The Copper Harbor!

Ruthie, Ed's cousin lives in Hancock and her daughter Gretchen and her husband Glen live in Calumet which is 10 minutes away from Ruthie's apartment.

We decided to go visit them, spend one night in Hancock and explore the Keewanah Peninsula. What a wonderful two day trip. First of all, crusing the little towns before our first destination was a delight. These cities have a personality of its own, most of them have a harbor, the downtown is small but quaint, their people are charming, the streets are clean and we all wanted to capture the sites with our cameras. Here are some samples of our pictures, slow pace

We arrived in Hancock and Ruthie was waiting for us with a wonderful homemade lunch. We enjoyed our food, the conversation, her dog and after lunch she suggested we went to tour the "Quincy Mine", an old copper mine, no longer in operation. This tour was so revealing, they took us to the mine on a two wagon car on a train rail, descended approx. 450 ft to the mine, it was cold about 40F and humid, plus dark and no electricity. All work was performed with candles, hammering in the dark risking their lives. They all worked long days...about 10 hours in terrible conditions. Mist the workers were immigrants from the Scandinavian countries. The tour guide gave us a very clear description of what life in the mine was for the workers, how strenuous and difficult work was, how many industries benefited from the mining and why the mine was closed. Needless to say we were super impressed with our tour guide, he really knew what he was talking about, very clear and concise. What a great tour to explore what life was then, the sacrifices of many who build the foundation for this great country of us, that many take for granted today. History needs to be taught to our new generations as all the wonderful life we enjoy today wouldn't be the same if our prior generations didn't sacrifice their lives for a better tomorrow. 

We enjoyed a beautiful dinner in a restaurant overlooking the bridge.

The following day, Gretchen invited us to her home for breakfast. Her house is huge on a big lot with a private lake. Her mom started a vegetable garden and a flower garden in Gretchen's property and both are producing more than anticipated. The vegetable garden products have been bigger than normal and nobody seems to know why.

From there we headed up north toward Copper Harbor, but stopped at the JamPot, a bakery run by Jesuits monks that us famous for their jams, mermelaids, breads, cakes, muffins and more. Great selection, but a little pricey in my opinion. My guess is these monks are running a very profitable business and why not! This is the country if opportunities, if there is demand why not supply it.

Well, our trip to Copper Harbor which us the end of Kewenah Pensinsula didn't materialize. It was raining very hard and we decided to drive back earlier instead of dealing with the rain. I regret we didn't make it as I wanted to see the little harbor again. There will be a next time!

Our Vacation Home in Marquette!

We returned the rental car and picked up our last rental car with pick up and drop off at the same location. Renting cars with a different drop off could cost as much as double. We saved over $1000 by doing this trick!

Jean, the owner of our vacation home, gave us permission to get in the house earlier.  We were like kids exploring the unknown. Checked room by room, furnishings, food supplies, kitchen utensils, outdoor furniture and walked to the beach. Yes, our cabin faced the shores of Lake Superior, to get there we needed to cross a small bridge and voila! We had the beach to ourselves, clear and warm water, soft sand and instead of shelves we picked up lots of shiny stones which the local use to skip the water. 

We also walked around the neighborhood, we had a long trail that us used in the winter for snowmobiles and in the summer for bikers and walkers. Enjoyed checking out the homes of the neighbors, their architectural facades and landscapes and guessing whether their home was their primary residence or a vacation home. 

We took walks daily, drove to the wonderful bakery often, checked the local farmers market and drive around town. We can say now, our vacation home was well located, short driving distance to historic downtown Marquette and easy access to the rest of the town. Many meals we were able to prepare in the well equipped kitchen, one of them was to honor our dear friends Jon and Diana Magnuson. Needless to say this meal was a success, we prepared white fish with herbs, Diana brought roasted vegetables, we fixed a pasta salad that was a hit, and enjoyed cookies and ice cream for desert with our favor wine. 

Pictured Rocks Rock!

We arrived in Munising late afternoon and what a pleasant surprise we had when we checked in in our hotel. Our room was a suite with two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a nice living room with plenty room for the four of us to enjoy it. But that wasn't the surprise, it was the magnificent view overlooking Lake Superior. It was spectacular and we wish we stayed there a few more days.

                           

This town is known for being the home of Pictured Rocks, a beautiful state park that can be seen by foot or by boat with two different experiences. By foot you have the opportunity to hike the trails, watch the water falls and be amazed by the beautiful views of the rocky shore of Lake Superior with its lush forests. By boat, you relax in a beautiful tour boat on the lower or upper deck and be thrilled to capture the images of the magnificent rocks that changed colors and shapes with the time projecting a multicolor landscape that appears to be painted to simulate a palette of colors from yellows, to oranges, browns and reds,a truly masterpiece. 

