Mark Naida

Austin

Managing Editor at Enjoyer

Editor, @mich_enjoyer Formerly: @WSJOpinion, @CNNBusiness, @detroitnews Catholic, husband, father [email protected]

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Articles

Our Favorite Haunts, Now Long Gone

3 weeks ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

I recently asked our readers what establishments they miss most. Here are some highlights:“The chain famous for its Olive Burgers once had 17 restaurants in West Michigan. I can still remember the taste of the burger sauce and onion rings.”“Crusty bread. Crispy salads with beets and olives. Feta. Lamb and roasted potatoes. Pastitsio. Marinated octopus. Waiters with white aprons down to their ankles.
Editor's Note: What Michigan Place Do You Miss Most?

1 month ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

Last week, the owner of Sister Pie, the iconic Detroit bakery, announced it would be taking a hiatus due to a financial crisis after a decade of serving treats. A sad story, and one that we’re all too familiar with: Restaurants, bars, and cafes are a tough business, after all—so many places didn’t come back after Covid. Five years on, it’s hard to even remember some of our beloved haunts.
The Three Most Famous Rocks in Michigan

1 month ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

In September 2015, a man named Tim O’Brien waded out into shallow water near Northport in the Leelenau Peninsula and proceeded to dig a 93-pound Petoskey Stone with a trowel. It wasn’t polished up and easily identifiable as a Petoskey stone, but looking closely, the pattern of fossilized Hexagonaria coral was clear. He set it in front of his home in the tiny village of Copemish and posted a photo of it on Facebook, where it went viral.
The Age-Old Tradition of Getting Skunked

1 month ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

Big Rapids — Getting skunked on your first hunt is a time-honored tradition. Teenage boys with shiny new rifles will sit up freezing in stands outside all November and come home with nothing year after year on their journeys to become men. Here I was, twice that age, undergoing that right of passage while stalking turkeys. I came home with neither a cooler full of turkey breast nor a fan to hang on my wall.
DTW Isn’t Just for Leaving

1 month ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

Romulus — Metro Detroiters make weird vacation choices. In high summer, they fly to Disney World to bake in the Florida sun and scan the roadside for alligators. Or they make a quick eight-hour drive to Pigeon Forge to hide in the shade at Dollywood. Worse, people fly off to Cancun or the Dominican Republic to sweat through their Tommy Bahamas and get stung by jellyfish. These trips make sense in winter, but given school schedules, they too often happen during warm months.
Paris, Michigan, Has No French Connection

1 month ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

Paris — Just north of Big Rapids is a quaint crossroads with a cabinet maker, a taxidermist, a pizza joint, an antique dealer—and a scale model of the Eiffel Tower, of course. There are at least 23 towns in the U.S. named after the French capital, but ours is not one of them. John Parish platted this village of 270 souls in 1865, and after a fire about a decade later, the “h” fell off the town’s name. “Parish” became “Paris.”This little village was once home to the state’s second fish hatchery.
How One Soft-Palmed Editor Screwed Up His Turkey Hunt

2 months ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

Big Rapids — I knew everything I needed to know, and it didn’t matter. We found the turkeys before dawn and started the dance. We called, they gobbled. They flew off the roost, and we hoped a tom would come square off with our jake decoy. The gobbles got louder, and we saw a black shadow scratching its way forward as dawn blossomed to morning. I couldn’t have had it easier. This was less hunting and more playing gunman.
The Government Says Charlevoix Is the Best Place to Live in Michigan

2 months ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

That’s according to a 1999 report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The USDA created an index for what it deemed “natural amenities” and ranked every county in the lower 48. The environmental qualities the index favored were mild, sunny winters, temperate summers, low humidity, topographic variation, and access to a body of water.
The Robin Shouldn’t Be Our State Bird

2 months ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

We all know why they got the honor: Because when you see one, you know spring is here. Don’t get me wrong, these red-breasted thrushes are fun to watch. They fly around with worms hanging out of their mouths. They’re distinct enough that everyone can identify them, and who hasn’t found a tightly built nest with a few baby-blue eggs? They’re good as birds go, but they aren’t unique enough to be Michigan’s state bird.
It’s “Ford’s,” Not Ford

2 months ago | enjoyer.com | Mark Naida

If your grandparents grew up here, they probably refer to the Ford Motor Company as “Ford’s” and Meijer as “Meijer’s.” Many laugh this off as some silly midwestern linguistic tic, but it’s not. It’s a recognition that great men have built great companies in Michigan. When Chrysler Fiat and Peugeot merged in January 2021, the company chose to be known by a new name, a contrived one: Stellantis.