Northern Express Michigan

3 weeks ago | northernexpress.com | Ross Boissoneau |Anna Faller |Ellen Miller |Kierstin Gunsberg

June 7, 2025 Do-do-do-do! Here comes the sun, and I say…head to Elk Rapids for their Here Comes the Sun Downtown Street Party on Saturday, June 14, from 4-8pm! This party is all about celebrating downtown businesses and employees before the summer tourism crush hits. There will be local food vendors, live music, and activities for all ages on River Street, which will be closed to vehicular traffic for the party.

3 weeks ago | northernexpress.com | Anna Faller |Ross Boissoneau |Ellen Miller |Kierstin Gunsberg

Tastemaker By Anna Faller | June 7, 2025 We’re all for a little spring adventuring, especially if it comes with a haul of highly-coveted morel mushrooms…or, you could just go for the Morel Mushroom Burger ($22) at 45th Parallel Café in Suttons Bay! Featuring a hearty half-pound beef patty from Fire River Farms, this burger is grilled to order, topped with a slice of melty Havarti cheese, and stacked atop a toasty Michigan Bread brioche bun.

3 weeks ago | northernexpress.com | Ross Boissoneau |Anna Faller |Ellen Miller |Kierstin Gunsberg

Bottoms Up June 7, 2025 This wine wasn’t grown on the vine, but in the tree! Over Memorial Day weekend, Black Star Farms debuted its limited release Pear Wine ($18), which is exclusively available at the winery’s tasting rooms in Suttons Bay and on Old Mission Peninsula. The wine is made of 100 percent local pears that are gently fermented to create a delicate, pear-forward flavor. It’s semi-sweet, but remains delicate and balanced with 3.5 percent residual sugar.

3 weeks ago | northernexpress.com | Ross Boissoneau |Anna Faller |Ellen Miller |Kierstin Gunsberg

500+ concerts, festivals, and shows across northern Michigan By Ross Boissoneau | June 7, 2025 For the next three to four months, summertime sounds are everywhere. Rock to folk, country to jazz, classical to pop will be played in auditoriums, listening rooms—even on islands and (local) mountains.

3 weeks ago | northernexpress.com | Jillian Manning |Ross Boissoneau |Anna Faller |Ellen Miller

The cost (and failures) of artificial intelligence By Jillian Manning | June 7, 2025 Some days, I think I’ve woken up at the start of a robot apocalypse movie. Just about every app, every search bar, every website shouts, “Use our new AI function!” It’s on Google. It’s on Instagram. It’s even on the City of Traverse City website. And I don’t trust it. Don’t get me wrong—I’m a Millennial who has always been within cherry-pit-spitting distance of the Internet.