Why Bronco Nation should travel to the MSU Game

One is the game it’s self but here I offer other reasons. If there is one thing I have witnessed about Bronco Nation is all things considered when it comes to  Bronco Nation they travel to more than just the game. When I went to the V-Tech game my first clue to what I would see once I got to DC became apparent in Gettysburg 1 hour north of DC when one in 5 people I saw walking the battle fields were dress in Blue and Orange.
While I was impressed by the numbers I saw specially days before the game when we finally arrived in DC it looked like a Bronco Nation takeover of all the major site seeing locals. While I cannot attest to the Atlanta game I can certainly see by the number of wall post Bronco nation leading up to the game and after the game dominated the local club scene.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=OWPytpwcMC8

Michigan offers much to my fellow Bronco’s to take in, whether it be the Henry Ford Museum or Greenfield village.  Both must see locals. Metro Detroit it’s self-offers a look in to what remains of what made America the industrial power house that lead the world in to the 21^st century. While there are many big cities in America there are few that are as old and as large a geographically . From Factory tours to site seeing to what remains of the old Jazz clubs to the Big House all within an hour’s drive of each other. One could spend a month here and you still wouldn’t be able to take in 10% of places worthy of your time. The fact however is Michigan offers much more than just the big old cities, in fact most Michiganders would tell you stay out of the cities all together. While many would point to the west side of the state, most visited by out of statesfor their endless beaches on Lake Michigan and locals like the ones featured in American Pie. On the West side of the state you have endless fishing and charter boat opportunities and I should add the best Salmon fishing will be at its peak with King’s sizes in excess of 20 lb’s. From South Harbor to the Grand Travis and on to Petoskey the sites the people the bed & breakfasts rival anything anywhere in the world. Guaranteed rest and relaxation and tons of enjoyment, If you want to experience harbors go to Petoskey where you will find the Petoskey stone. The Petoskey stone is only found there, a fossil dating back to the first life on the plant and the feature of the old age of the land it’s self will speak to you the more you travel north.

The inner parts of Lower Michigan are full of hidden gems like the Chippewa Nature center in Midland to the national forest locations. While many in Idaho know Idaho has more National forest then any of the lower 48, I bet what you didn’t know is Michigan is second in that honor. Most of the northern part of the Lower Peninsula is National Forest it’s what we call the U.P that is home to most of Michigan’s National forest.

Knowing what I know about Michigan if I was to advise one on must see, I would tell you the 4 hour drive north from Metro Detroit to the Bridge is a must! I would not fail in the opportunity to go to the Might Mac then on to Mackinaw Island. While Mackinaw city has a nice fort that dates back before the revolutionary war I would proceed over the bridge and spend my main land side time in St Ignatius, this where Michiganders go and depart from to go to the Island. Over the course of my life I have visited the Island no less than 20 times and I could go back 20 more and still have reason do it again.

Once over the Bridge things you must try out the food offerings unique to the U.P. Yoopers (what we folks from the UP are call) make what is called a Paste and if you venture out you will find Paste shops everywhere. In this writers opinion however the best Pasties are found far west of the bridge in Escanaba, a city made famous in the movie Escanaba in Da Moonlight, if you haven’t watched that movie by all means do. If you at all intend to travel north and over the bridge, the smoked white fish is the best you will ever have of any smoked fish, so is the world famous Mackinaw fudge are also must eat. Frankly as Gordon Lightfoot said Michigan streams like a young man’s dreams, is still certainly true and it would be almost impossible for me to give you any kind comprehensive description of things to do as it is I have left out Alpena, the Saginaw bay area Port Austin, Tawas and the Sabu river, Thunder Bay Sault St Marie, white fish bay, Picture Rocks, Marquette Harbor, the Houghton Area and Michigan’s only National Park Isle Royale National Park.

Back in 2004 my in-laws from Pocatello came out, while we barely scratch the surface I will say the places that most impacted my father in-law (being he was a Simplot’s man) wasn’t just all the massive manufacturing sites but to go to his beloved Cummings Diesel plant where all Cummings Diesel engines are built, you would of though he was a Muslim on a Hajj. I took them north were we spent 3 days in St. Igneous and on the Island; we also chartered a boat and did some salmon fishing around the island on lake Huron. On our final night there it was a close call on whether my father in-law would ever leave. Late in the evening we found them siting overlooking the lake in deep compellation of selling their home and moving there seeing how he was already retired it was an option he had. In the end he ask why homes there were so cheap , that’s when I explained in about another 4 weeks snow would start falling the lake would freeze over and with the wind blowing in from the lakes the average daily tempt until June would be below 40. So he returned to the desert of south eastern Idaho 😉 .

I’m sure after reading this when I tell you that Michigan’s second largest industry is tourism you can now begin to understand why. while I didn’t even scratch the surface of what this game offers as an opportunity for fellow Bronco Nation members in experiencing new places and new sites as well as culture, speaking of culture Michigan is as diverse in culture as it is tourist locations if one was to travel to all the states different cultural areas from the Dutch west side to the Germen Mid East to the frwnch and Polish communities to the Finish and frwnch UP one would find different accents and slang in every section of the state as if the people spoke a different language. Just as the mountains of the west had made travel difficult the once great forest and swamps along with the Lakes left many early Michiganders isolated from the rest of the state for centuries this has resulted in a great modern day tourist experience that I highly recommend to par take of.