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Gourmet Michigan products in unique gift baskets. Great tasting jams, dried cherries, Sanders chocolates, caramel corn, Michigan fudge, and much more.

All Things Michigan

Michigan travels, events, photos, and more

We will be closed the week of June 14-21, 2009

Andrew Norton

Just a quick programming note - we're taking our first summer vacation in a few years the week of June 14-21, 2009. Any orders placed during that week will not ship until June 22nd. I think it has been four years since we shut down for a week in the summer to get away and we are looking forward to traveling in our beautiful state for a week. I'll be taking tons of photos and doing some investigating (okay, sampling and snacking) for new products to fill our Michigan gift baskets. Good thing we plan on lots of hiking or I might come back ten pounds heavier due to all of my sampling "work." I should have some great Michigan travel ideas and lesser known destinations upon our return.

Thank you for your business & have a Great Day!

Andrew Norton, Owner

Detroit's role in winning World War II

Andrew Norton

With the approach of the 65th anniversary of D-Day and the trouble the auto industry has been facing as of late I was interested in learning more about Detroit's role in producing the products of war. This post was also inspired by this snippet in the Detroit Free Press. Quotes about Detroit's WWII role - "The hottest town in America" - 1943 article in Variety "The wonder city of America" - novelist Erskine Caldwell talking about how much Japan and Germany wanted to bomb Detroit. "A miraculous city, a city forging thunderbolts" - New York Times shortly after U.S. entered WWII. "Detroit is winning the war" - Josef Stalin reportedly told this to President Franklin D. Roosevelt about three months before Germany surrendered.

Detroit was known as the "arsenal of democracy" after this quote below -

Roosevelt referred to Detroit, Michigan as "the great arsenal of democracy" because of the rapid conversion of much of the Detroit-area automotive industry to produce armaments during World War II.

The Big Three Detroit automakers (and other smaller auto companies) GM, Chrysler, and Ford converted their assembly lines to build the tanks, planes, trucks, and weapons necessary for the war. In February of 1942 domestic auto production was halted in order to concentrate on the war effort. Even Michigan's Upper Peninsula got in on the action by harvesting timber for over 4,000 gliders built in Kingsford.

Read all about Detroit's role in producing the weapons and machines necessary for war in this Michigan History Magazine article - "Autos to Armaments."

Monday Morning Michigan Musings

Andrew Norton

I thought it would be nice to get a new week off to a start by reviewing the past weekend here in Michigan. In the world of sports we saw the Tigers come back to split a four game series with the Orioles and the Red Wings take the first two games in the Stanley Cup Finals. Pittsburgh columnist, Gene Collier, has dubbed Michigan (namely Muskegon) native, Justin Abdelkader, The Magical Michigander after he scored a goal in both games. Speaking of the Stanley Cup playoffs - it was great to see a couple of the Pure Michigan advertisements during the game. What a great idea to showcase Michigan with the home-state Red Wings playing - I hope it was a commercial for the national broadcast and not just our local station (based out of northern Indiana).

Meanwhile, the price of gas has magically jumped in Michigan to around $2.75 over the weekend. While it has backed off a few cents as of this morning, I wouldn't be surprised to see it hover over $3 a gallon before too long and stay that way through the Labor Day weekend. It's still cheaper than what we were paying last summer, but there are more folks without jobs or with reduced wages than at this time last year which makes it just as difficult or more so than last summer.

GM is perched on the precipice of bankruptcy and will in all likelihood announce their bankruptcy at some point today. The rest of Michigan awaits the announcement with baited breath as this will have a huge trickle down affect.

On a better note, it was a beautiful weekend across much of the state and a number of summer concerts and festivals were held. There was the 2nd Annual Ribfest and Krusin' Klassics Fun Run in Escanaba, our local town of Constantine held a concert in the park along with a downtown art hop, and most schools across the state held their graduations over the weekend.

Good luck to the graduates and to the rest of you - have a Great Week!

Lost Detroit - footage from the Belle Isle Children's Zoo circa 1968

Andrew Norton

I was reading this article in the Chicago Reader about Detroit being the "Wild Wild Midwest" and there was a link to a blog, Sweet Juniper! I am SO going back to this blog to read more of the posts as this post led me to the video below of the Belle Isle Children's Zoo from 1968. The zoo was later redone in 1980 to create a more natural environmental habitat for the animals. For those who don't know, the Belle Isle Zoo was closed back in 2002 courtesy of disgraced former mayor, Kwame Kilpatrick.

Detroit Tigers honor Veterans

Andrew Norton

On Sunday, May 24th, the Detroit Tigers honored Veterans of the various branches of the Armed Service in honor of Memorial Day. It was great to be able to give these men and women a standing ovation for their dedicated service to our country.

A handful of the Veterans threw out ceremonial first pitches and players from both the Tigers and Rockies stood along the first and third baselines and applauded the Veterans.

The only thing missing was a flyover.

Thanks again to those who have served and are currently serving.

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Memorial Day Weekend Roundup

Andrew Norton

The weather is shaping up to be absolutely beautiful this Memorial Day Weekend. I've noticed a large uptick in the number of travelers heading down U.S. 12 since the middle of the week. I wish safe travels for everyone on the road this weekend. We'll be attending the local parade on Monday and giving a wave of appreciation to the Veterans marching/riding in the parade. Later in the day we'll stop at a local cemetery for the annual Memorial Day program put on by the fine gentlemen from the VFW. It's a great way to give honor and show appreciation to our veterans.

Here's a roundup of Memorial Day Weekend related topics:

The Michigan Department of Agriculture (MDA) released a list of Michigan foods/companies to make your Memorial Day cookout a help to Michigan's economy. This info came via twitter from Natalie_Joy.

The Things She Carried - photo of a member of our Armed Forces marching in a parade while pushing her baby in a stroller.

Did you remember Memorial Day?

If you are traveling in Michigan this weekend, be sure to check out the MDOT Drive page for the latest news on construction and road conditions.

And lastly, if you want to know what to expect to pay for gas on any trips be sure to check out MichiganGasPrices.com. Currently the lowest reported price is $2.30 in Ellsworth and the highest is $2.69 up in Hemingway country in Walloon Lake.