(ambient music) - Well on this edition of community connection, we travel.

Let's keep it to the state of Michigan.

Those who know their craft, and I know they travel as well, to discuss.

So we turn to you, Dianna Stampfler, on behalf of your business, Promote Michigan.

Hi to you, Dianna.

- Hello, Shelley.

- Erin Murphy, West Michigan Tourist Association, we'll call you WMTA, doing great things in our own backyard.

Hi to you, Erin.

- Hi Shelley.

- Nick Nerbonne Pure Michigan, Travel Michigan, you snowboard, you ski, you do it all.

Practice what you preach, glad that you're here, Nick.

- Great to be here, Shelley, thanks for having me.

- Expand if you would, Nick, on your responsibilities with Pure Michigan.

- Well, we talk about the wonderful opportunities to explore our great state.

We have two pleasant peninsulas, which have their own unique travel opportunities from the winter sports that you mentioned.

Yes, I do enjoy visiting the ski slopes, but this time of year, we're still in the midst of the summer travel season, which is very popular, and everything from beautiful beaches and lakes, we have more than 11,000 of them across the state, to our wonderful golf courses, we have the most public golf courses of any state, to camping and other recreation.

There's really no limit to what you can do to experience Pure Michigan.

- Yes, what's behind you, Nick?

- Well, as I'm in our virtual world these days, where we are on our visual platforms, now I do a rotating background to kind of show off some of our state's beautiful views, and this one's on of my personal favorites up along M22 near Arcadia.

It's called Inspiration Point, and it overlooks Lake Michigan.

It's about 350 feet above the surface of the water, so you get a spectacular view from this new platform up there.

I highly recommend it if you're traveling south of Franklin or north of Manistee along M22.

- All right, send me the address, we'll plug her in.

Dianna Stampfler, share a bit about you and your good organization.

- Well, thanks Shelley.

It's great to actually to be with this group of people, because there's a lot of history right here on the screen together.

I launched Promote Michigan in 2004 after serving seven years at WMTA in Erin's position.

So it's a really great to have them involved again.

And, while I was at WMTA is when Nick and I met, when he was doing marketing in the Leelanau county, which was right about the time Shelley, that you and I met.

So it's just this great culmination in the great, the plenty that we have here in the state.

So I pride myself on promoting the people, places, and products of our state of Michigan, and as you said before, practicing what I preach.

I love to travel, I love to go out and visit wineries, and breweries, and restaurants, and AD destinations.

Go kayaking and go snowshoeing, and really just enjoy everything that we have here.

I feel sorry for some of the people that don't have four seasons to celebrate, and to enjoy the diversity that we have here in the state, and get a chance to be within a short drive of all of these great lakes, and inland lakes and everything else.

I can't just even imagine living anywhere but here in Michigan.

- Yes, I want to jump in that lake behind you.

What are you in front of?

- That is historic Walloon Lake where I currently reside, and we'll touch base in a little bit about this lake's most famous summer resident, Ernest Hemingway.

- Yes.

Erin Murphy talk about your organization, and then I'm going to have you talk about what's behind me with your connection.

- Absolutely.

So at West Michigan Tourist Association, WMTA, like you mentioned, we keep up with travel happening in West Michigan.

So we find a lot of new ideas and hidden gems to share with people so that they can plan their next vacation and trip here, or explore their own backyard for local residents.

So the West Michigan Tourist Association covers the entire west side of the state, as the name implies, and if you draw a line right down the middle of the state, everything west of there and up into the UP, we cover.

So that would include, Shelley, what's behind you, which is beautiful Holland, Michigan.

I personally am a Hope grad, and so I'm a big fan of Holland and everything it has to offer, as well.

- All right, west side's best side for you, there you are.

Nick, your specialty is media, let me turn to you.

Are you able to measure our visitors to Michigan?

- Absolutely.

We talk about measuring the actual travel visitors, which range into the millions of people each year.

And then of course, we talked about visitors that can be a key statistic for what visits and other things, which also range as well into the millions.

So we have people from around the world who are connecting with us on social media by michigan.org, and by other media, that are looking at how they can explore Pure Michigan.

But, when we talk about how many people visit us, we have millions of people from around the country and around the world visiting each year.

- Yes.

Thank you for that.

Dianna, how does one plan, whether we're from Florida, or Texas, or Grand Rapids, how do I plan my visits around this great state of Michigan in general?

