Dispatch: One Weekend in Pure Michigan

Where to eat, drink, and disconnect in Michigan's Southwest Coast

Hi everyone,

Because I absolutely cannot stand air travel anymore, it takes a certain amount of personal motivation for me to go anywhere beyond a 3-hour trip—even for the sake of journalism. That said, for the people I love, I will go to the ends of the earth, and this is how I was invited to discover a little slice of Midwestern paradise in New Buffalo, Michigan.

Just an hour outside Chicago nestled among the bluffs of sand dunes and long stretches of country farmland along Michigan’s South Shore is a charming little lakeside town witnessing a full-on a transformation. Like many commuter cities across the country that experienced a pandemic-driven population boom in the wake of urban exodus, New Buffalo is among the new generation of ancillary destinations rapidly rebuilding with an influx of concept boutiques, art galleries, upscale restaurants, craft cocktail bars, community farmers markets, and even—gasp!—a Starbucks, luring the expansion of city restauranteurs and catching the eye of discerning weekenders.

Hopping onto an Amtrak with run-of-the-mill young urban professionals, roughly 20 Mennonite families, and a few faces of meth at Chicago’s Union Station, it was only a short scenic ride along the Rust Belt coastline to the heart of the downtown strip of New Buffalo. Michigan’s southwest coast has long been a second home summer escapes, best known for its lake perch, blueberry U-pick farms, and fudge shops, landmarked by well-worn destinations like South Haven and Kalamazoo that have gained a more recent following for their cult craft breweries, distilleries, and coffee roasters.

Obviously, this growing popularity has also captured the attention of luxury boutique hoteliers and niche AirBnB investors, as well as all the usual invested players in economic urban development and tourism that make these great destinations to visit and travel writers to wax poetically about. What’s interesting about New Buffalo, however, is that Michigan’s newly minted legal landscape is turning the town an under-the-radar destination for cannabis—enough to earn the moniker, “New Puffalo.”

Yes, Michigan loves its weed, but so do those from bordering states taking advantage of its competitive dirt cheap pricing and no Chicago sales tax. Presently, Michigan adult-use cannabis sales are up 21% from $880 million in sales in 2023, totaling nearly $1.1 billion within the first four months of 2024.

Of course, just because something is permissible does not mean it is unconditionally entirely embraced and celebrated. Dispensary owners and local officials have taken a strategic approach to location selection like many other cities, preferring to grant development space within economically depressed areas. In New Buffalo, that translates to a 10-minute drive from downtown towards the outskirts of the expressway near the Michigan-Indiana border where a number of brand new cannabis dispensaries sit huddled together, all welcoming out-of-state tourists to come enjoy the bounty of Michigan’s legal market. Each dispensary has its own vibe, exclusive brands, and staffed by individuals discovering a unique career path they never envisioned.

“Isn’t it wild you can just walk into a weed store and get whatever you want?” I asked the budtender at Rolling Embers, a standalone tribal-owned dispensary and only smoking lounge in the area that sells medical-grade recreational cannabis, including a 500mg edible that would probably be fantastic for someone that is not me.

“Yeah, if you asked me a decade ago, I would have never thought this could be a job,” she said, before recommending an orange-pineapple infused preroll and a complimentary Biscotti preroll for being a first-time visitor. I took it outside onto their expansive terrace featuring a fire pit, music, and lounge for stoners—the authentic social and cultural experience frequently lacking from the overall legal dispensary landscape that will evolve and refine for years to come.

Rolling Embers is a short drive from four other dispensaries—The Bloomery, URB, Pharmhouse Wellness, King Bluntz, and Jars Cannabis, the latter of which has a second New Buffalo location on the way. Whereas Rolling Embers has a very grassroots and community-space focus that old school stoners might appreciate, the newly opened Pharmhouse has curated a more farm-to-table and education-centric approach, while spots like The Blommery, URB, King Bluntz, and Jars have chosen a more big box, brand-driven atmosphere for the cannasseur loyalist in search recognizable faces like 710 Labs, Camino, Jeeter, Doja, Stone Road, Stiizy, Wyld, etc. Michigan shoppers also benefit from generous promotions for new customers and daily deals.

As someone who has personally cut back on my overall consumption intake of alcohol and vices at-large, I appreciated the opportunity to explore the local cannatourism scene and use it to enhance the long weekend activities such as kayaking through the marshlands along the Galien River, hiking through Grand Mere State Beach, antique shopping in nearby Three Oaks and popping in for happy hour at SideYard in Sawyer, picking up fresh peaches, heirloom tomatoes, and Rainer cherries from Mick Klug and friends at the New Buffalo Farmers Market, or enjoying sunset sips at False Front speakeasy and along the marina at Bentwood Tavern. Reservations tend to go a long way, particularly since the town manages to pull in quite a few messy bachelorette parties during peak season that you can catch doing unhinged live band karaoke covers at Casey’s New Buffalo.

Since I was blessed to visit friends that have a lovely little cottage, I spent most of my mornings enjoying whatever preroll du jour felt right for my coffee and spacing out in the silence under the canopy of the trees shading their back porch, blissfully disconnected from the neverending chaos of the internet and whatever bullshit I knew would await me when I’d return home in a few days. Afternoons were for napping and hors d’oeuvres like fresh grilled peaches and burrata, radishes slathered with creamy cultured butter and sprinkles of salt, and splashes of wine. I picked up two bottles of rose and a skin contact pinot gris from nearby winery, Stranger Wine Co., at black barn gourmet grocer and bakery, Farmette—both lovely with housemade pasta and salad if you give them a minute to breathe.

Of course, if you don’t have friends who decided to pick up and plant roots as newly minted locals, there are plenty of fantastic new places to stay. Garden Grove Inn, a woman-owned boutique bed and breakfast in Union Pier is situated in a 1920s farmhouse and carriage house with incredible hospitality (including ridiculously good fresh-baked cookies), while luxury cosmopolitan weekenders seeking a sumptuous touch might shack up at the Marina Grand Resort or Harbor Grand Hotel.

By the time I got back on the train to the city, I felt more rested and relaxed than I had in ages. The weather was fabulous, the food was fantastic, the weed was impressive, the nascent wine scene showed promise, the beaches were clean and clear, and I couldn’t have asked for better company. Aside from the fact United’s carry-on baggage policy can suck my ass and I ended up stranded at O’Hare during a tornado, the travel couldn’t have been easier. Easy, breezy, Pure Michigan.

Do you have an under-the-radar cannabis destination I should check out? Share your slice of heaven in the comments.

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