OT - Michigan Fall Traditions Besides Football
Mates,
Michigan is the greatest school, and it is in the greatest state. Besides our beloved football team there is so much to do during the fall. For the hunters on mgoblog, today was the bow opener for deer. Up north it is absolutely crystal clear, 33 degrees. No deer for me this morning, though the coyotes were nearby and a squirrel nearly sat on my head as I sat in my tree stand. It is also grouse, goose and duck season.
For those who prefer beauty without weapons, salmon season is here, fall colors soon, and apple cider all on our door step.
Rejoice because it is football season and our team is on a powerful ascendency, but rejoice too because fall in Michigan is unmatched anywhere. Share your fall traditions, and Go blue!
XM
October 1st, 2015 at 8:56 AM ^
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October 1st, 2015 at 8:58 AM ^
One of my fondest childhood fall memories was picking apples, and eating fresh donuts with apple cider. Hendersonville, NC has this as well, but it just doesn't seem to quite match the Michigan memories from childhood.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:01 AM ^
Hendersonville has/had a place called Camp Pinnacle. Spent many a summer there, in the 70s. Still exists?
October 1st, 2015 at 11:22 AM ^
Thanks for the link.
October 10th, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^
October 1st, 2015 at 8:59 AM ^
Go pick my own apples (in Colwater, when I was younger) and then make pie and watch football. Best apples in the world.
October 1st, 2015 at 12:39 PM ^
Saw this and wondered if you were from Cwater MI...if you are hey....may know ya!
October 1st, 2015 at 9:00 AM ^
My girlfriend is in Med School. One thing I always look forward to is putting on some music, cooking a damn good crockpot meal, buy some cider, and give her a reason to take a break from the books. God I love fall.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^
A hook may not be a weapon to you, but my guess is that the salmon may disagree.
Also, Wasem's Orchard in Milan has the best donuts in Michigan.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:46 AM ^
Yes they do. We're going there on Sunday and I'm gonna eat so many. My kid's school is taking a field trip there in a few weeks...I'm tempted to go.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:02 AM ^
I had a professional conference that used to meet on Mackinac Island in the fall every few years. It was the best time of the year to be there because the place was essentially deserted but everything was open. I would carve out some time to walk around the inner trails.
Michigan in the fall is difficult to explain to people from other states. I'm more homesick now than during any other season.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:16 AM ^
Amen brother. People from many other states just don't get that there's more seasons than summer and winter. In my old job I was in a mix of people from all around the country due to it being a military base, and the people from the South immediately started bitching about its being too cold and depressing once September hit, and the people from the West lamented no beaches or mountains depending on what part they were from, and the New England region folk just started prepping for winter right away. But the folks from Michigan and Ohio and to a lesser extent Pennsylvania understood that Fall was the best time of year and would cash in most of our vacation time during that season than any other. It blew my coworkers mind. Late season fishing, camping, football Saturdays, cider mills, leaving your windows open at night and smelling the trees and fall air while you fall asleep, cheap golf with a little frost to avoid in the mornings, beginning of hunting season... it's just spectacular.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:42 AM ^
leaving your windows open at night and smelling the trees and fall air while you fall asleepHere, here. Evening walks with the leaves crunching beneath your feet. Watching your children delight in playing in piles of raked up leaves. Autumn is the best time of year.
October 1st, 2015 at 10:03 AM ^
Agree here as well. I moved back to Michigan from Florida a couple years ago and am loving it. Nothing better than walking the dog at night in the crisp Autumn air. As a kid I could play in a leaf pile for hours...now my kids do as well. Picking apples. Donuts & cider. Chili. Slowly transitioning to darker beers. Busting out the fleeces/sweaters. Foliage hikes (without mosquitos). Fall festivals. Toasted pumpkin seeds. Local homecoming parade before Friday night lights. And I know it is frowned upon in some areas now, but I actually enjoy the (faint) smell of leaves burning.
Missing Fall was by far the hardest part about living in the South.
October 1st, 2015 at 10:01 AM ^
the New England region folk just started prepping for winter right away.Who are these people from New England that don't recognize fall? Fall in New England, like Michigan, is famously beautiful and a lot of people come up to see the changing leaves...
October 1st, 2015 at 10:31 AM ^
Mass-holes who have resumed their 90-year old tradition of hating life since the Red Sox have pissed away another season.
October 1st, 2015 at 11:02 AM ^
here is the absence of Masshole tourists. Can't stand them.
That aside, fall here is also awesome. However, there is no one around here to talk college football with. That (and high taxes & Massholes) is the worst part of living in New England.
October 1st, 2015 at 1:11 PM ^
Totally going to Maine this Winter out of spite. :-)
October 1st, 2015 at 2:57 PM ^
Eh, I don't think that people are too pissed about it up here. Winning those three World Series has certainly softened things on that front. Also, all of that energy has gone into defending Tom Brady.
October 1st, 2015 at 2:04 PM ^
I've been to northern Vermont in early October and it is absolutely beautiful.
My favorite childhood memory of fall in Michigan was the intoxicating smell of burning leaves. Unfortunately in the suburban area I now live there have been laws against burning your own leaves for years. But i've got one of those contained firepit things and I burn them there to get that smell. It's like nature's incense....ahhhhhh.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^
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October 1st, 2015 at 9:04 AM ^
You sounded like Dick Proenneke in this post. And that is not at all a bad thing, he was THEE badass outdoorsman.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:06 AM ^
We used to go to the Franklin cider mill (Bloomfield Hills) Saturday morning before an away game - cider, donuts and apples paired very nicely while watching Michigan dominate. Love fall!
October 1st, 2015 at 10:35 AM ^
We go to Franklin cider mill each year. We wait until October, when the cider is a little richer and we can get pumpkins. Happy Michigan fall everyone!