- Well, we have a lot of great themes here in Michigan that you can follow along if you have a general interest.

Lighthouses along the Great Lakes is a great thing.

Especially if you're coming from a state not near the water, and you haven't had that experience to go in and do the Lake Michigan Circle Tour, the Lake Huron Circle Tour, the Lake Superior Circle Tour, and visit some of those lighthouses.

We are now a themed state for beverage tourism, whether that's craft beer, cider, wine, or any number of things.

Even coffee tours are showing up now in the state, and those play into our agricultural tours with our farm market visits.

We're the top three state for apples, and for many other agricultural commodities.

So you have the theme area that you can really tie into.

You can come in and visit in geographical areas.

Maybe you're coming in, and you want to visit the woods in the waters of the upper peninsula, or you're looking for more of an urban experience in Detroit or Grand Rapids.

So I think that you have a lot of different ways to theme out your trip here in Michigan.

And, I'm going to tell you right now, Shelley, when I'm traveling the state, even though I've lived here my whole life, there are a lot of things that I don't know and a lot of places that I'm not familiar with, and the two websites that I go to are michigan.org and wmta.org.

So right here we have the experts that can provide all of the resources you need to research that trip, or you can just wing it, drive in, see what attracts your attention, and go that way as well.

- Thank you for that.

All right, Erin, looks like I get a press release or two a day from you.

You are all about hooking your travelers up with the casinos, the zoos and animal experiences.

Tell me more about how you work and a couple of 20, 21 destinations you recommend.

- Absolutely, yeah.

So, again, like I mentioned, we focus all around the west side of the state and really, kind of like Dianna alluded to, there's something for everyone across the entire state, but especially in West Michigan, as well.

If you're a foodie, there's a lot of great restaurants to explore, beverages as well.

If you're looking for fun activities and things to get involved in, whether that's museums and education, performing arts, so many different opportunities and things to get plugged into.

So we kind of like to highlight throughout the course of the year, all different sorts of things as they come up seasonally, as well as just giving an opportunity to highlight bed and breakfasts, and restaurants, and all different types of things that you can get involved in and explore in the great state of Michigan.

So a couple of great destinations we've got, if you're looking to even take a day trip or two, South Haven in Southern Michigan is really a great location.

They've got great restaurants like Taste, which is right downtown, a great little spot for some small plates, martinis, that sort of thing.

Museum destinations like the Michigan Maritime Museum, as well.

That's a great place to start, as well.

- Thank you for that.

All right, Nick, let's let's have you share some favorites.

Take me through each season with one must see.

Starting with the end of summer, what's a fall destination, a winter, and wind me up with a spring.

- I tell you, Dave Lorenz, my colleague at Travel Michigan, always liked to say, "It's impossible to pick out your favorite child, so trying to pick out your favorite spot in Michigan is very difficult."

For me, summer destinations, I spent a number of summers on Mackinac Island in college working there, so that's always going to be a home away from home for me.

I love Mackinac island, but when it comes to exploring things, the Upper Peninsula as a whole, it's just such a tremendous resource.

We have people discovering it now from across the world.

We had, in the summer of 2019, we had a group visit from China, and they went to multiple places in the Upper Peninsula.

If you can picture someone from another continent visiting the Keweenaw Peninsula, and going through Houghton, Copper Harbor, some of these places.

I had a chance to speak with some of the folks in Marquette when we were joining them, and just the reactions from these folks, who have never seen anything like that, was tremendous.

And so, the upper peninsula is such a wonderful destination all year long, but in summer it's fantastic.

For the fall, I like road trips.

I want to get out there and see the colors.

An area that sometimes doesn't get mentioned as often as others is our Sunrise Coast.

So if you're driving along West 23 up the Heritage Trail from Tawa City up to Alpena, and all the way up to the bridge, I can guarantee that's going to be a spectacular drive in the fall.

Along with the rolling hills, you get the colors of the blue water that contrast with the reds, yellows, and oranges, and that's an amazing contrast.

I love that in the fall.

For winter time, the Lower Peninsula, northwest part of the state, up near Petoskey and Harbor Springs, is home to so many wonderful winter destinations.

But, guess what?

I love Gaylord.

Gaylord can be a little surprising for some because they don't visit as often during the wintertime of Gaylord, but I recommend adding that to your list.

