Features

Bucketlist for Summer

Cameron Lindsay, Editor in Chief|May 30, 2019

Summer can be filled with sky high adventures and valley low boredoms. In Michigan, it sometimes seems like the most boring states, however there are plenty of fun things to do around here. Here’s a list of 50 things you should do this summer in Michigan!

Go to a farmers market: There’s one in Northville off of 7 mile and Sheldon every Thursday until Oct. 31. Additionally, there is one off of Denton near Cherry Hill Village every Sunday until Oct. 12. Then there’s one of the most famous farmers market in Michigan is the Eastern Market in Detroit, now open every saturday!
Watch a movie at a drive-in movie theatre: We all know it- the classic arctic edge parking lot, 7 bucks a ticket for a fun night-out. Monday Movie Night at Lavender Hill Farm in Boyne Mountain is open June 24 to August 26
Go to an aesthetic coffee shop: Here are a few options: Flower Bar off of N. Territorial and Pontiac Trail, Coffee Bean off of Harvey st., The Corner Cafe off of Pontiac Trail and Lafayette St. Illiterati, and Roasting Plant in Detroit, Ann Arbor, Dearborn Heights. You can just sit, drink, and enjoy the chill vibes
Have a Coffee Adventure: Disclaimer: Don’t Drink Too Much Coffee! Going off of number 3, here’s a list of coffee shops to go coffee shop hopping: Starting in Plymouth check out Espresso Elevado, Sweet Afton Tea Room, The Coffee Bean, The Farmers Brothers Coffee to Northville with the Tuscan Cafe, My little Paris, The Red Dot Coffee Company, then to South Lyon The Corner Cafe, Flower Bar, The Peaberry Bean, then the best for last Ann Arbor Teaspressa, Literati, TeaHaus, Black Diesel Coffee and Fred’s.
Go garage sale shopping/Go Antiquing: There are antique shops everywhere if you look in the right places. There’s Home Sweet Home on Ann Arbor Trail, The Barn Antiques on 8 mile, Town Peddler Craft and Antique Mall on Plymouth Road, there’s even one off of 7 mile. They are fun to look through and see a cool part of history.
Go hiking: Maybury and Hines Park are have some great hiking paths. Also, the best thing post hike is turning on your sprinklers and running through them. There are also hiking trails at towards the back of McClumpha Park.
Go on a picnic: Some really great picnic foods are: sandwiches, chips, fruits and veggies, tea and lemonade.
Tie-dye your clothes: Go to the Salvation Army to buy some white clothing items and Tie-dye away – you can find tie-dye at any craft store!
Go to a local fair: On June 1 in Downtown Ann Arbor, there is the African American Festival; May 18-19 there is the Vintage Volkswagen Festival in Ypsilanti, as well as there is the iconic Liberty Fest in Canton, Mi on June 13-15. There’s the St. Joseph Polish Festival in New Boston from May 17-19; There the Ann Arbor Summer Festival from June 14 to July 7; Ann Arbor Fair July 18 to 26; Ann Arbor Pride August 3 to 4;
Build a Fort: On a rainy day build a fort and watch movies in your fort – I find the best fort food is popcorn and ice cream (Ben & Jerry’s for the win!).
Go Stargazing: Alpena has three Dark Sky Preserves one of which is Rockport State Recreation Park, another is Thompson’s Harbor State Park, and Negwegon State Park. In Mackinaw City there is the Headlands International Park Dark Sky Park. There’s even driving down Joy Road when you start getting in the middle of nowhere on a clear sky you can see some beautiful stars.
Volunteer: Rouge River clean up, Miracle League, PB&J Outreach,
Movie Marathon: Have some friends over and have each friend bring a movie and a pint of ice cream and just watch movies together.
Go dancing: It doesn’t need to be crazy just grab your phone and open space and just dance away!
Hide and Seek: Hear me out, if you go to a well known, safe, park like Maybury and play hide and seek in the woods with established parameters, even playing flashlight tag in an open area.
Ice Cream in Ann Arbor: Zingerman’s Creamery on May 22 you can get free gelato and bonus you get to do all the cool things in Ann Arbor like the State Theatre,
Spa Night: Buy a facemask, do your nails, put a wet towel in the microwave for 30-45 seconds and put it around your shoulders, and relax!
Watch the sunset: Everyday around 8:00 pm the sun sets on the west in Michigan and some really awesome places to watch the sunset is Maybury State Park, Belleville lake just before the downtown where the bridge is you can sit on one of the benches and afterwards you can go to eat at the Bayou; or watch the sunset from Belle Isle in Detroit and also get in some nature at the same time.
Have a bonfire – Grill Out!: S’mores, Burgers (Veggie for our vegetarian friends), and some corn, grilled pineapple with vanilla ice cream, lemonade and iced tea with friends.
Host a breakfast for your friends: Brunch is an essential for fun and laughs; some really good foods for a brunch is:
Adventure Photography: Go somewhere you’ve always wanted to go or think is cool with your phone and take pictures! It’s more fun with a friend!!
Painting outdoors: Go to Joanne’s and invest in some paint, and brushes with a canvas. Then, go outside and find a spot and just sit down and paint what you see – who cares what it looks like it’s for you and your self care!
Go strawberry picking: Rowe’s Produce Farm is a U-Pick strawberry farm open from June 1 to July 4 from 7:00am to 8:00pm
Go to Cedar Point: Tickets can range from $40-60
Go to a Beach: There’s Lake Michigan Beaches, Whitmore lake, Belleville lake, Silver Lake State Park.
