balloon launches and fly-ins,
kite-team and skydiver perfor-
mances, fireworks, live perfor-
mances by Annabelle Road and
others, a farmer's market, the
chance to visit the inside of an
airplane cockpit, an arts festival,
a nighttime balloon jump and
more. michiganchallenge.com .
While you're there: Be sure
to save time to meander around
historic downtown Howell, where a
rich array of architectural styles include Greek
Revival, Carpenter Gothic, Italianate, Queen
Anne and more. Stately Victorian homes remain
resplendent along tree-lined streets. There's
enough spectacular architecture to merit seven
different walking tours
(buy a copy ofA Walk Through Time at
downtownhowell.org ), with highlights including
the original Opera House, built in 1881, and a
Dairy Queen built in 1889. Housed in the turn-
of-the-century buildings are equally charming
one-of-a-kind shops — antiques, jewelry, home
decor, clothing — and cafes.

BATTLE CREEK CEREAL FESTIVAL
Friday-Saturday, June 8-9, Battle Creek
Celebrate the storied history of breakfast ce-

real in Cereal City
with Tony the Ti-
ger, Snap, Crackle
and Pop, Toucan
Sam and more
favorites. Kicking off
with a Grand Cereal Parade, the fes-
tival features the annual crowd-pleasing
World's Longest Breakfast Table, where you
can sample enormous amounts of your favor-
ite (and newest) cereals, Pop Tarts, Tang and
more (all donated by the local cereal compa-
nies) alongside upwards of 30,000 people.
Check out a Classic Car Show, Cereal City
Classic Run/Walk, live entertainment, a kids
outdoor movie, healthy-living activities and
more. The festival also helps provides food for
local food banks, and
brings to light the
contributions of Dr.
John Harvey Kel-
logg, who trans-
formed health
•
care in the 19th
century, and
cereal industry
magnates C.W.

Post and
W. K. Kellogg.
bcfestivals.com .
While you're there:
Deservedly known for
its cereal, Battle Creek is
also much more. The chosen
home of ex-slave and abolitionist So-
journer Truth, it was a major stop on
the Underground Railroad. It was
also the cradle of the Seventh-Day
Adventist religion and home of its
founder, Ellen White, and home
to the Battle Creek Sanitarium,
opened in 1866 and overseen
by Dr. John Harvey Kellogg (his
brother, WK. Kellogg, worked
as the bookkeeper). Flourish-
ing as a chic-wellness destination
among the country's prominent citizens and
known for its water and fresh-air treatments
and promoting a high-fiber diet, the "San"
hosted notable patients including Warren
G. Harding, Amelia Earhart, Henry Ford
and Mary Todd Lincoln, as well as impov-
erished charity patients. It also was host
to chronically ill businessman C.W.
Post, who later opened his own spa
and developed Grape-Nuts Cereal,
inspiring a host of imitators and a
breakfast-cereal boom; at one time

www.redthreadmagazine.com

in the early-1900s, there were more
than 80 cereal companies in Battle
Creek, and one that succeeded was
Kellogg's of Battle Creek. Learn
about it all at the Kimball House
Museum, housed in a Victorian
home. Heritagebattlecreek.org .

MICHIGAN ELVISFEST
Friday-Saturday, July 13-14, Ypsilanti
Long live the King! Dig up your poodle skirt
and grease up your pompadour and join in a
grand Elvis celebration. Eleven award-winning
Elvis tribute artists will shake things up and get
crowds screaming in Ypsilanti's Historic Depot
Town, plus visit booths offering memorabilia
and festival gear, a candlelight vigil commemo-
rating the 33rd anniversary of Elvis' death, a
Classic Car Show (Elvis loved them!) and plenty
of kids events. mielvisfest.org.
While you're there: Just a 30-minute drive
from Ypsilanti, Chelsea is a wholesome, tight-
knit community, home to both Jeff Daniels and
Jiffy Mix. The former, of course, is the founder
of the Purple Rose Theatre Company, a profes-
sional nonprofit dedicated to providing a cre-
ative home for Midwestern artists and featuring
Ernest Thompson's On Golden Pond June 21
through Sept. 1. purplerosetheatre.org .

CHEESEBURGER FESTIVAL
Friday-Sunday, Aug. 10-19, Caseville
Key West is more than 1,600 miles from
Caseville, Mich., but you'd never know it come
mid-August when this Lake Huron beach town
summons its
inner Jimmy Buffet and serves up a 10-day
tribute to summer fun, music and the almighty
cheeseburger. The burger blowout started in
1999 and has since developed into an immensely
popular late-summer, family-friendly cel-
ebration, offering games for kids and
adults, a Parade of Fools, concerts,
a beach volleyball tournament and
cheeseburgers galore. Be sure to enter
the sandcastle sculpture contest —
but mind your flip-flops and watch
out for pop-tops!
casevillechamber.net.
While you're there: Just 18 miles
up M-25 is the town of Port Austin, a
picturesque lakeside destination at the tip
of Michigan's thumb, brimming with beaches,
parks and recreational areas, and year-round
cultural activities. Spend an afternoon explor-
ing three miles of beaches and sand dunes at
Port Crescent State Park, take in the feel of a
once-thriving logging town at Huron City Mu-
seums, book a fishing charter, check out historic
Pointe Aux Barques lighthouse or pick up some
farm-fresh produce at the Port Austin Farmer's
Market. It's an ideal side trip or worth the drive
all on its own. portaustinarea.com.

RD READ

June 2012 RT