Well, here it goes. I am not exactly on the cutting edge of technology (kind of ironic because I do technology research for a living). Additionally, I am not looking to chronicle my life on the Internet. But there is a void of information and stories surrounding where I spend part of my life (usually weekends). And that is on the Southernmost coastline of Lake Michigan– in Michigan… what the media likes to call “Harbor Country” or the “Hamptons of the Midwest” (don’t like the latter), or what I refer to as…

The- Middle Coast

Why did I start this blog? Because there isn’t enough information about this area on the Internet. Sure, there is the Harbor Country website (harborcountry.org), that has done a great job of listing the commerce in this area. But I feel the Harbor Country area is too confining (New Buffalo north to Sawyer- and east to Three Oaks). You draw a radius of ~1hr around the epicenter of Harbor Country and there is so much to augment one’s unique experience.

So this blog is here to discuss and promote the Southwest Michigan destination from the perspectives of not only the full time residents, but also from the Chicago and Indiana perspectives as well. First and foremost, I want this blog to be a starting point for the development of an online community that can share their experiences and truly show the rest of the Midwest (and the world for that matter) what an amazing area the Middle Coast is.

But why stop there?  I have traveled the entire Middle Coast and can honestly say that the entire coastline is worthy of having it be represented as well. 

In summary, this blog is just the beginning of something bigger.  Over the next couple of months, I will be starting a website that will contain most of what I want to do (www.the-middlecoast.com) .  This will include access to this blog, vacation tips for the area, restaurant/business reviews, daytrip ideas, biographies of successful individuals/business.  And of course anything else that the online community decides we should look into.  We will have our own group on Facebook (Group: The-Middle Coast).

Further down the road, I would like to create an online retail portal for the Middle Coast that would help talented people (from the MC) get their vision (and wares) showcased around the world and  to promote the “Local” initiative.  Participants could range from illustrators that make beautiful visual art, to someone whose craft is culinary.

Let me know what you think.  I want this experience to be viral.  Suggest to me what you would like to see.  I am going to start by just giving a little synopsis about how I came to reside (part-time) in the MC…And please bear with me, because this is a new space that will take me a little time to get adjusted to.