Twelve Mile Circle – An Appreciation of Unusual Places

Category: History

  • Southern Heat, Part 2 (Atlanta Revisited)

    I ventured into familiar territory as we started the trip, back to the same eastside of Atlanta that I’d explored just four months prior. That wasn’t a coincidence. I enjoyed the area so much that I wanted the whole family to experience it too. So it made perfect sense to fly into Atlanta and use…

  • Asia-Pacific, Part 7 (South Korea: The DMZ)

    The Korean War never actually ended. Rather, it froze in place at an armistice line on July 27, 1953. So there’s a multi-decade ceasefire, a truce, but no agreed-upon resolution of hostilities. A four kilometre wide Demilitarized Zone acts as a buffer between North and South Korea near the 38th parallel north. It crosses the…

  • Mitten Accomplished

    I got a unique opportunity to visit counties in a corner of the Midwest I hadn’t touched much when my older kid decided to go to college in Michigan. But it didn’t offer a lot of time for my quest, just a four year window before graduation. Even so, I set what I thought was…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 10 (Into the Highlands)

    A typical tourist on Mackinac Island sticks pretty close to town. Maybe they’ll take a carriage tour inland or head over to the golf course. Still others may venture around the perimeter on a bicycle along Lake Shore Road. But there are other spots that get less attention. I wouldn’t call any of them “obscure”…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 9 (Lake Shore Road)

    Bicycles are the most popular form of transportation on Michigan’s Mackinac Island, other than foot. They’re perfect for an area of less than four square miles where motorized vehicles are essentially prohibited. There are plenty of places to rent bicycles within an easy walk of the ferry docks. However, I had an inside track. My…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 8 (In Town)

    I’ll just come out and say it, Mackinac Island is an odd place (map). Lots of people love this scenic spot on Lake Huron for that specific reason, and I admit I enjoyed my brief time there too. But it was disorienting and bewildering to this first time visitor. It felt like a topsy-turvy version…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 7 (St. Ignace)

    I realize that I mentioned Mackinaw City as a cheaper alternative to staying on Mackinac Island. However, we didn’t actually stay there. Instead, we crossed over to St. Ignace on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. It was a quieter town, a little further out of the way, and didn’t experience the same levels of visitor density. Don’t…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 6 (Mackinaw City)

    We drew ever closer to our ultimate target. Only a fifteen minute ferry ride separated us from Mackinac Island today, a place we could see quite clearly from the mainland shore. However, we focused on Mackinaw City and its immediate surroundings so the island had to wait. Mackinaw City is nothing like Mackinac Island despite…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 3 (Sault Ste. Marie)

    Now safely ensconced in St. Ignace on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, we could venture out on day-trips from our home base. One such journey brought us even farther up the U.P. to Sault Ste. Marie. This was my first visit to the town but not the first time it appeared in Twelve Mile Circle. I devoted…

  • Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 1 (Up North)

    I had good reason to travel up to Mackinac Island in Michigan, a place sandwiched between its Upper and Lower Peninsulas. My older child worked at an internship there this summer, a requirement for a University degree. You know, the kid who loves zoos, designed a town, and noticed all those modes of transportation? Yes,…