Here's a quick look at the most-visited links, in order, at Midwest Guest in 2013:
Visit the Fiesta factory in Newell, West Virginia (originally published August 9, 2011) - I've always loved Fiesta dishes, and this is the story about our visit to the Homer Laughlin Company factory store in West Virginia. It's also a brief history of the company and the nineteenth-century pottery industry centered just across the Ohio River in East Liverpool, Ohio. This story topped the most-visited list in 2012 and again tops the list for 2013.
Foodie Finds: 5 Best Places to eat around Saugatuck, Michigan (originally published December 11, 2011) -This list of Saugatuck foodie suggestions is a guest post written by Jessie Voigts of Wandering Educators. I love Jessie's emphasis on unique and locally owned restaurants and deeply appreciated this post and others she did to help me keep Midwest Guest going in the wake of my dad's death.
The mystery of Benzie County's Putney Road (originally published October 28, 2010) -We'd always heard about this particular spot in northern Michigan where it appears that your car goes uphill and backwards when you put it into neutral. We finally tested it out one day. Tim drove to the appointed spot and put the car into neutral as I took a short video of the proceedings.
Canyon Falls and Gorge: The "Grand Canyon of Michigan's Upper Peninsula" (originally published June 29, 2010) -This pretty little roadside park just off of U.S. 41 near Baraga on the Sturgeon River in the Upper Peninsula features a short hike past a series of small rapids and waterfalls along the river that include the 15-foot-tall Canyon Falls and on through a canyon that is pretty impressive considering its location in a state not known for deep canyons or gorges.
Indiana in a jar, Sechler's Pickles factory store (originally published April 30, 2009) - I've never quite figured out the appeal of this particular story about our accidental discovery of a pickle store along the highway in northern Indiana. It held the top spot for my most-visited story at Midwest Guest for a couple of years after I first wrote it. It placed on last year's most-visited list at number 5, which is where it sits again this year. We also re-visited the store early this year.
War Dog tribute stands tall in South Lyon, Michigan (originally published March 29, 2012) -This is the tale of a unique memorial in metro Detroit honoring some of the most unsung war heroes in our country and the volunteers working to restore and respectfully maintain the site to help preserve those stories.
Photo Friday: Motown remembers Michael Jackson (originally published July 31, 2009) -I wrote this story about a unique Detroit memorial to the multi-talented entertainer shortly after his death in July of 2009. Even as Jackson has been gone for more than four years, interest in this story remains strong. It was the fourth most-visited Midwest Guest post last year, and still makes it to the number seven spot this year.
Michigan's Grindstone City as Grindstone Capital of the World (originally published March 22, 2011) -My dad often brought spent grinding wheels home from his shop to use as planters or flower bed borders when I was a kid, so Grindstone City in Michigan's Thumb and the grindstones decorating the yards of homes there always held a certain fascination for me. This is a short history of the town and includes a few images of grindstones used in landscaping. It's also worth noting that I did get back to Grindstone City to sample the ice cream mentioned in this story as well!
Visiting Detroit's William Livingstone Memorial Lighthouse on Belle Isle (originally published June 3, 2010) -This marble memorial lighthouse is unique among lighthouses in Michigan and across the nation with its cool, Art Deco design by famed architect Albert Kahn. This is a real Detroit gem.
The mystery of Turtle Town USA: Churubusco, Indiana (originally published July 12, 2012)-This tale of Oscar the turtle, reputed to be a giant turtle weighing as much as 500 pounds that lived in a farmer's pond near this northern Indiana town, brought plenty of fame to Churubusco in the very late 1800s and through the mid-twentieth century. The story remains the inspiration for a popular festival and the town's identity as Turtle Town USA.
Great eats in Munising, Michigan (originally published July 30, 2013) -This collection of capsule restaurant reviews in and near the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore in Michigan's Upper Peninsula ran pretty much in a dead-heat for the last spot on this list with the story of Churubusco's turtle, making it also the top traffic earner of my stories written this year, despite being posted mid-year. I suspect much of the interest in this story comes from a couple of strong U.P. themed groups on Facebook, as well as the fact that people simply seem to like food posts (witness the Saugatuck story as the number 2 spot on this list!).
Last year, none of my 2012-written stories made the most-visited list, so I included a story written that year as one of my favorite stories that I felt might remain a strong traffic draw in coming years. This year, I'm including a 2013 story that represented a bit of a departure for me in that it is an intimate first-person account of one of the most powerful travel experiences we'd had in a long time.
Follow the North Star at Conner Prairie (originally published April 9, 2013) -This intense experience at Indiana's Conner Prairie gives participants at least a small understanding of the flight of runaway slaves as they followed the Underground Railroad to, hopefully, freedom. This program at the interactive history park near Indianapolis isn't for everyone. It's emotionally and physically exhausting. But it's an experience that is important if you want to understand one of the most shameful chapters our country's history. The innovative and immersive program runs during the months of April and November at the museum each year.
© Dominique King 2013 All rights reserved
So much to see and do - thanks for the highlights!
Posted by: wanderingeducators | January 04, 2014 at 07:32 PM