Superlatives abound in Michigan

I adore visiting the first, tallest, oldest, longest and smallest of anything.

I adore visiting the first, tallest, oldest, longest and smallest of anything.

On a recent week long trip to Michigan, I viewed many objects and places defined by superlatives. The Uniroyal Tire alongside an Interstate highway near Detroit is the largest tire in the world. It is majestic. The tire is 80 feet tall and weighs 12 tons. The tread is a half foot deep. It once housed a huge, working Ferris-type wheel, with seats. I couldn’t smell rubber.

Possibly, stranger still is the 24-foot fist and forearm of boxer Joe Louis, in Detroit. Hanging 24 feet above the ground, the arm weighs 8,000 pounds.

One Detroit native told me that they should have replicated all of Louis. I wonder how big that statue would have been. If it’s not the biggest forearm in the world, it must be one of the largest.

The Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park, in Grand Rapids, is home to the 2,300 pound garden trowel designed in 2011 by artists Claes Oldenburg and Coosje van Bruggen. Another trowel, known as the largest trowel, is the 23- foot garden implement located in DesMoines, at the headquarters for “Better Homes and Gardens.” This was also designed by the same artists.

And yes, there are often conflicts with declaring the biggest or oldest of anything. Neither of the above two trowels might be the largest. Yes, surprisingly, there are other big trowels out there.

What isn’t disputed is the largest covered hotel porch in the world. The 660-foot porch sits on Mackinac Island. You won’t see me inside, since it’s a grand a night for a room, and if you just want to step foot in the lobby there is a $10 charge. After 6 p.m., “proper dress” is required, and “gentlemen” must be attired in a coat and tie.

Four of the five Great Lakes touch Michigan — every one but Lake Ontario. Amazingly, Michigan has more shoreline than the eastern seaboard. As measured by surface area, Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world and largest freshwater lake, at 31,700 square miles. The lake itself is roughly the size of Maine.

Only the Caspian Sea is larger at 143,000 square miles. Lake Michigan is the largest lake solely within a single country. I watched that lake’s water spray the windshield of my car on a nasty, windy day.

At 3.5 million square feet, on a 35-acre site in

Detroit, sits the Packard Factory, where Studebakers were also made. It’s a mess. There are nowmature trees growing from the structure that at one time was the largest auto factory in the world. This is now the biggest abandoned factory.

Elijah E. Myers is the onlyman to design three state capitols. He won a contest to design the capital in Lansing and also was the architect for the Texas and Colorado capitols. As in most states, the Michigan Capitol features a wonderful, large dome.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore sports the largest living (moving) sand dunes in North America. Must be all that lake wind?

I passed by about a 100 people here on a ¾ mile long trail. Are we loving our parks to death? Thankfully, I later found a trail that I had all to my

self.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore was the first designated national lakeshore in America. The other two U.S. national lakeshores are Sleeping Bear Dunes and Apostle Islands, in Wisconsin. The best way to see Pictured Rocks is by boat. It’s the only way to catch the gorgeous painted cliffs along the lakeshore.

In Highland Park, Henry Ford built the first moving assembly line for mass producing an entire car. He cut the production time for a Model T from 12 hours to 2 ½ hours and even raised pay from an average of $2.34 per hour, for a nine-hour day, to $5 an hour, for an eight-hour shift.

Just 10 miles away in Dearborn is the Henry Ford Museum. You can see the car in which Kennedy took his last ride, the bus where Rosa Parks made her stand and a crowd favorite — the Oscar Mayer Weiner Mobile.

Headlands International Dark Sky Park is located near Mackinac City and is a great place to examine the Milky Way. Red guidance lights don’t point up here and there is a sign on the road which is easy tomiss since it isn’t lit up. This park is a real eye opener. It is one of the first 10 dark sky parks.

Much like Kennett Square is to mushrooms, Travers City is the Cherry capital of theWorld. Enjoy the tart cherries with pancakes, even for dinner.

The highlight of all those Michigan recordbreakers was the world’s largest cherry pie tin. Just imagine. The tin held 28,350 pounds of cherries within a 17-foot, six inch pan. There is a caveat — there was once a larger cherry pie pan that held 39,000 pounds of cherries,

but it no longer exists. Must have been a couple of wild parties?

Go out and explore! You don’t have to go all the way to Michigan. There are many firsts in Philadelphia, too. Locally, start at the Benjamin Franklin Museum at 317 Chestnut St., or the Franklin Institute on the Parkway.

Ben was way cool and

started and invented so much. Remember that key and the kite thing? See you there.

BILL RETTEW - MEDIANEWS GROUP The longest covered deck in theworld at the Grand Hotel onMackinac Island, Mich.

PHOTOS BY BILL RETTEW- MEDIANEWS GROUP The first U.S. national lakeshore at Pictured Rocks, Mich.

In Traverse City, Mich., the “Cherry Capital of theWorld,” the world’s largest cherry pie pan.

Near Detroit, Mich. The world’s largest tire.