October 1st, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^
Such a cool tradition when I was a kid. We would get back home with the cider mill goods, and my dad would fire up the MMB (on a record!), and then just before the Michigan game we would watch a VHS tape of the pregame to the Ohio State - Michigan game from 1986 or 1987 (I believe) with the Rocky theme song in the background to get pumped. For a 7 year old, there could be nothing better!
October 1st, 2015 at 10:54 AM ^
I try to go during the week after work as the parking is insane on the weekends. Still my favorite cider mill, but their prices have gotten a bit out of hand. I think an apple pie, delicious though it was, cost about $20.
Also, they were selling jams made in OHIO, not Michigan. I made a bit of a scene about that.
Kids like it though, mostly because they can feed the ducks.
October 1st, 2015 at 11:35 AM ^
I fed the ducks all the time when I was a kid. I haven't been to the Franklin cider mill in several years. I miss those fresh donuts.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:11 AM ^
You posit that salmon fishing doesn't involve weaponry. On behalf of Addie Bundren (at least in the eyes of Vardaman Bundren), and other fish everywhere, I disagree sir.
But to your general point, I agree whole-heartedly. I'm looking forward to returning with my family to the motherland in a week, so that I can soak in the wonder that is October in Michigan. Would that I could take a ride down Huron River Drive on this trip! Cycling in Michigan in October is just the best - provided you don't get shot by an over-eager hunter.
That part sucks, unless you're Greg Lemonde*. Then getting shot just seems to make you more awesome.
*I realize he was not cycling when shot, and not in Michigan when shot. But to win the TDF twice after being shot? Not too shabby.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
and fishing is just hunting without explosives (well, for most of us), but i was making the point that it is a different type of experience than deer/bird hunting.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:25 AM ^
A recent conversation with my elderly father:
EM: I saw that there were some brook trout in that stream, but they're so hard to catch.
EM's F: No they're not.
EM: Oh no, they're really wary. Maybe the toughest fish to get on line in fresh water.
EM's F: Well, we caught a bunch when I was a kid. Just went down to the hardware store, got a quarter stick of dynamite, threw it in the stream, and they'd float to the top just like any other fish. Nothing special about 'em.
October 1st, 2015 at 10:33 AM ^
Bow-fishing is legal in Michigan.
October 1st, 2015 at 12:11 PM ^
using my bow once. that's harder than you think, or at least i thought it was.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:09 AM ^
after 12+ years of being in that state down south. I've got a wife originally form Michigan as well, and two young kids, so the first thing we established as a new tradition for fall was Cider Mill Sundays. Living in the Ann Arbor area, there's like 15 cider mills within 30 minutes. We've hit a different one every Sunday since Sep 6 and will continue until they close. It's glorious.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:13 AM ^
We essentially did the same when we were living in Ann Arbor. Make sure you hit the Dexter Cider Mill - my personal favorite. They have the best apple pies. We moved a year ago, and damn I miss it!
October 1st, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
Dexter Cider Mill
Plymouth Orchards
Diehls
Wassem Fruit Farm (first time visiting... I'd put their donuts third behind Dexter & Diehls, but they get bonus points for multiple flavors of donuts and having the "donut river machine" in view of the kids)
Next up:
Parshalville
Wiards
Yates (near where I grew up)
October 1st, 2015 at 10:25 PM ^
October 1st, 2015 at 9:47 AM ^
October 1st, 2015 at 9:14 AM ^
I feel this question is similar to "Name 5 things that are not Jackie Chan"
October 1st, 2015 at 9:15 AM ^
that I'm a bit disappointed the squirrel didn't actually sit on your head, but I still find you to be the most interesting man in Michigan. Well, 2nd, because HARBAUGH.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:26 AM ^
if i hadn't purposefully raised my hand slightly to alert it to my presence. when you bow hunt you are in camo from head to toe and basically motionless. lots of creatures come by a tree stand even if the deer don't. it is very cool.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:53 AM ^
October 1st, 2015 at 1:30 PM ^
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October 1st, 2015 at 5:08 PM ^
come on up north, bring the family and the boat.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:20 AM ^
to the hometown orchard and pick up some fresh apple cider. While I'm there I wait for a fresh batch of cinnamon donuts to be made. I get home with warm donuts and warm up the cider and my daughter and I sit on the front porch and watch the rabits and sometimes deer walk the property. Go back inside, there's a slight chill in the house from the fall weather and watch College Gameday. Best Saturdays ever.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:21 AM ^
Growing up in Michigan has made fall my absolute favorite time of year. Even living in Florida where there is nothing remotely resembling fall, I still love it. Moving to Maryland which actually has a fall season thank goodness.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:22 AM ^
I put pumpkin spices in my Thunderbird.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:27 AM ^
better hold off on that.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:36 AM ^
(insert MGoConservative rant about MGoLiberal)
-For MGoStudents, don't forget to walk through the arb at least one when the leaves start to change.
-To those mentioning crock pot meals: YES! If you're too embarassed to say you used a crock pot, just call it a slow cooker. Guys, you literally can't screw this meal up. There are only two settings: high and low. Get your ladies a pumpkin spice latte (PSL) while you're at it ;)
-Lots of cider mills, corn mazes (maizes), and pie in the Ann Arbor area. Haunted houses and haunted corn mazes will start popping up soon.
-The smell of fall, particularly burning leaves and burning wood. Who's got it better than us?
-Wear flannel once a week.
-Get hot chocolate and sit outside.
-Start using beer koozies just because your hands are cold.
October 1st, 2015 at 9:38 AM ^
For my Tribe, it is fall hunting season that brings all the guys together. Many are liberal and many are conservative. Some guys I only see once per year. However, it is deer camp where all the politics are left at the door. We are there for good food, good lies and good friends.