It’s difficult to think of Michigan without also thinking of cherries, and no wonder: cherry orchards line the shores of Lake Michigan from Benton Harbor to Northport, producing 70-75% of the tart cherries grown in the United States. Traverse City, host of the National Cherry Festival, has proudly branded itself the Cherry Capital of the World, holds the Guinness World Record for the largest cherry pie ever baked, and is home to a roadside attraction memorializing that grand accomplishment: namely the giant pan in which the record-setting pie was baked. You’ll find a similar memorial just up the road in Charlevoix, where the pan contains a concrete replica of that coveted last slice and the sign still identifies this pie as the world’s largest despite the fact that its 17,420-pound record was ultimately broken by Traverse City’s 28,350-pound pie. Cherry-pie-related civic pride is kind of a big deal around here.
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