                                

Beautiful Marquette!

This town has it all! It has become an upscale town with the beautiful boutiques on Washington Street, a truly unique Farmers Marquet, which is small in size but offers a huge assortment of organic produces, meats, wines, prepared meals, breads, toiletry and pharmacy items all homeopathic or organic. There is a selection of coffee shops, bakeries and ice cream places too! Needless to say I was impressed with the selection for a small town. 

Marquette is also a walkable place, it offers walking trails around the city.  One of my favorites, the Lower Harbor, where you find a beautiful park around the harbor, a theatre that offers shows twice a week, restaurants and its surrounded by beautiful townhomes that showcase appealing landscapes. Oh, I can't forget the bike paths around the entire town and many locals take advantage of them. 

                     

Another one of my favorites is Presque Isle. Do you know what it means...well in French it means "almost a island" as it has three sides on water. Well, this is a place to drive around, or walk around, go for picnics, sunsets, swimming, jumping the black rocks, kayaking, or simply enjoy nature on the shores of Lake Superior. We went there several times, two stand out, a special trip just to watch the sunset one evening and another time to take pictures after a storm in a beautiful sunny afternoon.

      

                      

One more place I like....Sugarlof Mountain. To get to the top, you need to climb 320 steps on the easy trail and at the end you have the most spectacular views of Lake Superior. We climbed it with Jon and Diana.  The plan was to have a breakfast picnic at the top, but our travel friend Dianne just had a surgery on her ankle and was still under therapy. She and her husband Gene drove  around while we climbed and then we enjoyed the breakfast at Jon and Diana's home porch which was a delight for all.

It is also the home of Northern Michigan University with 8000 students, also known for being a Winter Olimpics training site and the largest wood dome - football stadium in the nation.

We walked everywhere, Washington Street for coffee and chocolates at Donkers, on 3rd Street went twice for breakfast at SweetWater....went for custard at Culver's, pasties at Jean's Pasties, drinks at Verdanos and Aztec and an elegant dinner to close the trip at Elizabeth Chop House. What a treat! 

Small town, short distances, beautiful scenery all around, we will be back!

The Ships!

We were fortunate enough to be in town when El Galeon, The Pride of Baltimore II and When and If were visiting Marquette. We had the opportunity to tour the ships and talked to the crew. I love ships, love the water and love to hear their journeys. 

These ships were returning from a summer racing tour throughout the Great Lakes. Many of the crew members are students, but many are permanent employees. Due to their size they need a large crew who get these jobs because they love the water, the adventure and the uncertainty. Not all people are cut out to these jobs, those that do are fully inclined to long hours and know the risk it takes, but love doing it.

While the ships were there, many locals and tourists visited the ships, took many pictures and enjoy their beauty for three days, We were one of them, went twice to the lower harbor to see them. The second time, run into a professional photographer taking pictures with drones, it happens to be a midget person who attracts people without wanting to. The next day, we saw his pictures posted on the ships Facebook page. 

The Locks

We drove for a couple of hours to visit Sault Sainte Mary, a town on the border with Canada. This town is know by the locks that connect Lake Huron with Lake Michigan. 

Locks have been used all over the world for the same purpose, but there is always the mind that wants to visually see the connection, whether is by watching the boats or ships cruising the locks or better yet being a passenger in one of them. The thrills reassures you the clever engineering humans have done to keep the world connected over water, land or sea. 

We ended the day with a late lunch at a seafood place overlooking the locks and resumed driving to,our next destination Munising.

Magical Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island it's a playground and fairytale. Located in Lake Huron at the end of the Straits of Mackinaw between Michigan's Lower and Upper Peninsula. It's only accessible by ferry or plane. No motorized vehicles allowed, transit on the island is by foot, horse, carriage and bicycle.

      

No matter in what direction you walk in the island, you are surrounded by bicycles, horses and carriages. It's a step back in time for some, or a daydream for others but no matter what the case I it's magical and the memories will last a lifetime. 

                       

 

We enjoyed a carriage tour for almost two hours. Our tour guide was a student from Purdue University pursuing to be a medical veterinarian. He kept our tour interesting and fun with his great sense of humor. The island has so much to offer and people truly get island fever.

The Grand Hotel is the big landmark of the island. It has golf, jockey, tennis, croquet, bocci-ball, beach, horseback riding, bicycling, carriage tours and more. 390 rooms and no two are the same. It's luxury and history at their finest. The service is superb. There is an admission fee for non hotel guests.