Port Austin Butterfly House and Gardens

The Butterfly Garden Project was due to an effort by the local community to utilize a seldom visited park in Port Austin and transform it into a visitor destination.

Ora Labora Michigan – A Little Colony in the Wilderness – Part 1

by Michael Hardy

Ora Labora known as “Christian German Agricultural and Benevolent Society of Ora et Labora” (Pray and Work), where it’s parishioners could combine work with prayer, and live according to the Methodist Church Discipline. Founded in 1862 on Michigan’s Wild Fowl Bay, the colony disappeared in 1867

Captain Aaron Peer Founded Grindstone City In 1834 And Began a New Industry

by Michael Hardy

Peer is of the earliest settlers of Huron County, and is second to none in its business history, having begun the development of one of the resources of the county in 1834.

Play on the Shore of a Michigan Beach

by Michael Hardy

Michigan Beach on Saginaw Bay A blissful day on one of the many Michigan Beach with public parks along the shoreline of the Thumb. Playing …

The Final Weekend of Caseville Cheeseburger

by Michael Hardy

More vendor’s, top acts, the Cheeseburger grills are well seasoned and so is the staff. It’s also a bit sad. The waning hours signal the end of the summer. It’s only days away from the Labor Day weekend.

Ora Labora 1863 – A Lost Colony in Michigan’s North – Part 2

by Michael Hardy

Part II of the Ora Labora story outlines the summer of 1863. Building is rapid and progress exciting in Michigan’s north. But the looming effect of the Civil War is about to impact this fledgling German religious colony’s effort to bring their culture and traditions to the Great Lakes wilderness.

Michigan Thumb Power Outage

by Michael Hardy

Another Power Outage in the Upper Thumb Yep…we didn’t have any power. Another Michigan Thumb power outage. We rolled into our cottage knowing that the …