Both Tree Tops and Otsego resort are fantastic winter destinations, not just for downhill skiing, but they've got cross country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, all kinds of other aspects.

And then when it comes to spring, I like to get out.

My favorite flower is the trillium, and so I want to find spots, there's obviously the inspiration to get out and do morel hunting and so forth in the spring, but I want to find those hillsides coated in the white trillium.

I know Dianna feels the same way.

So I look for things that are very mid point, and some of them are dunes, or, once again, some of the northwest parts of the state up in Emmett county toward the bridge.

Some of those areas are my favorite hidden gem trails, where I can hike along.

And even here around Grand Rapids, I've been able to find some, and so it's a wonderful place to get out and explore in the spring.

- Thank you for that.

All right, Dianna, let's talk about Hemingway, and I know you are also the lady of the lighthouse and more.

- Well, and it's funny, those two don't mix together very often, but I do appreciate the opportunity to talk about Hemingway.

I'm trying to think.

I can't really point on the screen, but right here on this is where we would find Hemingway's family cottage called Windemere.

His parents had it built in 1899, and he made his first visit here when he was three months old in October of that year.

And, he came back every summer, at least for a portion of that summer, until he got married 100 years ago in Horton bay to Hadley Richardson, and that anniversary of that wedding is coming up.

It's September 3rd, and it's 100 years, and we actually are recreating that wedding reception here in Walloon Lake that night.

We have actors that are going to portray Ernest and Hadley.

They're going to come in by Model T, they're going to welcome their guests.

We're going to have a menu with items that likely would have been served at the actual wedding reception, because the family that owned the Pinehurst Inn, the Dilworth family, gave us recipes.

So we're going to just make it as historic and authentic as we can.

Then we've got a good friend of mine, Scott McKenzie, is going to do it an auction.

We've got a lot of really unique items that have ties to Hemingway.

In fact, yesterday in the mail, I received an autographed copy of "The Paris Wife" by Paula McLain, dedicated to the wedding anniversary itself.

So that's just going to be a big event, and we still have tickets for that.

On Saturday of Labor Day weekend, we're going to unveil in downtown Walloon lake several historical signs that will talk about the history of this community, which was once known as Bear Lake, and then Talcott, before it became Walloon lake in 1900.

And we're going to unveil a very special piece of art on that Saturday.

We have Hemingway through the years where we have actors portraying Earnest at the age of five, a teenage Hemingway, a groom, and then a papa Hemingway, and it's just going to be a really great day there.

It's just part of a year-long Hemingway homecoming that we're celebrating here in Walloon Lake.

Now, once I get through that, my focus turns to things a little bit more spirited, not the drinking kind of spirits that Ernest enjoyed, but the ghostly kind.

And so I'll be out promoting my book, "Michigan's Haunted Lighthouses", and sharing stories at libraries all over the state of Michigan, and doing book events, even doing a three-day windjammer cruise on the tall ship, Manitou, where we will visit some of the lighthouses.

They didn't even need to give a shout out to WMTA, because it was when I was there that I learned first about Michigan lighthouses, and helped produce the Lake Michigan Circle Tour magazine, and that kind of became the hook that got me into all the lighthouse history, which then led me to the haunted part.

And even Nick and I've worked on lighthouse tour programs in the past, as well.

So it's going to be a really busy fall season, but I'm looking forward to getting back out there and meeting with people, and sharing stories and getting back out on the road.

- Wonderful.

Tell me you, Erin, about expansion into resources.

If I wanted to bike some trails, if I wanted to hike some trails, swim in some lakes, do you have those resources for me online or in hard copy?

- Absolutely, yeah.

So kind of going off of what Dianna was just talking about and referencing our lighthouse map, we do have a physical copy of that, that you can request on our website wmta.org.

That's going to show you all of the lighthouses surrounding Lake Michigan, and the circle tour driving routes.

So it's a great way to see more than 100 lighthouses, all of the islands, attractions, parks, all the different things that you can see.

That is available digitally, but if you like to have a physical hard copy, like I mentioned, you can request those as well.

And again, in terms of other resources, our website is full of different highlights for things like state parks and different restaurants to visit, where to stay, activities like camping and adventure travel for the adventure seekers out there, animal encounters, whatever your interest is.

We, throughout the year, put out content on our website wmta.org.

