Vacation, All I Ever Wanted

I'm going on vacation next week. This will be my first real vacation in about two years. I did go to Gulf Shores last year, but that was frightening. I understand that COVID is still fully out there too. I got my second booster and I still wear a mask at most indoor places. I'm not going to go full on and act like the pandemic is over, but I am overly excited about this vacation because it feels like a real one.

This feels like the first real vacation I have had since my wife and I went to Mexico for our tenth anniversary three years ago. Sure, my kids are coming with us this year, but they are older and more self reliant now. They can entertain themselves. They know when to let me be. They understand that my wife and I need time just the two of us. They get it.

I am stoked. I am pumped. We are going to Indianapolis for two days, Ann Arbor for a day, then we meet my oldest brother and his wife and daughters for a day in Traverse City and two days on Mackinac Island. I have gone to Michigan forever, but these are spots I've only been to a handful of times, and as for Traverse City and Mackinac, I've never been. It is going to be cool to see a different side of Michigan than what I am used to.

I'm interested to see how much changes from the UP. We have always gone to Bessemer and Wakefield. Hell, we spend time in Hurley, Wisconsin. But those are off the beaten path hidden gems. Seriously guys, if you haven't gone up that way, it rules. It's got some dope bluffs to climb, Lake Superior is right there, the groceries are cheap and the cabins at the chalets are divine. But this time our destination seems more touristy and I'm fully in for all that entails.

I haven't done the tourist thing since Mexico. I can't wait to go to Zingerman's and Krazy Jim's Blimpy Burger in Ann Arbor. I will also be taking both of my kids to the M Den and going to The Big House to take too many pictures. In Traverse City my brother has rented a canoe for us to use the day we are there. I haven't been on a canoe since I was 19. I feel like I'm going to love it. We are staying in a fancy log cabin there as well. I'm sure it is going to be rad and we will be roasting marshmallows at nighttime. And then we have Mackinac. All I know is, we have to take a ferry to where we are staying, there are no cars allowed, you have to walk and bike everywhere and that we are staying in a dope spot on the island. My son learned how to ride a two wheel bike for this trip. My daughter is more than capable on a bike with training wheels. My wife and I will get to go on night walks after the kids are in bed. I plan on taking her on a date if I can get my nieces to watch my kids for a few hours. It is going to be great, and I'm sure I'll have plenty to write about when I get back.

I just wanted to leave you all with my excitement of what I believe to be my first real trip since 2019. I'm taking next week off from writing, since I will be traveling. But like I said, I plan on having plenty to say when I return. I will see you all in a little over a week. Enjoy your week off and I'll enjoy my vacation. See you soon. 

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.  

The Ways the Pandemic Changed My Vacation

My wife, my kids and I are on our first vacation since 2019 right now. We have two days left, and it’s been fun. We’ve gone to the beach, ordered takeout, we even ate inside a restaurant. We are still masking up whenever we venture away from our Air BnB, but for the most part, it’s been relatively “normal”.

When I woke up this morning, and was given the plan for the day, I stopped for a moment and realized what my favorite part of this vacation has been so far. As I said, we’ve done done tourist stuff, I’ve been trail running, I’m taking my son hiking today, but my favorite part is the fact that we are back at our place no later than 7:15 every night. It’s glorious. Our kids are still young, my son is nine and daughter is five. The younger one goes to bed at 8:00 every night, and she doesn’t want to change that, even while on vacation. The older one goes to bed around 9:00 or 9:30, but he really enjoys his hour of video game or TV time he gets when his sister goes to bed, so he wants to be back for that. My wife and I really enjoy the hour or so before we go to bed that’s just the two of us. That’s our time to reflect on the day, to relax, to just be adults basically. It’s fantastic.

