Craig Manning | Author

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 >>

Save the Cats, Save the World

Oct. 21, 2023

At the Traverse City PetSmart store, you’ll find a room full of cats waiting to be adopted. For years, that program was made possible by Antrim County Pet & Animal Watch (AC PAW), an organization founded in 1995 as an animal rescue. In three decades, the organization helped find... Read More >>

Living in Luxury in Leelanau: Million-dollar Homes, Waterfront, and Open Land Drive the Market

Oct. 14, 2023

In June, Leelanau County was ranked as the wealthiest county in the state of Michigan by the financial technology firm SmartAsset. The ranking was based on a “wealth index” that took into account factors like median household incomes, investment income, and median home values.... Read More >>

Wine as Folk Art

Sept. 30, 2023

In culture, “folklore” refers to the legends, myths, and stories that a culture or community passes down through generations. (In music, the word denotes a pitch perfect—and sometimes underrated—Taylor Swift album.)

But what about in wine?

For Derri... Read More >>

Cherry Republic’s Night Swim Porter

Sept. 30, 2023

In the words of an unspeakably gorgeous R.E.M. song, “Nightswimming deserves a quiet night.” That song captures the beauty and daring of a late-night dip beneath the start-lit glow of fleeting summer skies, and Cherry Republic’s Night Swim Cherry Porter is a beer brewed ... Read More >>

After Years of Bad Customer Behavior, Are Things Finally Getting Better for Local Restaurants and Bars?

Sept. 16, 2023

For Gary Jonas, those two words encapsulate what the summer of 2023 was like at The Little Fleet, the popular food truck lot and bar he owns and operates in downtown Traverse City.
It shouldn’t feel like a miracle to hear anyone describe a summer that way. After all, what screa... Read More >>

Eight Exceptional High School Athletes to Watch In 2023-24

Sept. 2, 2023

A football player bound for a Big Ten powerhouse. A basketball star breaking high school records set decades ago by an eventual NBA legend. A golf prodigy who was already one of the state’s best players during her freshman and sophomore seasons.

These sentences describe just... Read More >>