I'm a Great Lakes girl.

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Some people define themselves by their location. If I were to do so, I would have to say that I am a Great Lakes girl. I grew up in Erie, PA near Lake Erie. I frequently travel to Cleveland, OH; Buffalo & Niagara Falls, NY; Toronto, ON; and cities in-between. I've also visited Chicago, IL and Detroit, MI, and plan to visit more places in this region as time permits.

The Great Lakes region is a wonderful place. There are gorgeous beaches, exciting cities, and fun attractions to visit in four seasons of weather. True, sometimes the humidity gets the best of us in the summer and the lake effect snow in the winter can blanket us, but we Great Lakers wouldn't have it any other way. This is a great place to live, work, play, and visit!

The first Europeans to visit the Great Lakes were the French, who visited and named the lakes in the 1600s. Later, this is the region where many of the country's immigrants settled in the early 1900s. Maybe you still have family here or maybe your family has moved on, but many people have connections to this "Great" region.

There are many great cities on the Great Lakes. Some of them include: Duluth, MN; Chicago, IL; Gary, IN; Detroit, MI; Cleveland, OH; Erie, PA; Buffalo, NY; and Toronto, ON. Yet, some parts of the region, like the western most Lake, Superior, remain largely undeveloped and surrounded by forests. From urban developments to vast stretches of wilderness, the Great Lakes offer a variety of activities and places to explore.

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