Take last evening as an example. I wanted seafood for dinner and we hadn’t purchased any at the grocery store. We decided we would pick some up and bring it back to the condo. I also had to make a stop at the grocery store to grab more bottled water for us. The tap water in Gulf Shores is not great. So we went to the beach for the day, then I went for a run and then we made sure we left the condo at 4:45 so we could accomplish all the nighttime stuff that needed to be done. By the time I left the grocery store, it was 7:15, and that was considered late. We got back to the condo at 7:30, made ice cream cones for the kids and watched some TV. I read my daughter a story at 8:00 and left her room by 8:15. By 8:30 she was out. A day of swimming and running around really made her crash. Then we let out son watch Hulu in our room until 9:00. Then he put himself to bed. Then my wife and I watched TV and just relaxed until 10:00. We had our ice cream, we talked, watched “The Office” and we’re both ready to conk out by 10:30. It’s been wonderful. I remember being a kid on vacation and wanting to stay up late and go out and do stuff all the time. That was crazy. I get why my parents had us get back to hotels or family members houses now. As a parent of younger kids, the day starts so much earlier, so by the early evening, you’re totally exhausted. That’s why everyone wants to go to bed early.

We have two full days left, counting today, and I’d be willing to guarantee that we will all be going to bed even earlier. I’m taking my son hiking while the ladies go to the beach. Then we are spending a full day at the beach tomorrow, and I’ll be doing more trail running in the late afternoon. We will all be tired, it knowing that we will be back in the condo by 7:30 is a wonderful, and comforting feeling.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast.

Come and support Ty and the podcast on Patreon.

Follow Ty on instagram and twitter.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing.

Let's Talk About the Great Food on My Vacation

Alright, I wrote about KD, now back to Mexico. What I want to talk about today is the delicious food that I ate on my trip. I have decided, in probably the last year, that Mexican food is my all time favorite. I come from an Italian and Polish family, and I love Italian and Polish food. But, Mexican food has ascended to a whole new level, especially when I started my Atkins diet. The fact that fajitas are just meat, cheese and veggies, assuming you don't eat the tortillas, it is an Atkins lovers dream dish. I also love carne asada, chicken with cheese, chorizo and huevos rancheros. All those are low carb, and all are Mexican dishes.

So, one of the biggest selling points for me in this recent trip was the food. And man oh man did Secrets Capri have some top of the line Mexican food. The buffet was filled with some of my favorite Mexican dishes. The first day for lunch the first thing I had was pork in a red chile sauce. It was dynamite. They were also serving tender chicken breast and thinly sliced steak. One of my all time favorite dishes is ceviche, and they had it in so many different preparations. The buffet, for lunch on the first day, had traditional, very lime centric, flavors. But they changed the veggies on other days, and sometimes, there was even a green sauce that accompanied it. There was a cabana right by the pool that served mainly ceviche and tacos. We had lunch there every other day on the trip. The choices of ceviche were limited, but they were the best. One was the perfect blend of spice and citrus. It was called the "Vallarta". Another was just straight up shrimp with a pink sauce. And one was mushroom forward, with the mushroom being the protein. It was amazing. Oh, and the tacos at this cabana, they absolutely ruled. They were so flavorful and scrumptious. They had fried shrimp or fish, which were my wife's favorite. They came with 2 nicely fried pieces of fish, a great slaw and a chipotle mayo. They were divine. They had a ribeye taco, which was basically a quesadilla with not much cheese was in the shell. Those were great. They had a shredded chicken taco that was simply just chicken and a green sauce. Those were near perfection. But the best ones, in my opinion, were the pork marinated tacos. These were so simple, yet so good. The tacos had a good helping of these juicy pork, and it was plopped on a proper corn shell. Then on the side they gave you a cup of pickled onions that had just the slightest touch of habanero pepper in it. It was so, so good. My mouth is watering thinking about those tacos as I write this. I expected the Mexican food to deliver, and it way exceeded my expectations. I mean, even the desserts, be it churros, or a fried piece of dough covered in honey and sesame seeds filled with pastry cream, was out of the park. My wife told me I had to mention the flan too. It was all good.

The restaurants within the resort were just as good. We went to a steak house one night. This was outstanding. I had a perfectly cooked sirloin steak, and my wife had a great looking piece if prime rib. We each had mushrooms and I had mac and cheese and she had some kind of veggie. It was all good, and served amazingly fast. We would get coffee and a pastry every morning from the café inside. They had a special latte everyday, and the breakfast pastries, and afternoon treats, were fantastic. One night we went to a very nice Italian restaurant. This place even had a dress code. The food was awesome. My wife and I shared one of the best caprese salads I have had, she had some excellent Portobello mushrooms as an appetizer, and our main courses, they were magnificent. My wife had some of the best, and most tender, osso bucco I have ever tried. I had shrimp wrapped in prosciutto that was out of this world. But, the best restaurant, in both of our opinions, was the seafood place. This was where we had our anniversary dinner. I had tuna tartar as my app, and it was some of the best I have ever eaten. My wife chose calamari, and it was perfectly fried and seasoned and the dipping sauce was excellent. We each had a soup, her going with the lobster bisque, which was sweet and delicious, and I went with a smashed asparagus soup. It was the best soup I've ever eaten. Hands down. Our main courses got even better. My wife had a grilled and charred salmon that fell apart beautifully and tasted like it had just come off the grill. I love that flavor. I had a rare tuna steak, that had a mashed white bean puree and caramelized onions on top. I savored every single bite. It was so, so, so good. I am still thinking about that piece of fish. That whole meal was absolutely wonderful.

