A far cry from being just an automobile state, Michigan has the attractions to make it a four season destination. Its 3,200 mile shoreline with beaches, dunes and cliffs rival any to found along the pacific or Atlantic seacoasts. The Great Lakes have water activities galore including excellent fishing and boating. The Lower Peninsula is home to almost all of the population and all of its industry. Detroit is the most significant city and the auto capital of the world. The city hosts the Motown Museum and the Detroit Cultural Center. Dearborn boasts The Henry Ford Museum, Greenfield Village and The Automotive Hall of Fame. About an hour west of Detroit is the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Holland was settles in the mid -1800s by religious dissents for the Netherlands. A clog factory and the necessary windmill top off the essential imagery. Mackinac Island is an enchanting, nostalgic outcropping which is a delight to visitors. Nonessential motorized vehicles are banned so you may want to engage one of the horse drawn buggies to sport about town. The Upper Peninsula is not well populated. Its most important features and points of interest are the Keewanaw Peninsula, Isle Royal National Park and the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.
Capital: Lansing
Population: 9, 295, 297
Area: 96, 810 square miles
Time: Eastern Time
Geography: The state is divided by Lake Michigan but connected by bridge by US route 75. The Lower Peninsula is surrounded by Lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie and to the south is bordered by Ohio and Indiana. The state is both flat and hilly in the south and mostly forest in the north.
Climate
The Lower Peninsula on the Lower Peninsula is strongly influenced by the "lake effects" of the surrounding Great Lakes. Winters tens to get a lot of snow and breezes help to lower summer temperatures. The fall and spring are very pleasant and mild. The Upper Peninsula is very cold during the winter and generally warm and pleasant in the summer months. |
