Corner View: What to do in the United States

There is so much to do in the USA; I wasn't sure where to start.  However, I decided to focus on one of my favorite areas---an area that is easily accessible for me living in Ohio---and that is The Great Lakes.  One summer my husband and I spent a week in Michigan and ended up dipping our toes into four of the five lakes. Every summer when I was growing up, my family went to Lakeside, Ohio on Lake Erie for Northeast United Methodist Conference.  I fell in love with Lake Erie then and it remains a favorite spot with many cherished memories.

Again, there is is so much to cover about this area, but I will just point out a few highlights along with a brief explanation.

The Great Lakes -- Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario -- and their connecting channels form the largest fresh surface water system on earth. If you stood on the moon, you could see the lakes and recognize the familiar wolf head shape of Lake Superior, or the mitten bounded by lakes Michigan, Huron and Erie. Covering more than 94,000 square miles and draining more than twice as much land, these Freshwater Seas hold an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons of water, about one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water supply and nine-tenths of the U.S. supply. Spread evenly across the contiguous 48 states, the lakes' water would be about 9.5 feet deep.

Lake Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior. To some, those names might not mean much. What's a lake when you have the ocean, someone from California might say. They can't be much compared to the Gulf Coast, a Floridian might sneer.

But anyone who calls the Great Lakes home -- or a home away from home -- knows it's near impossible to beat the breathtaking surroundings of the five lakes that touch eight states and Canada. Below check out a few of the reasons why the Great Lakes just might be the greatest ever, and if you make it to the end without seeing your favorite spot, submit a photo or memory below.

Great Lakes Map

They’re home to more than 32,000 islands

You can stay in amazing accommodation's...Grand Hotel, Mackinac Island.

• The Great Lakes have it all: the big city...
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  The Chicago lakefront.
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  Charming towns...
  Flickr:rkramer62
  Fishtown, Leland, Michigan.
  
  
  There's so much to explore.

  Getty Images

  Wreck of the Sweepstakes, a ship built in 1867, in Big Tub Harbour, Fathom Five National Marine Park, Tobermory, Ontario. There are at least 6,000 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes.
  
  The above is in Canada, so I looked up info on the Shipwreck Museum which my husband and I visited. A highlight of this museum is all kinds of pictures and info on the wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald which Gordon Lightfoot made famous in a song.
  

  Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum Campus

  

  Aerial View of Shipwreck Museum Campus -- Photo by Chris Winters

  The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum opens Wednesday, May 1, for the 2013 season!
  The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum has become one of Michigan's most popular destinations in the cultural tourism industry, attracting over 60,000 visitors each season.  The museum is open every day May 1 to October 31, from 10 am to 6 pm.   Museum patrons learn about the perils of maritime transport on the Great Lakes at the Whitefish Point Light Station, an Historic Site on the National Register of Historic Places.  See the Whitefish Point Light Tower, in continuous operation for 149 years, the oldest operating lighthouse on Lake Superior.
  
  

  Speaking of national parks, they have amazing ones.

  AP

  The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior, Michigan. AP Photo/Bob Brodbeck.

  
  

  One day I will highlight Lakeside.

  For more things to do in various countries throughout the world, check out Francesca's Fuoriborgo for Corner View.