As I said on Monday, Secrets Capri is a great resort, and these restaurants and buffet and café and cabana I mentioned today make it that much better. This was one of, if not the, best food I have eaten on a vacation. It was tremendous.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Growing up in a Polish-Italian family had it’s share of culinary adventures. Ever have polish sausage in a cannoli?

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing. 

Let's Talk About My Great Vacation

Hello all, I am back from my week long vacation. It was a glorious, and much needed, week away from all my work and priorities. For this week I am going to touch on some of the things I did while I was on vacation, unless some wild stuff happens in the sports or music or movie or TV world. Today I want to take the time to talk about the wonderful resort my wife booked for us for this vacation.

I live in a world where I am comfortable. We have the means and ability to stay in all inclusive resorts when we go on a vacation like this. No, I am not a rich man, far, far from it, but my family is fine. This is not a brag either. We are just in a solid place financially. I felt like that needed to be said.

For this trip my wife and I decided we wanted to go to Mexico again. We went there on our honeymoon, for our 5 year anniversary, and last Thursday, we celebrated our 10 year anniversary. Mexico seems to be our place for these celebrations. We have stayed in a different spot each time. This time we stayed in Secrets Capri in Cancun, near Riviera Maya.

This resort was top notch. First off, it was adults only, and not in a perverted way. We did not go to Hedonism. This wasn't an "Eye's Wide Shut" scenario. The adults only simply meant that you had to be, at least, 21 years old. This was great. I love, love, love my kids. But, I am with them all day everyday. There is only so much Pokémon or "My Little Pony" I can take though. So, to go to a resort where you have to be 21, it was paradise. Everyone at this resort seemed to be either newlyweds or people celebrating an anniversary. There was a lot in common with the other guests. That made it so easy to talk to people. I am not one for "vacation friends". But, I do like to talk to people while eating at an open buffet, and it is much easier when you have stuff in common with those people. That is how Secrets Capri was. It was tremendous. The staff was outstanding. I cannot say enough good things about the employees. They were on the ball with everything. From the moment we stepped off the shuttle, the workers were there with a cold towel that smelled great. It was such a tremendous personal touch. The help we got to get our room was excellent. The restaurants, which I will go very in depth on more later this week, had some of the greatest waiters and hostesses I have ever had a personal encounter with. The room we had was super comfy, and the staff was there to clean everyday at 2pm. I could set my watch to it. We did an excursion, got back at 2, the room wasn't quite ready, so we went to the beach for awhile, and after an hour, our room was spotless. The access to the beach was so easy. I went everyday, swam in the ocean and ran on the beach with almost too much ease. Also, they had people there everyday to clean out the seaweed that was coming in from deeper in the water. The beach was spotless by our final day. The pool was perfect. They had umbrellas everywhere for those of us that didn't want to get sunburned. For those that wanted to get tan, the pool was totally uncovered. They did water aerobics and played games and had some kind of activity in the pool that was super fun. The pool bar was great. I would swim up, get my wife a drink and myself a bottle of water, and the bartender was on the money. His name was Juan, and he was amazing. By the end of the week he knew I wanted water and my wife wanted Malibu and pineapple juice. That impressed the hell out of me. The shows, and nighttime entertainment was fantastic. They did a whole show on the Mayan history on Friday night, and it ruled. They also had an awesome Beatles cover band that included a Cirque de Soleil show. They also had an Il Divo cover band that was good. It was nice.

