Michael Mackie

Yesterday I was chatting up a friend who—out of nowhere—said, “You know, I don’t know how you stay perpetually perky all the time. Like, what’s your secret?” (Fun fact: I… Read more

Just when I thought I’d been everywhere and seen everything in the Midwest, I get an assignment to tour stunningly beautiful Door County, Wisconsin. This 70-mile peninsula—which juts off into… Read more

The first time I visited Shreveport, it rained for 72 hours straight. We’re talking torrential downpours. Meh. Meh. And meh. Repeat. The only time I ventured out of the hotel… Read more

Chef Bradley Gilmore strikes again. The North Carolina native who opened his pop-up Lula Southern Cookhouse in late 2021 just added Sunday brunch to the roster. It’s an amazing mix… Read more

For more than two years Kind Food was nestled in the cramped confines of a shipping container in the Iron District. When they opened in late 2019, owners Jonelle and… Read more

The litmus test for me at any all-inclusive resort is whether or not I feel the need/desire/overwhelming urge to escape after a few hours. That certainly wasn’t the case at… Read more

The nanosecond I turned 16, I went on the hunt for my first job. I marched my happy, unjaded ass into a nearby Pizza Hut and politely asked for an… Read more

Rising out of the Iowa cornfields (and a prestigious nearby Midwest college), you’ll find the Hotel Grinnell smack dab in the city’s picturesque center square. Amidst a quaint coffee shop,… Read more

Trust and believe, my general disdain for small children is well-known. Even as a burgeoning kindergartener, I was never a fan of others in my age bracket. I find kids… Read more

Funny how the universe works, and by universe, I mean, LinkedIN. A while back I got a message from a PR firm asking if I was, indeed, a University of… Read more