Welcome to Muskegon

Don Barone checks out Muskegon, Mich., site of this week's Toyota All-Star Week and Evan Williams Bourbon Championship.

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Welcome...
Welcome…
...to...
…to…
...Muskegon, Mich., and...
…Muskegon, Mich., and…
...Lake Muskegon.
…Lake Muskegon.
I arrived here the other day and stepped into the hotel and back in time...
I arrived here the other day and stepped into the hotel and back in time…
....it is a modern hotel...
….it is a modern hotel…
...that like the city itself...
…that like the city itself…
...embraces the past, while looking forward to the future. So I check in late, put my bags in the room instead of up on the wall...and go to bed...
…embraces the past, while looking forward to the future. So I check in late, put my bags in the room instead of up on the wall…and go to bed…
...a few hours later I wake up and open the drapes to this sunrise outside my 6th floor window...
…a few hours later I wake up and open the drapes to this sunrise outside my 6th floor window…
...and the early morning fog on the water...but I go downstairs and talk the manager into letting me go...
…and the early morning fog on the water…but I go downstairs and talk the manager into letting me go…
...way up to the top floor of the hotel where the rich people stay, so I sneak inside and...
…way up to the top floor of the hotel where the rich people stay, so I sneak inside and…
...shoot this, the marina below and both lakes Muskegon and Michigan way out there.
…shoot this, the marina below and both lakes Muskegon and Michigan way out there.
It's been beautiful here...nothing but blue skies...and, dudes, getting the camera to focus on nothing but sky wasn't easy so I pointed it at eye level which is only about 5 feet, 7 inches or so and I see this...
It’s been beautiful here…nothing but blue skies…and, dudes, getting the camera to focus on nothing but sky wasn’t easy so I pointed it at eye level which is only about 5 feet, 7 inches or so and I see this…
...bass catching boat with toilets...but off to the side I spot this...
…bass catching boat with toilets…but off to the side I spot this…
...my dream...I have always wanted a boat with wooden doors that I could sit behind and write, a mobile office where I could write about fishing while sitting on top of the fish but unfortunately this...
…my dream…I have always wanted a boat with wooden doors that I could sit behind and write, a mobile office where I could write about fishing while sitting on top of the fish but unfortunately this…
...is what my current budget could handle.
…is what my current budget could handle.
<p>I am a proud dude from Buffalo, N.Y., a town much like Muskegon...cities in what some call the "Rust Belt." Been hard times, sure, but in truth, we are cities in the, "Blue Belt." We live on the greatest inland oceans on this planet, The Great Lakes. Factories come and go...the lakes are here to stay. In a section of downtown Muskegon, there is this statute. This is what...</p>
I am a proud dude from Buffalo, N.Y., a town much like Muskegon…cities in what some call the “Rust Belt.” Been hard times, sure, but in truth, we are cities in the, “Blue Belt.” We live on the greatest inland oceans on this planet, The Great Lakes. Factories come and go…the lakes are here to stay. In a section of downtown Muskegon, there is this statute. This is what…
...it looks like up top; this...
…it looks like up top; this…
...is what it says down below...Muskegon Rising...rising by...
…is what it says down below…Muskegon Rising…rising by…
<p>...honoring its past while...</p>
…honoring its past while…
...looking to the future.
…looking to the future.
<p>It embraces the...</p>
It embraces the…
...arts, theater and...
…arts, theater and…
...film...that statue is of one of my favorite comedians and pioneering Hollywood filmmakers...
…film…that statue is of one of my favorite comedians and pioneering Hollywood filmmakers…
...Buster Keaton. Buster spent many summers in Muskegon with his family, and his father actually started...
…Buster Keaton. Buster spent many summers in Muskegon with his family, and his father actually started…
...an Actor's Colony in town here in 1908...Muskegon, looking at its past and seeing...
…an Actor’s Colony in town here in 1908…Muskegon, looking at its past and seeing…
...its future. The county has 27 lakes, 400 miles of rivers and 27 miles of beaches, but what makes it really special is its...
…its future. The county has 27 lakes, 400 miles of rivers and 27 miles of beaches, but what makes it really special is its…
...people. This lady, Cindy Larsen, is a bigwig at the Chamber of Commerce who told me when I asked,
…people. This lady, Cindy Larsen, is a bigwig at the Chamber of Commerce who told me when I asked, “Our people are great, working class and white collar… a very…”
....eclectic group of families, both young and old, many who...
….eclectic group of families, both young and old, many who…
<p>...leave town only to come back to raise their kids, settle down on the shores of the Greatest Lakes.</p>
…leave town only to come back to raise their kids, settle down on the shores of the Greatest Lakes.
Meet Snug Harbor Outfitters..
Meet Snug Harbor Outfitters..
...cool dudes who run a little bait shop within a three wood shot of Lake Muskegon.
…cool dudes who run a little bait shop within a three wood shot of Lake Muskegon.
They are doing a great business with customers like Brian Moore and Terri Phelps who stopped by to get some local tips on finding walleye from...
They are doing a great business with customers like Brian Moore and Terri Phelps who stopped by to get some local tips on finding walleye from…
...store manager Nathan Jandt who...
…store manager Nathan Jandt who…
...showed me on the lake map where I should be fishing for bass while telling me a story ...
…showed me on the lake map where I should be fishing for bass while telling me a story …
“…me and my buddy were out fishing for walleye but we kept catching bass and there was this other boat fishing for bass close to us …
...they were fishing for bass but kept catching walleye, so we switched spots on the lake and caught...
…they were fishing for bass but kept catching walleye, so we switched spots on the lake and caught…” what they…
...were fishing for...what they call
…were fishing for…what they call “Bucketmouth Bass.” just as these…
...guys are hoping to do. Spent the night having dinner at the VanDams with Kevin and Sherry and Aaron Martens, Bobby Lane and his wife Madeline, plus two College Series anglers from Auburn University of Montgomery, Ala., young Jacob Nummy (next to Bobby) and 30-something Tom Frink (next to KVD) whose story I'm now working on and will be up soon with all the coverage of the 2013 Elite Series Toyota All-Star Week and Evan Williams Bourbon Championship, here in Muskegon on the shores of the greatest lakes.
…guys are hoping to do. Spent the night having dinner at the VanDams with Kevin and Sherry and Aaron Martens, Bobby Lane and his wife Madeline, plus two College Series anglers from Auburn University of Montgomery, Ala., young Jacob Nummy (next to Bobby) and 30-something Tom Frink (next to KVD) whose story I’m now working on and will be up soon with all the coverage of the 2013 Elite Series Toyota All-Star Week and Evan Williams Bourbon Championship, here in Muskegon on the shores of the greatest lakes.