Craig Manning | Author

Loco Boys' Senorita Sunshine

July 20, 2024

Nothing’s better in the summertime than the refreshing taste of a crisp, cold, crushable beer…except for maybe a fresh, limey margarita. Sometimes, deciding between these two libations as your summer drink of choice can be tough. With one of its newest and most popular beers,... Read More >>

Interlochen’s Crown Jewel: How a Northern Michigan Arts School Helped Forge a Pop Star

July 6, 2024

Pictured: Juel Kilcher, aka Jewel, at Interlochen Center for the Arts in the early 1990s.

In the spring of 1992, an Alaskan teenager named Juel Kilcher walked across the stage at Kresge Auditorium and graduated from Interlochen Arts Academy. Four years later, she had a to... Read More >>

Brewery Terra Firma's Manitou Amber

June 8, 2024

There are so many fun, exciting beers on the tap list at Traverse City’s Brewery Terra Firma that it’s easy to overlook the Manitou Amber. But here’s a reason to give this old standby some love this month: According to Terra Firma President John Niedermaier, June 2024 ma... Read More >>

Where Did DEI Go?

June 1, 2024

In 2020, DEI was everywhere. From governments to businesses to sports teams, nearly every entity was thinking about diversity, equity, and inclusion with new levels of reflection, urgency, and intent.

Four years later, things look different. The inciting incident that triggered a ... Read More >>

Northern Michigan’s Most Iconic Eats, 2024 Edition

May 4, 2024

Rich, chocolatey fudge has been a staple in northern Michigan for decades. Authentic Vietnamese pho is a more recent addition to the local food scene. But what do these two (very different) culinary delights have in common? Both are part of the 2024 class of Northern Express&rsqu... Read More >>

Amazon Is Coming to Town

April 20, 2024

One of the world's biggest companies is setting up shop in northern Michigan.

In January, details emerged about Amazon's plans to build a new distribution center in Gaylord. Since then, the e-commerce giant and its contractors have been hard at work on the new 42,500-square-foot f... Read More >>

What’s Trending in Weed

April 13, 2024

Cannabis culture is alive and well in Michigan.

According to the Michigan Cannabis Regulatory Agency (CRA), 2023’s marijuana sales averaged out to $305 in cannabis spending per Michigan resident, a higher per capita rate than any other state in the country. What are all thos... Read More >>

Stone Hound Brewing's Devil's Dive Doppelbock

March 23, 2024

Legend has it that this German beer style originated in the 17th century by Berlin monks, who relied on the dark, full-bodied brew to sustain them through the fasts of Lent season. Some reports say that the monks even gave the beer the nickname of “liquid bread.” To this day, ... Read More >>

Five Defining Moments and Five Defining Beers

March 9, 2024

Joe Short was too young to buy beer, so he started making his own.

That’s the humble (and somewhat illicit) origin story of Short’s Brewing Company, which opened its doors in downtown Bellaire 20 years ago this April. Two decades on, Short’s is a craft beer titan... Read More >>

Hop Lot's Woad Warrior Scotch Ale

March 9, 2024

An undervalued but wonderful style of beer, the Scotch ale is known for its full-bodied character, rich maltiness, subtle sweetness, and delicious flavor notes of caramel, roasted toffee, and stone fruit. It’s a perfect beer for this kind of in-between season—not as dark and h... Read More >>

Mundos Roasting & Co.'s Peanut Butter Latte

Feb. 24, 2024

We don’t know about you, but when the temperature dips, we love to warm up with a good latte. This year’s not-so-wintry weather hasn’t changed that fact, and Mundos has had our back all season with a special menu of seasonal latte treats. Our favorite of the bunch? The d... Read More >>

Out of the Frying Pan, Out of the Fire

Feb. 17, 2024

Two years ago, the Great Lakes Culinary Institute (GLCI) was a massive money-losing operation for Northwestern Michigan College (NMC)—to the point where the college was questioning whether the beloved-but-expensive program should be eliminated entirely.

Instead, NMC doubled ... Read More >>

North Peak Brewing's Scout

Feb. 10, 2024

Hazy IPAs have been the in-vogue beer style for so long that it’s sometimes hard for any one beer to stand out from the crowd. Enter North Peak’s Scout, which, unlike many hazy IPAs, offers a perfectly balanced drinking experience. It’s less bitter and piney than your tr... Read More >>

The Milliken Family Tree

Jan. 20, 2024

If you live in northern Michigan, there’s a very good chance you know the name “Milliken.”

From a key street to a famed auditorium, numerous landmarks in Traverse City bear the Milliken name, and any local history book—or state history book, for that matter... Read More >>

A New Groove

Jan. 6, 2024

Vinyl records are back, baby, and there’s no better place in northern Michigan to listen to them than at Malted Vinyl, a new bar and “listening lounge” located in downtown Petoskey.

Once thought a dead format, vinyl roared back to life in the 2000s and 2010s, gai... Read More >>

How the Homestead Became Everything to Everyone

Dec. 16, 2023

Today, it’s Leelanau County’s biggest resort hotel—a destination for weddings, ski trips, family vacations, and more. Before all the condos, restaurants, swimming pools, and ski lifts, though, the Homestead was just a bare-bones camp for boys, and before that, a tranquil... Read More >>

An Ode to the Porter

Dec. 2, 2023

As year-round beer drinkers, we have a certain level of appreciation for the beer that every season brings into rotation. The arrival of Oberon and other wheat beers in the spring; the shandies, lagers, and fresh-hopped IPAs that dominate the summertime; the string of Oktoberfest beers an... Read More >>

The Patricia from Glendale Burgers

Dec. 2, 2023

Grilled cheese or burger? If you’re like us, you’ve spent many a precious moment staring at restaurant menus and trying to answer this age-old question. Sadly, the classic patty melt—the platonic ideal of these two comfort food staples merging into one—doesn’... Read More >>

Elijah Nykamp: Turning Clothing into Confidence

Nov. 25, 2023

“I think there’s a lot in the fashion world that makes people feel really, really bad about themselves. My goal is the complete opposite.”

So says Elijah Nykamp, the owner, visionary, designer, sewist, and sole employee of nykamping. The boutique store, which ope... Read More >>

Aurora Chasers Teach Us How to Watch the Sky

Nov. 11, 2023

Meet the Michigan Aurora Chasers, a massive—and growing—Facebook community of northern lights enthusiasts who use every tool at their disposal to track down, witness, and photograph the vibrant colors of the aurora as often as possible.

Established in January 2021 by M... Read More >>