Arriving at Manistee County Blacker Airport in Manistee places you close to it all, with Lake Michigan beaches, river towns, and the big dunes to the north just a short drive away. Manistee is a Victorian port city on the shore of Lake Michigan, built on 1800s lumber and salt money and still lined with ornate brick buildings along River Street. It is unhurried and old-fashioned in a good way, with a riverwalk, two beaches, and a lighthouse at the end of the pier.

Standout experiences around Manistee: - Walk the Riverwalk along the Manistee River from downtown to the Lake Michigan beaches - Swim at First Street Beach and stroll out to the North Pierhead Lighthouse - See a show at the Ramsdell Theatre, the 1903 opera house where James Earl Jones got his start - Fish for salmon and steelhead on the Big Manistee River below Tippy Dam - Hike and camp in the Manistee National Forest - Watch the sunset from Orchard Beach State Park on the bluff north of town - Join the Manistee National Forest Festival over the Fourth of July

Manistee sits on a stretch of coast that only gets better as you head north. Ludington, with its state park, lighthouse, and the SS Badger car ferry to Wisconsin, is 30 minutes south, and the Nordhouse Dunes Wilderness lies between the two. Frankfort and the southern end of Sleeping Bear Dunes are about an hour north, Crystal Mountain resort is 40 minutes east, and Traverse City is about 90 minutes. Try the smoked whitefish from a lakeside market, hunt morels in May, and give yourself time to simply sit on the pier in Manistee as the freighters pass.