At the roundabout where Kalamazoo Avenue meets Michigan Avenue, which is at the western end of the…read moremain street of Marshall, is this pretty fountain. It's May, so the water is drained, but I'm sure it will start looking great in the next couple of weeks. There is a historical marker nearby that provides some history. It reads: "In October 1929, Marshall's mayor, Harold C. Brooks, announced his gift to the city of an 'electric fountain' in memory of his late father, Charles E. Brooks. Architect Howard F. Young, landscape engineer Herman Swanson, and engineers from General Electric collaborated on the design. At its dedication, on April 26, 1930, some seven thousand people applauded with 'exclamations of surprise' and 'wonderment' when the mayor's son, Craig, turned on the fountain and its multi-colored lights." [Review 11088 overall, 861 of 2019.]

Jackson is a vibrant city with the Midwest charm and warmth of a quaint town. It's located in south…read moreeast lower Michigan halfway between Ann Arbor and Battle Creek. It strikes the perfect balance of downtown excitement, rich history, natural beauty and culture. Bright walls murals has brightened the downtown with the beautiful art murals. When we went to check the murals, we enjoyed watching the historic architecture buildings in the area. We explored magnificent pieces of art.

Sweet ride. Mostly flat and "smooth" by Michigan standards. I can imagine how beautiful it would…read morebe in the fall with the foliage. It runs 10.1 miles one way and the parking lot is a further drive if you use the trailhead on Yelp. On the other end there are restroom and a portable. Although there are many bodies of water as you ride across, there are no waterfalls as the name might suggest. Midway there is a nice cross breeze as it cuts between a lake. Today there was a horde of teenagers walking to the lake and was oblivious to anyone else around them. Hopefully, this is not a regular occurrence as it was difficult to navigate around them.

The Falling Waters Trail in Jackson County, Michigan serves as a great recreation spot for…read morebicyclists, joggers and walkers in the central part of the Mitten State. The trail is a beautifully paved 10.4 mile pathway linking the west side of the City of Jackson with the picturesque Village of Concord, Michigan with its many Victorian homes. The trail was once an old Michigan Central Railroad route and was converted to a Rails-to-Trails recreation area in 2007. The trail runs through rural countryside and beautifully shaded woodlands with only a handful of road crossings. The trail's name reflects the area's natural beauty and the region's native Potawatomi Indian tribe..."The land of Falling Waters". The Jackson trailhead at Weatherwax Drive and Park Road provides plenty of secure parking as does the trailhead ten miles to the west in Concord. Today we rode the full 21 miles out and back in beautiful Michigan summer weather before rewarding ourselves with Orange Creamsicle Milkshakes at Arby's on the way out of town....definitely a 5-star biking experience all the way.

Four stars for its charming well kept grounds. It is a small tiny town. With one cool coffee shop…read more"Breakfast Club Cafe" that we enjoy tasty lattes. A McDonnald's, Subway, a a few other mom and pop shops.

Small town near my family's lake house. Not much going on, no activity at this time of day. Just a…read morefew people bringing in their dogs to get groomed across the street to Hollywood'd Pet groomers. Not much to write about but nice and peaceful town.

Gorgeous! It's a huge park with super fresh green grass and trees. It has a golf course,running…read moretrails, soccer,softball fields and basketball courts for all and open to public. I was brought to the pavilion and it was such an early beautiful morning to adore the breathtaking view and enjoy the crisp morning dew. Lovely day of May!

I grew up here in Jackson, and the Ella Sharp Park was a place I went to numerous times as a child…read moreto a teenager. Had plenty of good times there.

Bright walls organized another colorful festival this year between Sep 16-18. Bright Walls Mural…read morefestival event include live mural painting, concerts, food trucks, dancing, magic show and even a dog-themed event. While they were unable to host international artists this year due to COVID-19 travel restrictions, the Bright Walls team planned some pop-up art installations until finale in 2022. The festival is a free event open to all ages, and it is held on several streets in Jackson. All the art is free to be viewed and photographed. Along with the mural projects, there were a variety of street vendors and food trucks that cater to the public. I was thrilled to attend my first ever mural event. I mainly went to meet the famous artist couple Lisa and Victor, who create iconic post card murals. I am a huge fan of their art work. The amount of detail in their mural is amazing. I like their artwork which captures the town and display local points of pride. It was such a pleasure to meet this cool couple. Their mission is to paint in every state and to create a collection of timeless landmarks for locals and travelers to interact with across the country. They have created nation wide mural projects and this is their 52nd post card mural across America. This couple came all the way from California to help create a special Jackson greeting. This year "Greetings from Jackson" mural is the highlight of the festival. Each letter features some of the most iconic buildings and a Jackson landmark within it. With the new addition, there are now 41 murals to see in downtown Jackson since the inception of Bright Walls.

