TRAVEL: Dear Michigan

Oh Michigan, you funny little state you. You are a piece of land where your populace describes where they live using their hands. Where you can live happily in the thumb and the UP is more than a direction. It's a state of odd sounding and weirdly spelled place and road names, of Mackinaw, Mackinac, Ypsilanti to Dequindre and Schonherr. You know it's a place you call home when A2 makes sense as a city name, people argue over where "up north" actually begins, and you know that Hell freezes over when winter rolls around and it's down the street.

Source

Of course you like to trick outsiders when calling liquor stores a party store but those are for insider giggles. Just like calling soda, pop and Vernor's ginger ale sits in our cupboards for both beverage and medicinal reasons. Call Michigan home and you know the difference between a coney and a chili dog, where people queue for hours for a paczki when pancake day rolls round and you prefer a coffee from Biggby over Starbucks any day of the week.

Harbor Springs

It's a land where road trips can be undertaken in the fall just as an excuse to see the changing tree colours and what a beautiful sight they are. Summertime can be spent along the coastline, a state with the most lighthouses (116 of them) in America, with grand sand dunes, clear waters and national forests. Yet any trip probably involves many a Michigan left and avoiding all those potholes our state seems to pride itself in and the elected don't want to agree to fix. Only the winter brings relief in filling said potholes for those chilly months with snow. Only for them to be even worse when spring rolls around.

The Michigan Left (source)

Michigan, you are a state which pits Detroit against everyone else, Detroit is the states downfall, it's Detroit against the lawmakers, Detroit against it's own suburbs, Detroit against Michigan. And even if your not a huge sports fan, it's always Michigan verses Ohio. Ohio you can thank us later for those algae blooms as we thank you for being close enough for Yuengling supply trips.

That's not to say you're all a jolly state dear MI. I always wonder how a state can go from being so darn cold to being so humid months later. Your politics could do with working on, and well actually getting things ya know, done. Lets face it those roads won't fix themselves. Plus lets not forget the underlying racism, sexism and homophobia that still hangs around.  

Mackiac Bridge

Empty your pockets and you'll find just as much Canadian coinage as American but you may never stepped over the boarder. But leave the state and the Pure Michigan signs welcome you back like you never left.

You may have been the state were pop/soda was invented, the home of the first traffic light, state-fair and typewriter. It's the only place in the world with a floating post office (yes really - it even has it's own zip code), singing sand, the worlds largest tire, crucifix and weather vane. Home of the automobile and Motown, well Michigan, you don't like to brag about any of it really. 

Forty Mile Point, Rogers City

Your beauty and places rarely feature on anyone's bucket list. Your cities and Midwest rust belt towns might not attract the thrill seeking tourists, those which crave New York City or Disney who never travel to find the real America outside the bright lights.

Yet that gives us, those that call Michigan home the excuse to keep it's beauty our little secret.

FOOD: The Coney Island Dog

Moving to the US has meant having the excuse of trying loads of new foods - both of the national and local delicacy. Living in Michigan I'm spoilt with the Coney Island Hot Dog - one that has nothing to do with Coney Island in New York - the name merely refers to the origin of the hot dog and not the topping. When talking about Coney Island dogs on twitter I often get a lot of questions about it, so I though I'd dedicate a little blog post to everything about it. 

The Coney is a firm fixture and favorite across south east Michigan and a variety of the dog can even be found in Ohio - often known there has the cheese chilli. But what is it? Well it's easily explained as a natural casing beef hot dog topped with an all meat, beanless chilli finished off with diced onions and mustard, and most importantly, Coneys are as messy as they are delicious, they might be cheap but they are mighty fine. 

Left - Coney from Comet Burgers, Royal Oak. Right - Coney and sliders from The Telway, Madison Heights. 

Come to Michigan and you'll be spoilt for choice with where to taste one, Lafayette and American Coney Islands next door to each other in Downtown Detroit always battle it out between themselves for the number one spot, but the region is full of Coney Island chains - Leos to National. But many independent burger places or diners will serve their own variety - the coney's from Telway in Madison Heights being a particular favorite of mine - plus is still has it's 50's decor which is always a win with me.

A trip to Michigan certainly wouldn't be complete until you've tried a coney dog. You can always check out my blog posts on my visit to Detroit's Lafayette Coney Island here.

How do you like your hot dogs?

FOOD - The Coney Island Dog

So, lets start a new week with something yummy! If you didn't notice on my Primanti Brothers, we're big fans of watching Man Vs Food and if you've ever watched it yourself might have seen Adam Richman eating Coney Island Hot Dogs - more often just known as the Coney. With a name like Coney you might expect such a food to be from from New York/Coney Island - the name merely refers to the hot dog itself, but it's origin is actually one of Greek-American and of Detroit in the early 1900's.

The Detroit Coney is basically a beef hot dog topped in a meat, beanless chili sauce finished off with mustard and diced onions. It's an all in hands on sticky, messy tasty goo of goodness. When visiting Detroit eating a Coney is a must and it's bad showing on my part that it's taken me nearly two years to getting around to trying one, nevertheless they are awesome.

But to add to the fun, there's a bid family story about the Coney Island, one that you could say splits the city in two. In 1903 Gust Keros immigrated to Detroit from Greece and unable to find employment Keros began shining shoes and selling hot dogs topped in chili out of a cart upon the corner of Michigan Avenue and Lafayette Blvd. By 1917, Keros had opened American Coney Island upon Lafayette and shortly after brought his brother to America. However, and rumors and tales are open to exactly why, but his brother opened Lafayette Coney Island right next door using just a slightly different sauce.

Nearly 100 years later, American Coney and Lafayette Coney still sit next to each other in Downtown Detroit, both open and both serving their different takes on the Coney. This time we chose Layette and for $12 you can get 4 Coney's, a plate of fries and two cokes - absolute bargain. The Formica long shared tables, the green tiled walls and being able to eat at a counter if you wish certainly takes you back in time to the diners of old. The mustard sets off the chili just right, it's sloppy, it's messy and the natural casing to the hot dogs gives an amazing crunch. Lafayette is not has big, it's not has loud from the street front but it doesn't need to be - their chili says it all. - next time it'll be the American Coney. But even as Adam Richman - who visited and ate at both in his show, you can't really say which is better.

Have you ever had a Coney Island? Would you?