Tuesday, 8/1

It took me a few days, but I think I figured it out.

The Great (and dorky) License Plate Count of 2023 is over, and I must report that it was a success. I saw plates from 43 states and two Canadian provinces, which means two things—Marquette's tourism business is thriving, and just what the heck is wrong with people from North Dakota, Arkansas, Mississippi, South Carolina, Delaware, and Vermont, the states I didn't see??

(And for the record, I'm giving people from Hawaii a pass on this one. Until they build a bridge I'm thinking it's kind of hard to drive from there to here).

I did see something I've not seen in twenty years of doing this, though. Throughout the week I kept seeing multiple cars—over a dozen each-- from certain states. So many, in fact, that I started keep track of all the different vehicles from Texas, Florida, California, Colorado, Missouri, and Washington. At first I was wondering if Travel Marquette had just been spending a ton of money in those states, and then I realized there might be another reason--

All of those states (with the possible exception of Washington) are dealing with extreme heat situations this summer. Is it possible that I'm seeing the beginning of a “climate tourism” trend, where people are vacationing up here because it's not as hot as it is at home?

You have to wonder.

I mean, Marquette has made just about every list I've seen of “climate refuges”, places where the worst effects of the massive climate change we're currently undergoing won't be quite as bad. And maybe this is just the start—people escaping the heat and humidity of places where climate change has run amok, and coming somewhere (like here) that's not as intolerable. I don't know if that's the case, but it sure seems like it could be the case.

You have to wonder.

No matter what, though, the past week has shown that's it's clear people from all over the country enjoy coming to Marquette the last week of July. So if it's seemed insanely busy around here that past week or so, you now know why.

(jim@wmqt.com), the dork.