greater lifestyle
greater things to do
Feeling acquisitive?
The Greater Lansing region offers an array of shopping options, including downtown and Old Town Lansing, Eastwood Towne Center, Frandor Shopping Center, Grand River Avenue in East Lansing, Lansing Mall and Meridian Mall.
Choices also include the Mason Antiques District, Lansing’s Mega Mall Antiques and Collectibles and the Antiques Market of Williamston.
Feeling athletic?
You can watch minor-league baseball at Oldsmobile Park or Big Ten football at MSU. You can climb 40-foot sandstone rock formations at Oak Park in Grand Ledge or an indoor wall at Lansing’s Westside Community YMCA. You can canoe or kayak on the Grand and Red Cedar Rivers – there are even short sections of engineered whitewater in Williamston. You can walk, run, ride or blade the eight-mile Lansing River Trail, which stretches from north Lansing’s Turner-Dodge House to MSU’s campus.
You can golf, too – there are 30 golf courses within 30 miles, including the exceptional Chris Lutzke-Pete Dye designed Eagle Eye Golf Club (listed among Golf Digest’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses in 2007-2008 and 25 Best Golf Courses in Michigan in 2007-2008) in Bath.
Feeling cultural?
The Greater Lansing region has an array of art galleries, multiple museums, three professional theaters, a symphony and a ballet. We’re the home of the Great Lakes Folk Festival, and we host a multitude of top-tier music acts each year.
The Wharton Center for Performing Arts at Michigan State University is Michigan’s largest performing arts center. Each year, Wharton hosts touring productions of big-name Broadway shows like The Lion King, Mamma Mia and Wicked, along with a number of major musical acts.
BoarsHead Theater was founded in 1966 and is Michigan’s longest continually running professional theater. Each season, the theater produces six main stage productions, attracting equity actors from Chicago, Detroit and New York and audiences from throughout the state.
The Williamston Theatre is mid-Michigan’s newest professional theater. It was founded in 2005 and modeled closely after actor Jeff Daniel’s Purple Rose Theatre project in Chelsea, MI.
Feeling hungry?
We’ve got tons of restaurants to choose from. They run the range from the usual chains to places like Altu’s Ethiopian Cuisine and Mama Bear’s Café, which specializes in local and organic food. They include local favorites like Deluca’s, Dusty’s Cellar and Wine Bar, El Azteco, the Red Cedar Grill and Spagnuolo’s.
Feeling strapped for cash?
The Greater Lansing region has public parks galore.
Lansing has a 20,000-square-foot skate park at Ranney Park that was designed and built by Team Pain, as well as spots like Cooley Gardens, Fenner Nature Center and Groesbeck Golf Course. MSU offers the W.J. Beal Botanical Garden, the Horticultural Demonstration Gardens, the Michigan 4-H Children’s Garden and many more.
Parks in Ingham County include Lake Lansing, the Potter Park Zoo and the Howard and Erna Soldan Dog Park. In Eaton County, they include Fitzgerald Park, Hawk Meadow Park, Hunter’s Orchard Park and the Keehne Environmental Area. And in Clinton County, they include the Maple River State Game Area, Rose Lake State Wildlife Research Area and Sleepy Hollow State Park.