I was super impressed with pretty much everything that Secrets Capri had to offer. My wife and I have even said that when we go back, and we will most definitely be going back, Secrets Capri will be hard to beat. I highly recommend, if you are going the all inclusive route for your next trip, book a Secrets trip. It was an amazing experience that I will not soon forget. It was awesome.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the other host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. Next time Ty heads down to Mexico he is going to the Pacific Coast. There is nothing he likes more than the smell of tequila and the smell of others puking that tequila up.

SeedSing is funded by a group of awesome people. Join them by donating to SeedSing. 

SeedSing Classic: Let Ty tell you about a Perfect Spot in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Top of the bluff. Photo by Ty with an Iphone 5

We have been posting classic articles all week because Ty and I have been on vacation. We happen to be in the same place. Here is a classic article from Ty talking about our hidden gem of a vacation destination. We will be back on July 30th with new, and soon to be classic, content.

RD Kulik

SeedSing classic is a look back at our most influential articles. These pieces have been presented in their original form. No Star Warsesque special editions. Enjoy

I have spent the last five days in what I believe may be a piece of heaven on Earth.

I don't believe in any kind of faith, so by calling this place heaven, I mean to say, this place is perfect. I used to travel to this town a lot as a child, pre teen and teenager. I've even gone as an adult. I guess it took me being a father myself to truly appreciate the quiet solitude that is Bessemer, Michigan.

Like I said, I've vacationed there a lot. My folks grew up there.(technically my dad grew up in Bessemer. My mom grew up in a town called Ramsey that's three miles away, essentially the same place). It was always fun to go as a kid because I got to see my cousins that lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Michigan. Both my parents folks lived there too, so I got to see my grandparents as well. We usually went during Spring Break. It was the only time that me and my three brothers had a full week off.

So, I bet you're thinking, Spring Break, that's great, good weather, not too hot, not too cold. That's not the case in Bessemer. Bessemer is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so it's winter about eight to nine months of the year. So, in mid March, when we'd normally visit, there'd still be three to five feet of snow on the ground. My grandparents would be relieved by this. This meant winter was coming to  an end, maybe by May, the snow would be gone. I loved the fact that they still had all this snow on the ground. I thought, awesome I can go sledding in the middle of March! No way that was happening in St. Louis, my hometown.

As I got older, and cousins grew up and moved and grandparents were passing away, our annual trips dwindled. At first it was every year, then every other year, until it was good if we got up there once every four to five years. It also seemed like we only were going up for funerals. A place I once loved was becoming a place I associated with death. I was in my early twenties when my last grandparent passed away and that trip to Bessemer was pretty upsetting for me. I was very close to my grandpa. My dad and I talked to him on the phone every Sunday after my grandma passed away. My dad and I made trips up there to visit him also. Grandpa Louis was very important to me and I loved him almost as much as my parents. We were extremely close. So, after he passed away, I genuinely thought his funeral would be my last trip to the UP. What was the point if grandpa wasn't going to be there? I constantly asked myself that question.

A few years after his death, my mom and dad planned a trip to Bessemer. I was hesitant at first, but they explained to me, that if I thought it was going to be hard, think of how they felt. That's where they grew up and their parents were gone. I knew exactly what they meant and I was on board for the trip. The only difference, besides my extended family not being there was, my parents planned the trip for the summer. We did go there in summer,  but sparingly. As I said earlier, we usually went on Spring Break. We didn't have a place to stay, so my parents rented a luxury cabin. Tons of beds and bathrooms and pool tables. It was great. But what made it even better was the fact that I was able to remember good times I had there as a kid. Instead of dwelling on what I didn't have, I made the concerted effort to make new, grown up memories. Sure, sledding was fun, but now I could go hiking with my brothers and climb the bluffs with them. Swimming in Lake Superior is exhilarating. You can go to Little Girls Point and skip rocks while lounging on their rock beach. If you'd prefer a sand beach, head to Black River Harbor. These were all things I couldn't do with a ton of snow on the ground. This was a whole new world to me. I'm glad I have brothers who like doing these things too. I wouldn't do this stuff on my own.

