Tales from Northern Michigan #6

Tales from Northern Michigan is a new feature that will appear irregularly here on the blog. The point of it is to share cool stuff from one of my favorite areas- northern Michigan. As many of you are aware Michigan actually has an Upper and Lower Peninsula, linked by the Mackinac Bridge, and I'll be showcasing the area that we in lower Michigan affectionately call "Up North." It could be anything from music to wildlife to bookstores- you never know what you'll find Up North, so who knows what will turn up here? 

So without further ado, here's a look at the beauty of northern Michigan. 

Here I'm revisiting Sleeping Bear Dunes- imagine hang gliding like this!

This week I saw that Sleeping Bear Dunes has scheduled their Star Parties for summer. These are night time meet-ups (everyone welcome) at various points within the dunes park to see the night sky. Here are some highlights- I'm not sure if I'll make any of these, but I would if I can. 

May 25th at the Dune Climb - binary stars, deep sky objects

June 8 - moon, Mars, Jupiter

Aug 31st - Jupiter, Saturn, Milky Way

The full schedule here. 

Here's a look at one of the wineries on Old Mission Peninsula. 

Paddle boarding on a half frozen Torch Lake. And then the second video is really cool- just as the ice is melting there are beautiful shots of a crystal clear bay