YOOker . . .

Michigan!

State bird: Robin

State flower: Apple blossom

State motto: If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look about you.

State pastime:

 
Growing up Up North, I thought Euchre didn't even have to be taught, it was in your genes! Everybody played.
 

You can’t live in Michigan unless you know how to play - and pronounce - Euchre (YOOker). It’s a fast game that requires a fair amount of attention (especially if you’re good at counting cards) but not so much that your game really suffers much if you’re nursing a mid-level beer buzz.

The beauty of Euchre is that it prevents conversations, accusations, recriminations, emotional outbursts and all the other stuff that’s likely to get out of hand when folks get to drinking in large groups.

My father was a crook and a card shark (and I mean this in the nicest way) who used to organize us kids into Euchre tournaments when we were camping. He would cheat us out of our weekly allowances. As a result, I never became much of a Euchre enthusiast. Cribbage was my game - but that's a whole other story.

Islanders love their Euchre, and will play it anytime, anywhere—by the woodstove at deer camp, after pancakes on winter mornings, on beach blankets under an umbrella, snug on a screened porch on a late summer night or down at the Northwood where they really get serious on a Sunday afternoon.

Come on up sometime and find a game to sit in on - like a foreign language  - anyone can learn!