On this most recent trip, I climbed the bluffs for the first time in a long time. I couldn't do it before because I was overweight and out of shape. In the past two years I've shed about a hundred pounds and decided I would challenge myself, and with a little encouragement from my brother, I did it and got some great pictures of the town. It was phenomenal. I also went tubing for the first time in my life. I laid on an inner tube on my stomach and a boat pulled me from side to side and I did jumps in the water. It was great. My wife and three year old son were with my family and I and it was great to share this beautiful place that I love with them. We'd drive by streets and I'd tell them memories I had. I also was able to show them where my grandparents lived. My parents drove us around and told us stories that I'd never even heard. My wife has been there before, but it was my sons first trip. He loved it, his favorite thing to do was skip rocks on Lake Superior. I also got to see a lot of my cousins this time around. We are all adults with kids now, but we were able to make time to see each other. It was great. The weather was as good as it gets. This was another thing that made this trip so perfect. This was the first week of August and the temperature never got any higher than 76 degrees. Did I mention the fact that there's no humidity. It was a great relief from St. Louis summers.

Another reason I'm so happy that we travel to the UP in the summers now. I know they do most of their business during the winter with all the ski hills. But, I'm here to tell you that summer time is the time to make a trip to the UP. It's so great. The sky at night time is so clear you can see the stars perfectly. I'm so grateful that my parents talked me into going back to the UP and the fact that we go in the summer now. Bessemer, Michigan in the summer is the best place in the world to visit. Do yourselves a favor and book a week long stay up there. You will love it.

I know I certainly just did.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was paid no money to write this rave review of Bessemer Michigan, he would like some money. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.

Flying is Still Pretty Awesome

Waiting can be the most unpleasant part.

I just finished a marathon of flying.  In the last couple months, I’ve gone to Philadelphia, Ft. Lauderdale, Phoenix, Anaheim, and Moline for work.  In addition, just a couple days after my latest west coast business trip, we hauled my entire family to Hawaii for vacation.  During this time, I’ve had long layovers at HNL, ORD, MSP, ATL, LAX, SLC, and LGA.  And for the most part, I actually enjoyed it.

Most of you now think I’m insane.  It’s fashionable to bitch and moan about airlines, airports, and the TSA.  And most of this is well deserved.

Domestic airlines are terrible.  Their idea of customer service has sunk ever lower into the blue liquid of airplane toilets.  Gate agents are often crabby and unhelpful (mostly due to problems created by their employers), and flight crews are frighteningly underpaid.  Domestic airports are also terrible, for the most part.  Due to TSA rules we can’t bring water in, so there’s a new cottage industry charging $5 for 16 oz of bottled water.  The wifi never works and the chairs are uncomfortable.  And then there’s security.  The TSA’s absurd attempts at security theatre are well documented, so I won’t go into them here. 

And yet, I still get a little excited as I drive up to the airport.  Bear with me here.

Part of it is that I think planes are, for lack of a better word, “neat.”  We lowly primates have actually figured out how to fly regular people, including the very young and very old, safely around the planet at Mach 0.8.  See?  Neat.

I’ll let you in on a secret.  My business travel profile says I prefer an aisle seat, but that’s a little white lie.  I feel like it’s a “grown up” thing to request an aisle, but secretly, the kid in me wants the window.   Once the plane pushes back from the gate I perk up a little, and crane my neck to look outside.  One of my favorite parts of the taxi is the turn toward the runway where I can see the queue of planes waiting for takeoff.  I always smile a little when I see the variety, sometimes a tiny ERJ-135 lined up in front of a massive A330, or if you’re lucky, a majestic 747.  When we make the final turn, and the engines spool up for takeoff, and we start hurtling down the runway, my inner six year old comes out.  As the nose comes up, and we ascend into the sky, I look down and watch the “toy” cars and the streetscape recede into the distance, and I feel as though I’m off on an adventure.  Even if that adventure is probably going to take place in Moline.

I also spend a lot of time looking out the window once I’m in the air.  I’ve seen some pretty amazing things from 35,000 feet.  Once, on an overnight flight to London, we flew above a thunderstorm over the North Atlantic.  Watching the lightning crackle between the purple clouds below you is one of the coolest things I’ve ever seen.  On a trip from London to Paris, the sky was totally cloudless, and over the English Channel I could see the southern coast of England and the northern coast of France, and it looked exactly like a map outline.  (And Normandy from the air looks just like central Illinois.)  I’ve never seen the Grand Canyon from the ground, but it’s pretty grand from the air!  The Rockies are, literally, awesome.  On my recent trip to Hawaii, flying from Kauai to Honolulu I saw the remote Kaena Point, where my husband and I had hiked just a few days prior.  Flying into New York, I like seeing how the Pennsylvania farmland gradually gives way to the snarl of north Jersey traffic and the concrete jungle.  Even when it’s an overcast day, I love breaking through to the bright sunshine, and seeing an ocean of fluffy white clouds beneath me.

