Around Town: Lansing, MI

One More Off the Bucket List
We all have a list of things we want to do in this world before we die and one of those things should be:  ‘Be a Tourist in Your Own Town’.

Many of us look forward, all year, to an annual vacation away from home. Do we have to spend all year thinking about that one vacation we will be going on? Or could we start taking time to discover what is all around us? There are so many things in your own hometown of Lansing, MI, that every weekend could be like a vacation! Lansing has a lot of great things to offer and for years I have wanted to participate in ‘Be a Tourist in Your Own Town’ but sadly it always seemed to fall on a day I was out of town. This year I finally made it!

Be a Tourist In Your Own Town
I looked at all the information I could get my hands on before this event, but didn’t really know what to expect once I got there. Even with all that pre-planning, you don’t always know how something is going to work until you try it out for yourself. The city of Lansing has had 17 years to make this event a success and I was not disappointed! I was actually surprised at how smoothly it ran.

Transportation
I started my journey at the Lansing Visitor Center across from the Cooley Law School Stadium. They set up four bus lines for this event with different CATA buses parked in front of the visitor center. The buses take you to almost every destination on the list of tourist events and attractions. For only 50 cents you receive a sticker to apply to your “passport” and you can ride these “special lines” unlimited for the entire day. At first I was worried that I would get on the bus, get dropped off, and then have trouble getting a return bus pick me up again. Boy was I wrong! There was a constant flow of buses. As soon as one bus would leave, less than two minutes later another one would arrive. It would’ve definitely taken me longer to drive my car to all of these destinations (plus find parking), than it was to wait for these buses and promptly arrive at my next destination. Plus it is a greener option to use a mass transportation system.

It Only Happens Once a Year
One of the reasons I’ve always wanted to take part in ‘Be a Tourist In Your Own Town’, is because I know that it is the one day of the year that Paramount Coffee is open for tours. I don’t really drink coffee that often, but I know how important this specific coffee roaster is to Lansing. Paramount Coffee roasts all of Biggby’s coffee beans and as any Lansing resident knows, Biggby is a large part of a Lansing coffee lovers life. Biggby was started by Bob Fish, a Michigan State University Alum, right here in the Lansing area and is now the largest coffee franchise in the United States.

Roasting Coffee Beans
I learned way more about coffee than I ever thought possible on the Paramount Coffee tour. One of the things I liked best about the tour was that I actually got to touch raw coffee beans before they were roasted. They are light green in color, and look and feel like they are a piece of wax in the shape of a coffee bean. What a contrast from a roasted bean. I also didn’t know how dangerous it is to roast beans for a living. If you roast coffee beans there isn’t a question of if there is going to be a fire, but when. They roast the beans at such a high temperature that sometimes there is not a fire in the roaster but soon as the beans are released out of the roaster and exposed to oxygen, they burst into flames because they are so hot.

Turner Dodge House
My next stop was the Turner Dodge House. I’m fascinated with history of old houses and the story of the people who lived in them. That is why I’ve always wanted to go to the Turner Dodge house. This family helped in the development of Lansing. Surprisingly, there isn’t much inside the house. It is big and spacious and absolutely stunning from the outside, but the inside is lacking furniture from the Dodge family era. That didn’t matter though because it was only a short walk from there to Old Town Lansing and I had to get to my next destination.

Chalk of the Town in Old Town
Old Town Lansing was hosting Chalk Of the Town while ‘Be a Tourist In Your Own Town’ was going on. Businesses and Lansing residents headed out to Old Town’s sidewalks and drew the most magnificent art work you have ever seen with sidewalk chalk. I never knew you could create such masterpieces with chalk until I saw what these talented artists did.

The Barn
I continued on my journey to the Lansing City Market. The City Market is an indoor farmers’ market on the bank of the Grand River. There is plenty of ready made food to purchase and eat there, or buy produce from local farmer’s to take home. There is a bar inside the City Market with a nice spacious patio and a view of the river.

Lansing Metro Marina’s was on hand giving out free boat cruises on the Grand River for the day (usually they offer 30 minute lunch time cruises for five dollars).
The Best 3-D Show
After seeing way too many attractions and walking around in 100 degree weather I needed a break from the heat. I hopped on the Green Bus Line and headed over to Michigan State’s Abrams Planetarium to watch a show and cool off in their air-conditioning. For Homecoming week last year, Abrams made a short 3-D show that made you feel like you were on the craziest rollercoaster of your life. I was hoping they were going to play that again and I wasn’t disappointed. It was not the same show – they had created new one specifically for ‘Be a Tourist in Your Own Town’. I feel this show was even better than its predecessor! I did hear afterward that it was too much for some people and they started to get motion sickness.

During the show, you are sitting in your seat not moving and not getting jerked around but you feel like you are on the ride of your life. I thought it was the best!

Be a Tourist Anytime in Your Own Town
If there is anything you have ever wanted to see in Lansing but just haven’t made the time for it, I highly recommend ‘Be a Tourist in Your Own Town’. It’s fun, you get a lot of free swag, and the city rolls out the red carpet for you. But you do not have to wait until next years event to be a tourist, you can be a tourist in your own town any day, no matter where you live. I recommend acting like you are a tourist for one day. Head over to the closest visitor center, browse through all their pamphlets and find something you have never done before or never knew existed. I guarantee you will have a good time!

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More Pictures From Be a Tourist In Your Own Town