Strawberry season is in full swing in Alpena, and if you have never tried a Michigan strawberry you are missing out! Typically small to medium in size, super sweet and very juicy, you can find farmers selling their strawberries at the Farmer’s Market downtown by the harbor every Saturday morning, and every Wednesday evening in the Chisholm Street Pocket Park. Or-drive around the town! You are sure to find sellers on Ripley Street, Chisholm Street, or US-23 South. Nothing beats fresh from the garden, you know it and bears know it!
Speaking of bears, if you haven’t heard; we had a very peculiar visitor in the Alpena downtown area mid-June. A black bear seemed to have taken his ‘midnight stroll through the woods’ to the next level when he decided a trip through good ol’ downtown Alpena was just what he needed to make his night more exciting. Well, he obviously had so much fun during his late night Alpena rendezvous that he lost track of the time! Perhaps he ate too much sugar? Perhaps he was drunk on excitement? We may never know. But- he did find a tree to hide in when daylight broke. The problem was: the tree was downtown, he was big, and there just was nothing “hidden” about him. So, with proper care and help from the DNR and local authorities, the bear took a nap and was driven back into the woods where we hope he found his purpose and realized that city life is no life for a bear!