Kaena Point is no Moline

Granted, some of my enthusiasm is just nostalgia.  I had a lot of fun on planes as a kid.  I remember having playing cards with the Eastern Airlines logo, back when airlines still gave out playing cards (and Eastern Airlines still existed).  My older sister taught me to play Crazy 8’s with those cards.  When the beverage cart came, for some reason, I always ordered ginger ale.  I still associate ginger ale with airplanes.  The first time I had Diet Coke was a sip from my mother on a plane, right after it came out in the early 1980’s.  I remember not liking it.  Back then, going to India to see relatives was a bit of a project.  (I guess it still is, somewhat.)  Since there were no non-stops, we always had to stop in Europe, and then fly from Europe to India.  Before modern improvements in technology, you needed a big plane like a DC-10 to make a LHR-BOM trip, but there weren’t all that many people on them.  So as kids, we could run around the mostly empty back of the plane (in the smoking section!) and not feel so confined.  You could also push up all the armrests in a center row, and take a little nap. 

So yeah, I kind of like being in the air.  But airports, they don’t have any redeeming qualities, do they?  Well, domestic terminals, not so much.  The intercoms are so fuzzy they sound like Charlie Brown’s teacher.  And I don’t care how many airport restaurants Wolfgang Puck opens, the food is always uninspiring.  Plus, the armrests don’t go up on the seats, which is an extra thumb in the eye of a stranded passenger hoping to get some rest.

But, in a nice big busy airport like ATL or LAX or even ORD, there is fun to be had.  I like to wander over to the international terminals and watch people and planes.  It’s fun to see the big jumbo jets lined up, each with the paint of a different national carrier.  Aer Lingus, Air India, JAL, Qantas, Emirates, and so forth.  They all show national pride in their carefully designed liveries, and they remind me that 12 hours in the air can get me almost anywhere in the world.  That is mind boggling.  In my car, 12 hours would get me to Minneapolis.  (Not that there’s anything wrong with Minneapolis.)

It’s also fun to people watch, in both domestic and international terminals.  Everyone is coming from somewhere, or going to somewhere.  Business travelers, looking blasé or harried, whiz by on their way to some conference in Vegas, or maybe a sales call to Anytown, USA.  Little kids experience a moving sidewalk for the first time, and run in circles laughing their butts off (mine did).  Some brave women zip through the terminal on 6 inch spike heels.  I assume they’re all fashion executives, just back from Milan.  Sometimes you see happy young couples heading off for their honeymoons, and then, like a ten-year flash-forward, you spot a bedraggled Mom and Dad, hauling a stroller, 2 car seats, and 3 rugrats home from Florida.  Some people are happy to be going wherever they’re going, some are just glad to be home, and some are upset for whatever reason, but everyone has a story.  It’s a reminder that life is full of possibility, and that the world is smaller than it has ever been.

So yes, it’s a damn shame that various economic and geopolitical forces have conspired to make air travel far less glamorous and fun than it was in the past.  But if you go in with the right attitude and outlook, you too might catch a thunderstorm out the window from 6 miles up, on your way to Bangkok, or possibly Moline.

Tina S

Tina is a sometime contributor to SeedSing and occasional guest on the X Millennial Man Podcast. She is currently working on a photo series of the best food courts in all of the world's airports. There is not a lot of variety. We made a twitter for Tina, go follow her @TinaSeedsing. 

Let Ty tell you about a perfect spot in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Top of the bluff. Photo by Ty with an Iphone 5

I have spent the last five days in what I believe may be a piece of heaven on Earth.

I don't believe in any kind of faith, so by calling this place heaven, I mean to say, this place is perfect. I used to travel to this town a lot as a child, pre teen and teenager. I've even gone as an adult. I guess it took me being a father myself to truly appreciate the quiet solitude that is Bessemer, Michigan.

