Check out some great Midwest-related stories I found online this past month:
Les Cheneaux Islands: Dancing Waters B&B-I've followed Loreen's tales of her trek around the Great Lakes on her 1000-Mile Great Lakes Adventures blog for quite some time. It was a lot of fun to discover that she "followed" us to the Dancing Waters B&B in Cedarville, Michigan. I loved seeing photos of owners Jim and Betty and the progress Jim's made in the past year on the B&B addition.
Oddball Michigan: A Guide to 450 Really Strange Places-Jessie reviews this book, which is definitely screaming my name, on the Wandering Educators blog. We love strange stops, like the Teenie Weenie Pickle Barrel Cottage featured in this review, and the quirkier, the better.
Grand Traverse Commons Tour: A Popular Tourist Attraction-Touring the former mental hospital buildings at Traverse City, Michigan has long been on my bucket list, although we did manage to visit the grave of the famed Traverse Colantha Walker (a champion milk cow) on the grounds of this mixed-use development. Mike has tour info at the Traverse City True North blog.
The Last Covered Bridge in Wisconsin: Cedarburg-I love covered bridges and cringe when one falls victim to vandals, a hit-and-run or simply crumbles because of the ravages of time. We have so few of these covered spans in Michigan (arsonists recently destroyed one, and another suffered damage when an over-sized construction vehicle hit it), so I was particularly interested in Kenneth's story about the Cedarburg Bridge on the Wisconsin Explorer blog.
14 Things to do in South Dakota-We found plenty to do when we traveled through South Dakota, and I see that Deb and her family also enjoyed places like Wall Drug, Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, and Corn Palace that Tim and I enjoyed on our travels. Check out her story at Just Short of Crazy.
Historic Park Inn: Last Remaining Frank Lloyd Wright Hotel-Connie takes readers on a tour of a Frank Lloyd Wright-designed hotel in Mason City, Iowa. The structure, built as a bank in the early 1900s, went through decades of neglect after the bank failed and the building remained mostly empty. A dedicated group of locals raised enough money to restore the building for use as a hotel and, in 2011, the historic hotel reopened to the public. Check out the story (and lots of photos!) at the Midwest Wanderer blog.
Rockford Offers Collection of Unique Architecture-Chere ventured north from her home in Louisiana to check out some cool Frank Lloyd Wright homes and buildings in Rockford, Illinois. Check out her story about Rockford and its many attractions (gotta love a place that claims to be home to the Sock Monkey!) at the Louisiana Road Trips blog.
Dubuque Incline is a Historical Ride-I loved the views we had of downtown Pittsburgh while riding the Duquesne Incline, and I loved reading about Tim and Lisa's ride on a similar incline in Dubuque, Iowa. Like the inclines in Pittsburgh, the Dubuque Incline opened during the late 1800s as a way to ease the trek between places in a hilly town. Check out their story at The Walking Tourists blog.
My Midwest: Summertime in Indy-Lisa found some great things to see and do in Indianapolis, a town that seems to be experiencing a rejuvenation in attitude and revitalized, or new, attractions. The new eight-mile Cultural Trail through town and a chance to ride a gondola with singing gondoliers especially sounds like fun to me! Check it out at the LL World Tour blog.
Edith Head's Hollywood Costumes Will Show You How to Dress for Success-I'm a fan of classic movies and costumes (check out my Vintage Fun board on Pinterest if you doubt me!), so I loved Bee's story about an exhibit featuring the work of the famed Hollywood costume designer at the Decorative Arts Center of Ohio in Lancaster. I may not be able to get down to this exhibit before it closes in mid-August, but I'm enjoying the photos and story at beesfirstappearance blog.
Quirky Attraction: Michael Jackson's Birth Home-Scott shares the story of visiting the gloved one's birthplace in Gary, Indiana on his Quirky Travel Guy blog. Jackson's story still fascinates fans and others five years after his untimely death in June, 2009, and Scott tells his readers that fans still stop by to see the site. I know that the story I wrote about a tribute headstone in a Detroit cemetery (which is not Jackson's actual burial place) still draws interested readers today.
That's it for this month's Midwest travel links list. Do you have any favorite Midwest stories or blogs to share?
Want more Midwest news and links? Subscribe to my bi-monthly Midwest Guest newsletter!
© Dominique King 2014 All rights reserved
Thank you so much for sharing my link! This is a great list. Off to read the other articles.
Posted by: deb | July 03, 2014 at 11:23 AM
Thanks, deb! I do this monthly list partly as a way to keep on track with reading others' writing about Midwest travel, and I've found a lot of great stories/writers this way :)
Posted by: Dominique King | July 05, 2014 at 07:04 AM
what a fantastic list - thanks for including me!
Posted by: wanderingeducators | July 08, 2014 at 10:22 AM