The Mitten and the Thumb

Retrieved from: Michigan.png

It doesn’t matter whether or not you are from Michigan, you cannot visit this great state without hearing something about the curious shape of Michigan. For some reason, Michiganders have dubbed regions names like the ‘Mitten’ for the Lower Peninsula and the ‘Thumb’ for the region that literally looks like the thumb of a mitten. I speak with irony, of course, because unless you live under a rock (please excuse me if you do) then you know that Michigan closely resembles a mitten. Suffice it to say that the thumb of Michigan has many great country roads prime for the relaxed weekend trip on your cruiser.

 In just over two hours I could travel up M-25, a road that follows the beautiful Lake Huron, to the tip of the Mitten’s Thumb. Although the traffic can heavy at times, it is a nice drive. With a northeast wind, a cool breeze coming off of Lake Huron is always soothing on a hot summer day; it also helps to offset the occasional traffic congestion near big towns such as Lexington and Harbor Beach.

Look for the windmills in the horizon

On the way back, I like to head into the heart of the Thumb. Wait, thumbs don’t have hearts. Eh, the analogy will work for now. Although the roads are generally straight, they are smooth will a fair amount of rolling hills. Many of the farmers have made environmental preservation deals with big windmill manufacturers and you can see many windmill farms throughout the Thumb region. It is actually quite an amazing site to see. There is no shortage of smooth paved roads through the thumb, and for a quick weekend trip, you can find many great places to visit all the way up to Caseville, the northern most part of the thumb.