Go to a Concert: At DTE Energy Theatre there are many artists coming to Michigan like Luke Combs, Bob Seger, Thomas Rhett and Dustin Lynch with Russell Dickerson, Kidz Bop Live, Train. Chris Stapleton, Florida-Georgia Line and Dan and Shay with Morgan Wallen, as well as many other awesome artists! With all these concerts the price ranges from $30-500 depends on where you sit and who you are seeing.
Play with Chalk: Zen doodle your driveway!
Play with Bubbles on a windy day: Dollar store, or cheaper dish soap and water and one of those wands and have a blast.
Dance in the rain: From someone who does this, it is absolutely one of the most freeing things you can do. Trust me, even if you get sick, it is worth it.
Go to Tiger’s Game: There are plenty of home games for the Tiger’s that range in price from $19-122.
Go to Kerrytown for a day: It’s in downtown Ann Arbor and the shopping is super cool and fun!
Go Kayaking/Tubing/Go white water rafting: Argo Park Canoe and Kayak Livery in Ann Arbor is free if you bring your own tube if you don’t then it costs $10-15
Go on a Bike Ride: Biking down Ann Arbor road where it turns into Plymouth is perfect for a chill bike ride that is completely stunning! Downtown Whitmore Lake has a bike rental where you can bike down around the lake.
Do something adventurous that you wouldn’t normally do: like get a tattoo or try a new haircut even skydiving. Perhaps that’s even talking with somebody new.
Go to a botanical garden: On Dixboro and Ann Arbor road there is Matthaei Botanical Gardens; There’s also the University of Michigan Nichols Arboretum at the edge of the central campus is completely gorgeous and worth going! There’s Yoga in the Bloom at Lavender Hill Farm from May 17 – August 23 in Boyne City; On July 10 there’s the Garden Walk in Northville; Check out the wildflower Sanctuary at Loda Lake in Huron-Manistee
Go to a Church or Religious event outside of your own beliefs: Stretch your bubbles people! Be respectful and do your research about what they believe, but explore different aspects of humanity.
Nerd-Out and rent a book from the library: Open up a card if you don’t have one and rent a book and if it’s bad – get a new one! I highly recommend Bukowski, he’s a poet with his own flare.
Go to a park: On a warm day ask a friend to hang out, grab a light blanket, and go to Kellogg Park in downtown Plymouth. You can bring a frisbee, football or a sketch pad and just hang out. If you need something cold walk down to Dairy King or Dairy-Go-Round, if you want lunch there’s Jimmy John’s right across the street.
Go on a midnight drive: FULLY RESTED! Don’t sleep and drive, but if you can drive through a downtown at night with your windows down and listen. It really puts perspective on the world when it’s quiet and barely lit.
Play Extreme Cops and Robbers: Get you and your friends to turn on your location on your phone and designate cops and robbers. Just stay safe!
Go for the Food: The Classic Ann Arbor Food Tour – Open from March to December every Friday, Saturday and Sunday; There’s also a French Tart Workshop in Grand Rapids May 18; Or even have Cupboard Potluck with your friends have your people over and they bring food they’ve made from the cupboard; Or try a New Restaurant like Cantoro’s for dinner
Travel the World in a Day: For a day present like your are on a trip somewhere else for the day. For example, dress up like you are in italy and go to italian restaurants all day and do things you might do in italy.
Go on an epic Road Trip: This trip is for hitting some of the best beach towns in Michigan and hitting some urban areas as well. If you want to save more money, you can always go camping instead of staying in a hotel. Tip: Ask locals where to go to eat and go if you are bored.
1. Go from Ann Arbor to St. Joseph on route 94 (cost for a two night hotel for two people is roughly $400)
  1. Warren Dunes State Park
  2. Silver Beach
  3. Tiscornia Park Lighthouse
2. From St. Joseph go to South Haven (cost for a two night hotel for two people is roughly $300)
  1. North Beach
  2. South Haven Lighthouse
  3. Idler Restaurant
3. From South Haven to Holland (cost for a two night hotel for two people is roughly $400)
  1. Windmill Island Gardens
  2. Nelis Dutch Village
  3. Holland Tulip Gardens
  4. Big Red Lighthouse
4. Holland to Grand Rapids (cost for a two night hotel for two people is roughly $330)
  1. Frederik Meijer Gardens
  2. Downtown Market Grand Rapids
5. Grand Rapids back home
Go to a Bookstore: John k. King Used and Rare Books in detroit is super aesthetic and fun! The Black Stone Bookstore and Cultural Center, Literati, My Little Paris.
Go Camping: In the top 10 campsites according to Pure Michigan there are 6 sites near us. One of these are Sleeping Hollow State Park, Huron-Manistee National Forest, Ludington State Park, Lakeport State Park, Sleeping Bear Dunes, South Higgins Lake State Park. These sites range in cost from $30 to 45 given the place and time you spend there.
Make an Insane Milkshake: Like Shane Dawson buy (almost) anything you can of one flavor and blend it up and make an insane milkshake. I’m talking buying everything you can that is cake batter: ice cream, oreos, frosting, milk, ect.
Practice Yoga: There are tons of youtube videos on how to do yoga, just go outside put on the video and try it out!
Start a composting bin/Start a Garden: Help save the environment y’all!
Watch Fireworks: The Plymouth fireworks are July 4 at McClumpha park
Make your lifetime bucket list