Like I said, I've vacationed there a lot. My folks grew up there.(technically my dad grew up in Bessemer. My mom grew up in a town called Ramsey that's three miles away, essentially the same place). It was always fun to go as a kid because I got to see my cousins that lived in Wisconsin and Minnesota and Michigan. Both my parents folks lived there too, so I got to see my grandparents as well. We usually went during Spring Break. It was the only time that me and my three brothers had a full week off.

So, I bet you're thinking, Spring Break, that's great, good weather, not too hot, not too cold. That's not the case in Bessemer. Bessemer is in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so it's winter about eight to nine months of the year. So, in mid March, when we'd normally visit, there'd still be three to five feet of snow on the ground. My grandparents would be relieved by this. This meant winter was coming to  an end, maybe by May, the snow would be gone. I loved the fact that they still had all this snow on the ground. I thought, awesome I can go sledding in the middle of March! No way that was happening in St. Louis, my hometown.

As I got older, and cousins grew up and moved and grandparents were passing away, our annual trips dwindled. At first it was every year, then every other year, until it was good if we got up there once every four to five years. It also seemed like we only were going up for funerals. A place I once loved was becoming a place I associated with death. I was in my early twenties when my last grandparent passed away and that trip to Bessemer was pretty upsetting for me. I was very close to my grandpa. My dad and I talked to him on the phone every Sunday after my grandma passed away. My dad and I made trips up there to visit him also. Grandpa Louis was very important to me and I loved him almost as much as my parents. We were extremely close. So, after he passed away, I genuinely thought his funeral would be my last trip to the UP. What was the point if grandpa wasn't going to be there? I constantly asked myself that question.

A few years after his death, my mom and dad planned a trip to Bessemer. I was hesitant at first, but they explained to me, that if I thought it was going to be hard, think of how they felt. That's where they grew up and their parents were gone. I knew exactly what they meant and I was on board for the trip. The only difference, besides my extended family not being there was, my parents planned the trip for the summer. We did go there in summer,  but sparingly. As I said earlier, we usually went on Spring Break. We didn't have a place to stay, so my parents rented a luxury cabin. Tons of beds and bathrooms and pool tables. It was great. But what made it even better was the fact that I was able to remember good times I had there as a kid. Instead of dwelling on what I didn't have, I made the concerted effort to make new, grown up memories. Sure, sledding was fun, but now I could go hiking with my brothers and climb the bluffs with them. Swimming in Lake Superior is exhilarating. You can go to Little Girls Point and skip rocks while lounging on their rock beach. If you'd prefer a sand beach, head to Black River Harbor. These were all things I couldn't do with a ton of snow on the ground. This was a whole new world to me. I'm glad I have brothers who like doing these things too. I wouldn't do this stuff on my own.

On this most recent trip, I climbed the bluffs for the first time in a long time. I couldn't do it before because I was overweight and out of shape. In the past two years I've shed about a hundred pounds and decided I would challenge myself, and with a little encouragement from my brother, I did it and got some great pictures of the town. It was phenomenal. I also went tubing for the first time in my life. I laid on an inner tube on my stomach and a boat pulled me from side to side and I did jumps in the water. It was great. My wife and three year old son were with my family and I and it was great to share this beautiful place that I love with them. We'd drive by streets and I'd tell them memories I had. I also was able to show them where my grandparents lived. My parents drove us around and told us stories that I'd never even heard. My wife has been there before, but it was my sons first trip. He loved it, his favorite thing to do was skip rocks on Lake Superior. I also got to see a lot of my cousins this time around. We are all adults with kids now, but we were able to make time to see each other. It was great. The weather was as good as it gets. This was another thing that made this trip so perfect. This was the first week of August and the temperature never got any higher than 76 degrees. Did I mention the fact that there's no humidity. It was a great relief from St. Louis summers.

Another reason I'm so happy that we travel to the UP in the summers now. I know they do most of their business during the winter with all the ski hills. But, I'm here to tell you that summer time is the time to make a trip to the UP. It's so great. The sky at night time is so clear you can see the stars perfectly. I'm so grateful that my parents talked me into going back to the UP and the fact that we go in the summer now. Bessemer, Michigan in the summer is the best place in the world to visit. Do yourselves a favor and book a week long stay up there. You will love it.

I know I certainly just did.

Ty

Ty is the Pop Culture editor for SeedSing and the co-host of the X Millennial Man Podcast. He was paid no money to write this rave review of Bessemer Michigan, he would like some money. Follow him on twitter @tykulik.