The great Ernest Hemingway might be closely identified with Africa, Florida and the Caribbean, but he spent much of his youth in less exotic, but equally beautiful territory in Northern Michigan – coincidentally the home of Ford Motor Company. I set out to bring the two entities together.
Though born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois just outside Chicago, Hemingway spent most of his summers in the upper reaches of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula until his early 20s. Petoskey – the largest resort city in the area — serves as a home base while exploring Hemingway’s Michigan, with smaller towns like Harbor Springs, Charlevoix Horton Bay and Boyne City sharing in the writer’s history.
Though he headed overseas to serve in World War I after leaving the American Midwest, Hemingway returned to the area after he was wounded while serving as an ambulance driver in Italy. He spent several months back amidst Michigan’s lakes and lush greenery, slowly recovering physically and psychologically from his war experience and enjoying to his beloved hunting and fishing.
Once I decided to explore the area where Hemingway learned to hunt and fish, I wanted something rugged and masculine. But, since visiting these remote resort towns meant hundreds of miles behind the wheel, I also needed something comfortable.
The 2013 Ford Explorer Sport knocked down both requirements as I headed up from Chicago toward the Mackinac Bridge. The bottom line was, if I was going to explore the territory of the manliest of writers, I enjoyed having a manly vehicle. The largest SUV in Ford’s lineup, the all wheel drive Explorer Sport fit the bill with a tow capacity of 5,000 lbs.
Though Hemingway lacked this off-road ready Ford to travel between his sportsman’s haunts of Walloon Lake, the Schulz Nature Preserve and Horton Creek, he managed to get around the area well enough to meet his first wife and to leave his mark on local haunts like The Red Fox Inn, Horton Bay General Store, Jesperson’s Restaurant and the City Park Grill. When you see so many well-worn, historic spots, you realizes this is tough guy writer and SUV country — no Faulkner or Smart Cars allowed.
The Explorer Sport’s payload space is perfect for the piles of equipment a Northern Michigan journey demands. I managed to fit fishing poles, shotguns and pistols, three sets of golf clubs and even a few fireworks for campfire debauchery in the rear bay — with enough room left over for four adult passengers.
But, while I enjoy a hunt, catching a bass or playing a round of golf, I’m not a wild animal. I wouldn’t have looked forward to logging hundreds of miles from the front seat of a pickup truck. Fortunately, the Explorer Sports values comfort — with leather seating for seven, dual climate control, a cockpit, Ford SYNC and MyFord Touch. It’s an impressive suite of technology in vehicle rough to pull a boat or full trailer.
Since Hemingway spent so much time developing his skills as a sportsman in the forests and on the lakes of Northern Michigan, the area features prominently in the author’s Nick Adams short stories. If you call yourself a guy, but haven’t read the Adams tales, you haven’t earned the title. Pick up a book.
To visit the kind of territory uniquely fitted to those Nick Adams narratives, I had to go off-road and deep into the woods. Despite the rougher terrain, the Explorer Sport’s strut and multi-link suspension kept the vehicle stable. The turbocharged six cylinder EcoBoost engine and six speed automatic transmission (with adjustable controls for different pavements and off-road environments) keep the power steady and aggressive while clearing rocks and fording streams.
Bringing a Michigan girl home — even a $40,000 one like the 2013 Ford Explorer Sport – to explore a Michigan son’s adventures seemed a perfect marriage of ruggedness and easy performance. During a literary journey made comfortable by the big SUV, I came away with a sense that, regardless of whether his life and career took him to Cuba, Spain or France, Hemingway must’ve missed his peaceful, simple youth in Northern Michigan.
