Where Does Michigan Rank for Being Patriotic?
With the Fourth of July holiday on the way, Michigan residents are gearing up to celebrate America in a big way. It’s the first fairly normal summer since the pandemic…
(Photo by Al Messerschmidt/Getty Images) *** Local Caption ***
With the Fourth of July holiday on the way, Michigan residents are gearing up to celebrate America in a big way. It's the first fairly normal summer since the pandemic took hold in 2020, with many patriotic events back for the first time in years, so that's a big reason to celebrate.
I have always thought of Michigan as being a very patriotic state. I love visiting rural areas throughout the state, and on road trips, I often see American flags hanging from every house along my route. Plus, we have the Great Lakes and countless inland lakes, so Fourth of July celebrations in Michigan tend to be massive.
The crew at WalletHub.com has put together a study to determine the most patriotic states in America. It wasn't an easy task, but they used some very specific data to do. "In order to determine where Americans have the most red, white and blue pride, WalletHub compared the states across 13 key indicators of patriotism," the publication stated in the study. "Our data set ranges from the state’s military enlistees and veterans to the share of adults who voted in the 2020 presidential election to AmeriCorps volunteers per capita."
To rank the most patriotic states, WalletHub compared the 50 states across two key dimensions" “Military Engagement” and “Civic Engagement.” They also "evaluated those dimensions using 13 relevant metrics, which are listed below with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the highest level of patriotism. Finally, we determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score and used the resulting scores to rank-order the states."
Michigan is No. 37 on the list. I thought we’d be much higher! Michigan's "military engagement" number was among the highest of the all the states at 46, but the state's civic engagement was low at 25. Find the full study via WalletHub.com here.
Spring and summer are on the way, and that means it's vacation time. You don't need to travel far to experience an amazing vacation experience. In fact, chances are there's a great getaway just a road trip away. Here in Michigan, we have plenty of exciting beach towns and vacation-ready destinations.
Plenty of people from neighboring states and beyond actually come to Michigan to vacation in the spring and summer. I have a friend in Florida who rents a place up north for a week every summer. That said, why not take advantage of the beautiful land we have in Michigan and plan your spring getaway or summer vacation right here in the Mitten? One of my favorite things to do each summer and road trip to a new Michigan destination and take in that town's unique culture.
Read on for a list I've put together of some of Michigan's finest vacation destinations. I included 30 on this list, but of course, there are many more. The No. 1 spot, in my opinion, is Mackinac Island. If you're a Michigander and have never been to Mackinac Island, then you have some catching up to do. I remember going there as a child with my parents and grandparents and finding Petoskey stones- or at least purchasing them at a local gift shop.
If you're interested in a top 10 list, U.S. World and News Report recently put together a list of the 10 best places to visit in Michigan, which you can find here. As a Michigan native, I approve of their list, but there are far more than just 10 cities in Michigan that area prime vacation destinations.
Mackinac Island
Holland
Traverse City
Saugatuck
Grand Rapids
Lansing
Iron Mountain
Manistee
Petoskey
Ludington
Frankenmuth
Saginaw/Bay City
Kalamazoo
Muskegon
Sleeping Bear Dunes
Pictured Rocks
Boyne City
http://www.cityofboynecity.com/
Ann Arbor
Leelanau
Marquette
Sault Ste. Marie
St. Ignace
Mount Pleasant
http://www.mt-pleasant.org/
