25 Strangers: A West Michigan Photo Journal

Inspired by the Humans of New York project, I took the time to walk around my own area — Muskegon, Fruitport, and Grand Haven — to talk to strangers about their favorite parts of Michigan.

Here are their photos and stories:

What is your favorite place to relax?

Nita:  “Heritage Landing, you get a chance to look at the water, sit down and
be, and just walking is great.”

 

What is your favorite place to vacation?

Florence: “Probably Traverse City. It’s a real cool town.”

 

Where is your favorite place to eat?

Homer: [pointing at wife] “Her house… haha, but I like Hennesey’s Pub. I gave up drinking a while back, [but] I wouldn’t mind chugging a few scotches there.”

Where would you like to be right now?

Diane: “Detroit. I have family out there.”

Where is your favorite place to eat?

Michelle: “Mr. Scrib’s. My favorite pizza!”

What is your favorite fall activity?

“Road tripping – like a fall color tour. Checking out all the color changes and
stuff.”

What is your favorite part of where you live?

Austin: “The lakes are just beautiful. For me in particular, being around water
just makes me feel calm. It’s where I go when i’m pissed off.”

Where is the best place to vacation?

Steven: “Honestly, the west side of Michigan is just my favorite place to be”

What would you tell someone to convince them to come here?

Misty: “Nothing… haha, just kidding! I would say the Mackinac Bridge. I would tell them to come during Labor Day to take the walk across it. I actually just did it.”

What is your favorite fall activity?

Dakota: “I love fishing for Rainbow Trout in the rivers.”

Where is your favorite place to eat?

Cameron: “Pronto Pups. Pronto Pups is the best.”

What is your favorite fall activity?

Donna: “Biking. I’ve just biked all my life, and my parents never let me have one until I was 12 years old. Once you got one, you just couldn’t get off!”

What is your favorite thing about Michigan?

Deondre: “I like the land, man. It’s full of trees and water — pretty nice.”

Where is your favorite place to relax?

Karen: “That would be Mt. Pleasant. It’s very pleasant there!”

What would you tell someone to convince them to come here?

Ayla: “The water. There is so much of it.”

Where is your favorite place to eat?

Linda: “There is a great place I tried in Grand Rapids and I had a gyro. It’s called Zesty Gyros. They are family owned.”

What is your favorite place in Michigan?

Kevin: “The falls — Tahquamenon Falls.”

What is your favorite Michigan activity?

Karen: “Let’s see, they have beautiful beaches, but… oh, Grand Rapids Art!”

What is your favorite thing about Michigan?

Reuben: “The weather and how it changes so much.”

If you could be anywhere right now where would you be?

Brian: “Living Water Bible Church!”

What’s the best thing about Michigan?

Dave: “Everything. I live on the lake, and my house is the best place to be.”

Where do you want to be right now?

Lori: “The U.P. My grandmother is from there, and my whole family used to log up there. There are so many places up there I love. They live on a ranch and my whole
family heritage is up there. We are actually planning a trip to go up there.”

How could you convince someone to come here?

Chris: “To try and be as close to the lakes as possible. The water is the best.”

What is your favorite thing about Michigan?

Kenneth: “I would say our summers and seasons. We go through extreme weather. It’s good — we get both extremes, and we get all of the seasons and get to do summer things and winter things so quickly. So many opportunities.”

What is the best thing about Michigan?

Petey: “You can experience all 4 seasons in 1 week! Haha, but Grand Rapids is like the brewing capital of America right now, so yeah for beer!”

What is your favorite thing about West Michigan? Tell us in the comments!