Michigan Medley

Travel America, July, 2000 by George Bushnell

The city of Grand Rapids (population 200,000) is riding the crest of a $200-million tourist renaissance. Once a major furniture-making hub, the city has been transformed into a fast-growing visitor destination.

Old loft buildings now house many of downtown's 40-plus restaurants. Nine area golf courses challenge vacationing golfers. Michigan's only professional ballet company calls Grand Rapids home. The cultural scene also includes opera, top-notch theater, and a nationally-known symphony orchestra.

The Van Andel Museum Center and Roger B. Chaffee Planetarium are a popular draw, emphasizing natural science and exhibits that recall the region's furniture-manufacturing era and American Indian culture. Children can ride on the elegant 1928 carousel and view a huge, ghostly 76-foot-long finback whale skeleton suspended from the museum ceiling.

North on the Grand River's west bank, the triangular, glass-sheathed Gerald R, Ford Museum has been revamped to involve visitors in the presidential life of Grand Rapids' former congressman. Museum-goers can "join" a White House state dinner or eavesdrop on a high-level meeting in the Oval Office.

The Grand Rapids Art Museum houses 6,000 artworks in a striking 1909 Beaux Arts building. The Childrens Museum entices youngsters with hands-on activities.

An absolute "must see" is the worldclass Frederik Meijer Gardens just east of downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan's largest tropical conservatory. Dozens of bronze sculptures by master artists are scattered throughout the sculpture park. Last October, a major addition to the Gardens was a magnificent 24-foot-high bronze horse modeled after a Leonardo da Vinci design.

West of downtown, the John Ball Zoo is home to 700 animals in a 100-acre park.

In October, take the house walk in the Heritage Hill Historic District. Homes are largely Victorian, but the district includes the 1908 Meyer May house, designed by famed architect Frank Lloyd Wright.

--George Bushnell

Contact: Grand Rapids/Kent County Convention & Visitors Bureau (TravelAmerica Magazine), 140 Monroe Center NW, Suite 300, Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2832; (877) 847-4847; www. visitgrandrapids.org.