Over the river and through the bike trails, MSU is home to acres of flower gardens, galleries full of one-of-a-kind artwork and dozens of ancient fossils — all for the public and all for free.
This weekend, area officials hope to remind people of hidden jewels in their backyard as the Greater Lansing Convention & Visitors Bureau presents its annual "Be a Tourist in Your Own Town" event.
Tracy Padot, vice president and director of marketing communications at the bureau, said about 15,000 people participate annually.
"We hear tales that people haven't been to the Capitol Building since they were in fourth grade," Padot said. "It's to remind folks of all the cool things to see and do in the area."
Participants must purchase a "passport" for $1, and then they can visit any of the available Lansing area attractions offered. Potter Park Zoo, WKAR Studios, Kresge Art Museum and the MSU Museum are some of the spots on the tour.
Many tour locations will offer their own special events Saturday. Lora Helou, communications manager at the MSU Museum, said the museum will have live musicians in its galleries. The tour offers the MSU Museum a chance to show what its got, Helou said. The attendance at MSU Museum fluctuates throughout the year.
"Our visitation really varies throughout the year. From May through June, there's a heavy concentration of school field trips," Helou said. "Then after that, there tend to be more casual drop-ins — grandparents and grandkids who were going to the MSU gardens or going to the dairy store, and popping into the museum."
Doug Badgero, greenhouse and gardens manager at the MSU Horticulture Garden, said the garden isn't a part of the tour because planting isn't finished by the time of the event. But the garden is still an attraction to locals and visitors with its perennial beds, plant annuals and the children's garden, he said.
"It brings a lot of children and their parents," he said. "We have roughly 14 acres of gardens here."
The garden is open from dawn until dusk and is free, except for a $3 parking fee Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
The Kresge Art Museum is offering many programs this summer, including a clothing exhibit, letters from New Orleans artist John Scott and a behind-the-scenes Capitol Building tour, Events and Communications Coordinator Heather Winfield said.
"It's something that you know is there, but you just never do," Winfield said of the Capitol tour.
But Padot said one could apply Winfield's reasoning to many attractions throughout the Lansing area.
Padot said the idea for the tour began after a Lansing new-comer was told by a taxicab driver that there was nothing going on in the city, and that he needed to "get back in that plane, and go back where he's from."
"That was quite disappointing," Padot said. "We took it upon ourselves to educate residents about everything they can see and do in their own backyard."
