RETRO ESCAPES

by LUCINDA HAHN

Ever since the glaciers checked out, leaving behind our glorious lakes, travelers have been checking in Up North—beckoned first by early rustic camps, then seasonal shoreside resorts and turn-of-the-20th-century glam hotels. Today, nostalgia-seekers can tap into the romance of bygone eras at these three retro lodgings, which whisk guests back in time while maintaining modern touches we love.

ANCHOR INN, TRAVERSE CITY

Design-minded Alyssa Brittain envisioned a “Nordic Cottage” style for the interiors of this 1940s g etaway, which she and her husband purchased in 2021. Out went the dated quilts and bedskirts, in came a painstaking renovation that transformed the eight cottages and six motel rooms into a celebration of minimalist chic. Sunlight streams onto crisp-white walls, while the original dark wood trim and hardwood floors synch with salvaged finds—think nautical sconces and antique dressers—to provide the lake-cottage vibe of our dreams. This spring saw the addition of a threebedroom Lakeside House with its bead-boarded kitchen, vintage light fixtures and cozy breakfast nook promising to give you all the nostalgic feels.

COLONIAL INN, HARBOR SPRINGS

Built back when captains of industry brokered deals on the verandas of the three-story Harbor Springs summer “cottages,” this 129-year-old hotel epitomizes old-millennium elegance, starting with its expansive porch, perfect for sipping a gimlet in the Lake Michigan breeze. The high-ceilinged lobby d é cor is reminiscent of Mackinac Island’s Grand Hotel, and amid the manicured grounds, the kidney-shaped swimming pool is a throwback to glamour circa 1955. Each room’s gas fireplace helps ignite that lakeside ambience, and while the building ’s age means more than one flick of the light switch might be required to start the flame, “That’s still a lot easier,” management points out, “than it was to gather firewood in 1894.” (We’ll say!) Owned by the Brown family for three generations, the hotel’s rooms feature whimsical Northern Michigan beach-scapes painted by the owner’s mother.

BIRCH LODGE, TROUT LAKE

Nestled amid a copse of hardwoods, this three-story inn has evolved from a 1912 sanitarium—its original raison d’être—into the most gracious of lodgings, a place to breathe in the beauty of the Upper Peninsula. Eight bedrooms embody the pared-back beauty of simpler times with period-inspired classics such as iron beds and historical black-and-white fishing photos. Downstairs, the iconic Birch Bar is a master class in Northwoods kitsch, featuring bar stools cut from tree trunks and a birch-log back bar complete with a vintage Busch beer sign and a stein-full of pheasant tailfeathers. Fancy a different era? Try the property’s eight-room Motel at Birch Lodge, a portal to the 1950s with its mid-century modern furniture, wall-to-wall carpeting and wood paneling that transport visitors back to childhood road trips of decades past. With each room featuring a picture window looking out onto Trout Lake—plus high-speed WiFi—you could be forgiven for choosing to ditch tomorrow’s itinerary and stay awhile.

Nature 101

by KIM SCHNEIDER

The ultimate health hack: A walk in the woods. This new course in nature psychology shows students how to connect with the outdoors to improve their brains, focus, health and well-being.

Professor samantha smith has long taught environmental psychology—how environments such as our workplaces, hospital rooms or a classroom affect the human psyche, and how they could better be designed to fulfill their intended purposes.

But what always resonated most with her students was a small section of the class on what one might call the ultimate design: nature. That’s perhaps not surprising, given her students at Michigan Technological University study at the base of the Keweenaw Peninsula, with its 150 miles of Lake Superior shoreline and seemingly endless forests.

So, in a new Nature Psychology class created last spring, Smith and colleagues from departments like sociology, forestry and biology set out to answer: “Why do we feel so good when we’re in nature? And how can we get the maximum benefit from time outdoors?”

MTU students so believed in what they learned that first semester that they wrote up the benefits of nature on the human psyche and shared them on flyers distributed by the Keweenaw Land Trust. Smith led local hikes. And students developed a rock-hunting activity for families and others, hoping to share the impact of time spent in nature and inspire conservation efforts that ensure those benefits can continue.

“On a very broad level, nature can lower cortisol levels, reduce stress and have positive effects on immune function,” Smith says. “There have been studies showing cancer recovery and reduced hypertension, also on longevity. There are compounding benefits to physical activity, more bang for your buck in exercising in nature versus a gym—and the mental health benefits are just as broad, helping with depression and anxiety. Nature time and gardening in prisons can lead to better long-term outcomes, reducing recidivism and adding all sorts of mental health benefits.”

Water, she says, offers a particularly strong boost to mood and health, thanks to the patterns on water, the movement we experience on it, and the associated vistas.

But Smith’s specific area of research is on attention, and the way nature gives a rest to brains that too often today are over-taxed by the speed and quantity of information, and the way electronic devices keep them ever on alert.

“What nature is good at is capturing our involuntary attention in a gentle, passive way, allowing those resources to recover,” she says. “When we’re done with time outdoors, we’re mentally rejuvenated and we’re going to perform better on all sorts of tasks. We’re operating at a more complete cognitive capacity again.”

The literal sounds (and benefits) of silence are taught by Robert James Laverne, an MTU forestry instructor with specialties in urban planning. His sound recordings in Seney National Wildlife Refuge revealed that area to be virtually free of noise pollution; immersion in such a place is one key to giving our directed attention, which maintains focus while handling incoming distractions, a muchneeded rest, he explains.

“Your mind is allowed to wander from birds calling in trees to the warmth of the sun on your skin to the sound of water trickling through a stream,” he says. “Your mind is allowed to wander, and your mind is allowed to wonder.”

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Come along for the ride...

It’s the pinnacle of springtime in the cherry capital of the world: cherry trees in bloom. Some years are dampened by frost or windstorms or drought conditions. But some years, like this one, it’s an absolute explosion of delicate white blooms. Driving backroads takes priority to hustling the fastest route, the air fills with their sweet scent and the buzz of bees isn’t a cause for concern, but rather a pleasant reminder of nature at work.

What is cause for concern? Some 28 women heading out on their bikes for a ride—with two goals in mind: blossoms and beverages. Welcome to the Michigan Girl Bike (and Hike!) Club, a group I started. Something I don’t always own up to.

Our group meets every other week, year-round, for hikes, bikes or snowshoes. Everyone is welcome, which means it’s sometimes a wildcard who shows up.

This Thursday night in mid-May, it’s a bunch of familiar faces plus several

By Kandace Chapple