So frequently checking that and our social media page, as well, is a great way to see all of the different opportunities available in West Michigan.

- Yes.

The casinos, the festivals, and certainly more.

Nick, back to you and the good work certainly that you do.

How important is that we do either stay-cate, or travel our own state of Michigan.

I don't need specific dollar numbers, but tourists, the industry obviously must have taken a hit in 2020.

How important is it that we take advantage of our Wolverine State?

I'm leaving a question.

(laughs) - Well, there's no question about it, Shelley.

Last spring, in March, we had a campaign called Support Local Michigan, and it was very important for not only our friends to travel from outside the state, but for Michiganders to travel within the state this year, and to support local residents and businesses in your neighborhoods as well.

For me personally, I reside in Grand Rapids, I've worked in Lansing, and so it's natural for me to support businesses in those towns, but I also travel regularly to Detroit.

I love the city.

I love the entertainment opportunities, the restaurants.

One of my favorite bars, I'll give a shout out, the Grand Trunk Pub in downtown Detroit, fantastic Michigan beer selection.

So going to places like that, and then on the west side of the state here in Kalamazoo, Holland, Muskegon, Grand Haven, those are the places that we take regular visits to.

Where, is it important to, do you want to take a week long vacation, you want to travel a little further than once in an hour?

It's good to get up there and spend a week long on a lake, whether it's on Lake Michigan, or somewhere in the UP, as mentioned earlier.

But, yes let's get out and support our state as much as we can, and our neighbors.

- Yes.

We haven't mentioned swimming, biking, and running, and we know that there are many athletic events, as well.

Dianna, take me, of course, the swimming, biking, running usually ends with a beer festival visit.

Tell me more about the beer festivals that we have.

- Yes.

Well, hopefully I am able to lure, maybe Nick, up to the Upper Peninsula right after Labor Day, September 11th is the return of the Upper Peninsula Fall Beer Festival in downtown Marquette, presented by the Michigan Brewers Guild.

It's been a really rough time, lost a couple of breweries during the pandemic, but we have 85 different breweries that'll be there pouring beer as we bring that festival back right along the shore of Lake Superior.

I'm not gonna lie, you're not supposed to say your favorite festival, but this is one of mine, just because of the location right there along Lake Superior.

Then we are bringing back our Detroit Fall Beer Festival, which will be on Saturday, October 23rd at Eastern Market.

Another great treasure here in the state, this historic bar market, downtown Detroit.

So we will be, having those events, but we also have over 300 breweries in the state of Michigan.

We ranked number four in the nation for the number of breweries.

So, if you can't make it out to one of these festivals, you can go out and visit the breweries directly.

A lot of them pivoted and became outdoor venues at the onset of the pandemic, and they're keeping them around because they found out those beer gardens and those outdoor spaces are really inviting to bring people in.

And so, we encourage people to go out and visit their city, USA right there in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo, Ann Arbor, also rated among the top beer cities in the state of Michigan.

- And I know you practice what you preach again, credible.

There we are.

Erin, I had a question from a Facebook friend, they have a three and a six year old, "Where do I go with my three and six year old that won't bore the parents?"

- There's some great options available.

One that immediately comes to mind is up in Ludington, there is something called Jump Around Fun Center, which is an inflatable obstacle course and climbing structures for guests of all ages.

So including kids and parents, there's adult jumping fun centers as well, virtual reality experiences, it's a great opportunity.

And of course, while you're up in Ludington, there's the beautiful beach, there's the lighthouse, there's all sorts of really great opportunities up in Ludington to enjoy.

There are a couple of museums as well, too.

One that comes to mind is the Historic White Pine Village, where it's actually 30 historical buildings from the late 1800s and early 1900s with first person interpreters that you can interact with, learning about the history.

So it's a little bit of something different for kids to get to interact and enjoy, as well as parents and adults getting to learn some history.

There's some great restaurants up in Ludington, as well.

It's just a beautiful place to be.

So that's definitely one that comes to mind first off.

- Great.

Nick, how are we doing with our Rails-to-Trails system here in this great state of Michigan?

- Well, I want to get to that in a quick second, but a quick plug adding onto what Erin mentioned, the Kalamazoo Air Zoo in Kalamazoo, and the Henry Ford, couple of examples where mom and dad will be excited to visit, as well, but the kids will be wide-eyed and in wonder, to see the wonderful attractions of those places.

