Take me fishing

I know, I know – today is St. Venison’s Day Up North in Michigan.  But some people haven’t had enough fishing yet, and there’s still time for steelhead, walleye and whitefish.  Try these accessible fishing spots:

• Elk Rapids – Follow Dexter west to the end and park in the free lot behind the dam.  The lot itself is the biggest barrier – if you can negotiate the rutted surface you’ll be home free.  A boardwalk will take you to several ramped fishing piers.   
• Wakeley Bridge Landing on the Au Sable River has a grated wheelchair area along the shoreline, just at the downstream end of the Holy Water.  Follow S. Down River Road east of Grayling to Wakeley Bridge Road.  Go north on Wakeley Bridge Road – the access site is downstream on the right.
• Traverse City – there are accessible boardwalks along the Boardman River at Union Street and behind Front Street.
• Petoskey – the Bear River Pier is accessible at the river mouth, with barrier free walkways on both sides of the river upstream to Lake Street Bridge.  There are accessible public restrooms on the west bank behind the fire station.

For updated information, check the Michigan DNR fishing report.

No child left indoors

At Accessible North we believe in “No Child Left Indoors.”  Of course the best way to get the kids outside is to take them there yourself.  Even at this time of year there are interesting places to go. 

• Take a walk or a wheel along the boardwalk at the Grass River Natural Area between Bellaire and Alden.  It’s open from dawn to dusk year ’round, and it’s free.  Print the map from the website and go explore.  (The interpretive cabin is closed now, but there is an accessible pit toilet.) 
• Visit the Oden Fish Hatchery in Alanson to see how they raise brown and rainbow trout for release in the Great Lakes and inland lakes.  (Call (231) 347-4689 to schedule a tour or to find out when you can watch the November egg-taking process.) 
• If it’s just too miserable to go out, the CAMP board game - developed by Education Outdoors in Eastport – is a terrific way for families to learn more about the natural world.

Universal design workshop full of good ideas

I spent a couple hours recently at a workshop on accessible home design and remodeling sponsored by the Disability Network of Northern Michigan.  Builder Sally Erickson Bornschein and realtor Lou Anne Ford had solid suggestions for making places more livable, more visitable, and more salable for a relatively small investment: