (happy music fades) - [Announcer] Pure is what you make of it, it's taking it all in and never taken anything for granted.

(joyful music) The sunsets, the moon rises, and you realize the end of one perfect summer day is the beginning of another.

Pursue your pure in Pure Michigan.

- [Announcer] A visit to the Stahls auto collection will take you back to a time when cars were more than just a way to get around.

A fantastic assortment of gas pumps, neon signs, and automated music machines dating back 150 years, that must be seen and heard.

Info at Stahlsauto.com.

(upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music) (upbeat rock music) (poignant piano music)