They'll see our cultural attractions, and the whole family can enjoy.

So, thank you for mentioning trails, because we launched, earlier this summer, a series called Pure Michigan Trail.

We know outdoor recreation is important to a lot of people right now.

They want to get out and do things outdoors, if they can do with their family, and with their friends, and get together and do something that, maybe in an area that's a little more secluded, all to themselves, but also still experiencing the beauty of Pure Michigan.

And so, we now have three videos at michigan.org/puremichigantrails, and one is Sleeping Bear Heritage Trail, up in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

Another is the Chain of Lakes Water Trail up in Antrim County, in which you can paddle 100 miles of water trail through lakes and streams, and see all kinds of different things.

Another is Polly Ann Trail, a recreational trail in Oakland county in Southeast Michigan.

So the goal with the series is to provide recreation opportunities, once again, for our in-state residents, as well as to our out-of-state visitors.

So get outside and Michigan's trails, and learn how you can do that.

- Great.

How do we find out more about you and yours, Nick?

- Oh, michigan.org, Tim Allen always said, "Your trip begins at michigan.org", but please visit michigan.org, and discover all the opportunities for all those four seasons we discussed earlier.

- Thank you for that.

Dianna Stampfler, what do you leave us with?

- Well, you know what, Shelley, when you and I had our regular radio show, one of the things that I did with you was often encourage listeners to do something new, go somewhere new.

We have a vast state.

So while you may have your favorites, let's find something unique in a different place.

Maybe you're going to go visit the covered bridges in the Kent County area.

Maybe you're going to go and visit, maybe you've never been to the Air Zoo in Kalamazoo.

Make a list of a few things that you've never done, like your travel bucket list, and let's get out and find a new place.

Love the places that you love, but let's find something new, because you might find a new hidden gem that you've never heard of before or seen, and you might have something new to add to your favorite list.

- I'll take a different dog to each place, how's that?

That'll add to it.

- Dianna, how do we find out about you and yours?

- Well, if you log onto promotemichigan.com, you can find out about what I'm up to.

You can learn about my book tour and all of the upcoming library presentations.

I'll be everywhere from the Western Upper Peninsula, down to the Metro Detroit area.

So you can come and see me on the road, promotemichigan.com.

- Super.

And, I know if we talk again, your pictures behind you will probably be of the season that we talk in.

So you're media savvy.

Thank you for you.

Erin Murphy, spend a little time saying goodbye to us, and tease us to travel Michigan, please.

- Yeah, absolutely.

So a great way to learn more about us is to head to our website, wmta.org.

We've got lots of information, like I alluded to earlier, depending on the season, what you're interested in, attractions, restaurants, lodging, anything like that.

We've got lots of information there and definitely be sure to check us out.

We've got lots of information, both physically, we've got our travel guides available, as well as our lighthouse maps, all sorts of things for you to get involved in and learn more about.

- Yes.

Now, if we were to do this again, Erin, and you would put a background behind you, what would be your favorite background?

- You know Holland, I think you took it.

So I think that's definitely one for sure, as we approach and get more into the fall, I definitely, like Nick mentioned, love the colors and just the beauty that's all around.

Cideries and going to orchards are great, as well.

So definitely next time we speak, we'll have something a little bit different behind me, as well, to be appropriate for the season.

- Well, we should do this on a quarterly basis so that we can peek into the windows behind you.

And, just with a minute left, I do have to mention, Nick, if you can represent travel safe with our COVID-19 restrictions, still among many of us.

- Absolutely.

We know we can all travel safely, and one of our biggest pieces of advice is to make sure you check with the local communities you'd be visiting, and the local destinations you'll be staying at or visiting, to make sure that you are aligned with their local guidelines.

- Great.

- And be patient, be kind, and be respectful of people when you travel.

That's the big message that I want to put out there.

- Yes.

And what would you ask Ernest Hemingway if you had lunch with him, Dianna?

- Oh my gosh.

On Nick's behalf, I would ask him where the best fishing spots are.

- You stole my line!

(Shelley laughs) - Do I know you, or what?

(Nick laughs) - You all get along, that's what's important here in our great state of Michigan.

Thank you for your time talking.

- Thank you, Shelley.

- Thank you, Shelley.

- You're welcome.

- Thank you so much, Shelley.

- Thank you for traveling, and watching.

You take care.

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