I made an all-American road trip to the home of cherry pie and beyond

The Times · Mike Atkins · 2026-11-04 12:00 UTC

Artist colonies, lost cities, witches and wineries — the resorts of Lake Michigan offer a wholesome, if a little eccentric, taste of how America used to be

I knew it was going to be a good day when I walked into Grandpa Shorter’s and was handed a slice of cake. The gift shop in Petoskey was celebrating its 80th anniversary and three generations of the family were milling about, chatting with customers and passing round fat wedges of chocolate sponge.

“Where are you from? Australia?” Jennifer Shorter, who runs the shop that her grandpa founded in 1946 (grandpashorters.com), had obviously noticed my accent. “Oh, England. We had someone from England last week.” She showed me a map behind the counter, studded with pins for all the countries her customers have come from. “You don’t get a new pin, unfortunately.”