What qualifies as ‘Up North?’ Michiganders discuss

Listen to the great ‘Up North’ debate on CultureShift as you get ready for the last summer holiday weekend here in Michigan.

Crystal Lake kayak

For our Digital Content & Communities Assistant, Sophia Jozwiak, 'Up North' starts in Beulah, Michigan.

It’s Labor Day weekend and that means summer is coming to a close in Michigan. Your last trip Up North for the season may be just around the corner. That made us curious about where the boundary between ‘home’ and ‘Up North’ really lies? 

“I think everyone has really radical, different opinions on what ‘Up North’ is,” according to CultureShift host Ryan Patrick Hooper. 

The CultureShift team was joined for a lively debate on the issue by Under the Radar Michigan host and veteran mitten state traveler Tom Daldin, our head of podcasts David Leins and by WDET listeners. 

“For me, it’s a state of mind,” says Daldin. “For many folks though, it’s the Zilwaukee Bridge.”

For one listener, ‘Up North’ starts at a bar in Grayling.

“Me and a buddy of mine used to go backpacking in the summer and our first stop was a tavern called Spike’s Keg O Nails,” says Steve in Novi. 


Listen to the great ‘Up North’ debate as Michigan summer comes to a close.

 

 

Photo credit: Sophia Jozwiak/WDET

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Author

  • Amanda LeClaire is an award-winning journalist and managing editor and lead reporter of WDET's new environmental series, the Detroit Tree Canopy Project, as well as WDET's CuriosiD podcast. She was the host of WDET’s CultureShift and a founding producer of the station’s flagship news talk show *Detroit Today*. Amanda also served as a Morning Edition host at WDET and previously worked as a host, audio and video producer, and reporter for Arizona Public Media.