Prior to three years ago I didn't know much about Jackson, MI beyond there being a prison there…read more Around here going to Jackson is usually taken to mean going to jail for a long time. Three years ago I stopped for food on a road trip and discovered Jackson had two competing Coney Islands on the same block that had been open since around the time of World War I, a situation uncannily similar to Lafayette and American Coney Islands in Detroit. That was about all I took away from that short visit. Well, last month I was on another road trip and figured I'd stop to fill my belly at Jackson Coney Island since I'd already tried Virginia Coney Island and Jackson is the bizarro Virginia. I'm not ready to review either yet. They're just Coneys and I'm not ready to wade into the wearisome partisan debate. It's boring enough with American and Lafayette back home. But here, in the third paragraph, I will venture to review Bright Walls because it was such a pleasant surprise and unexpected hour long sightseeing tour. (It's nice traveling on a not so rigid schedule and to be taken away on a tangent like this.) Bold, colorful murals with all kinds of themes and plastered larger than life all around downtown Jackson and they are awesome. I wasn't good about reading all of the placards and you won't get any informative name checking or discussion about specific pieces here like I usually do with art museums but Bright Walls was a beautiful diversion, a definite departure from the drab and dreary Prisontown USA people around here usually picture when they think of Jackson. I can't speak on what goes on when the mural painting actually takes place, watching live painting or if there's special events, but the one other review didn't elaborate on that either. Suffice it to say I like what was left behind. Maybe some year I'll head out this way during the brightening of the walls and be able to provide a more comprehensive update.

Cute little park. The gazebo, grounds, and restrooms were all clean. Actually remarkably free of…read moregoose droppings. Nice place to grill burgers on our little Weber by the Kalamazoo River.

This beautiful park sits at the bottom end of a wide area of the Kalamazoo River. This evening, it…read morewas particularly pretty watching the geese on the water, the running water of the spillway and the (currently empty) bandshell with a nearby gazebo. I have no doubt that this is even better when there's some sort of musical performance going on. The Marshall Riverwalk starts here and goes through the trees and over some wooden bridges past the spillway. Maybe some more parking would be good, but that's the only thing wrong here. [Review 11097 overall, 870 of 2019.]

**During Covid**…read more This was my first time exploring this trail and I must stay - it was not an easy one but it was a GOOD one. Getting there the road is all gravel and they're also some safety ridges near resident area so you literally only can go 10 mph. The location has 2 areas for parking in case it filled which I don't see it happening but plenty of room and there's 3 picnic tables available. Unfortunately I do not recall any restroom but there was hand sanitizer available not sure if the park put it out or if someone volunteered and place it out. The trail is very rocky and it also weaves through - also one may say it's hilly as well so if you have knee issues this would not be the trail for you or bring you some good walking sticks. I'm glad I did use my hiking boots because I feel shoes will probably have you sliding - highly suggest to avoid this part if it rained previously. Other than that it's very shady and make sure you bring bug spray as well so you can reapply but the trail was very clear and markings every half a mile. There's three types of trails so make sure you follow the marker assigned for the specific trail you're trying to explore. since this is one of the better trails please be cautious there are mountain bikers and I advise any hikers or runners not to run with any music so you can hear others. Last but not least there were only two benches available during the eight mile hike PS - please review the path scheduling so you're walking in the correct direction for that day. Happy hiking!!!

On a gorgeous fall day, few things are better than a walk in the woods. Wanting to get out and…read morestretch our legs some, a friend and I made the short trek to Chelsea on a recent weekend to check out the newly-opened DTE Trail. Located just outside of Chelsea and in its first Season, the DTE trail provides a tranquil spot to get some fresh air and enjoy some beautiful changing colors. After parking in the decent-sized lot, we decided on the Greek Lake trail to get started. In a loop around Green Lake, it meanders gently through the woods. As a hiker, you'll share the trail with mountain bikers, so be sure to watch for which direction you're supposed to walk in each day (it alternates), and listen for them as they come through. Our hike ended up being about 5 miles and was a perfect way to get outside and discover a new place. And with another loop in the other direction, we've already got our destination for the next beautiful fall day.