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.