The Luge. And Other Things You’ll Do Soon.

THIS IS A FALL AND WINTER WEATHER TRAVEL ADVSIORY. The National Weather Service, Farmers’ Almanac and Tom Skilling are all predicting: you’re going to have a crazy adventure in the coming weeks. It may involve a dog team. It may involve a luge. It will almost certainly involve a hot tub. Details now follow...
 

The Cider House Road Rules

Western Michigan has a lot of nice things going for it in the fall. A disproportionate number of those things involve hard cider. Your investigative tour:
Stop 1: McIntosh, South Haven. Try: the iced-apple aperitif.
Stop 2: Virtue, Fennville. Try: The Mitten, a bourbon-barrel-aged cider.
Stop 3: Vander Mill, Spring Lake. Try: to take it easy; they have 10 ciders on tap. 

A Very Bad Day to Be a Pumpkin

Two options for your old jack-o’-lantern: 1) let it rot; 2) drive to the Pumpkin Demolition, a two-day fall festival with food, wine tastings, apple cannons, sledgehammers and a nice person who’ll put your pumpkin out of its misery with a howitzer. Gallagher would have wanted it this way.

Your Team of Sled Dogs Awaits...

In McMillan, Michigan, they don’t have Divvy. Car sharing is not a thing. But they do have five-dog sled teams you can take on half-day, full-day and overnight tours. You’ll learn to say “mush.” You’ll learn to respect animals. Baying at the moon: your call.

2015: The Winter You Learn to Luge

Ask yourself:
—Have I ever said “Pfft, I can do that” while watching Olympic luge competitions?
—Do I desire to propel down curved tracks at 35 mph on my back?
—Do I like warm waffles on cold days?
If you answered yes to any of the above, put Muskegon on your travel agenda. 

Post-Hike Hot-Tubbing in Starved Rock

Visiting frozen waterfalls in Starved Rock National Park is a nice seasonal/romantic thing to do. If you’re certified in ice climbing, you can even climb them. And if you want to defrost afterward, the Starved Rock Lodge has a pretty magnificent hot tub. It’s also romantic, but no certification necessary.