Waterfalls & Summer!

After a month in Montague, we were ready to be back on the road again. Mackinaw City was our first stop. We had never spent much time here; it was always a stop on the return trip from the Chicago to Mackinac Race, at which time the race boats became cruisers for several days. Getting fresh and smoked lake fish here were always a treat.

After arriving at our campsite, we were able to re-explore the area on our bikes and car. Our first priority was to find a commercial fish wholesaler that sold also to the public. Successful in our endeavor, we load the refrigerator and freezer with fresh and smoke lake trout and whitefish. As part of our “memory tour,” we went to Cross Village for lunch at Leggs Inn, which we discovered on one of our trips exploring the Lake Michigan coastline on land about 20 years ago. Its Old World charm of uniquely designed furniture and décor is intact, as well as a great view of the water.

Mackinaw Bridge on the horizon meant we were just hours away from the finish line of the Chicago to Mackinac Race. Whether going under or over it; it is always a spectacular view.

Our destination is Christmas, MI where we will explore Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Since descriptive words cannot accurately portray what we experienced, we will let the pictures do the telling.

Years ago we organized our tour in Scotland and Ireland around visiting castles. Our time in the Upper Peninsula was devoted to finding waterfalls. Some waterfalls were just off the road; where others necessitated a bit of a hike to view. One day after viewing two falls that were quite a few miles away, we treated ourselves at Mama Cow’s Ice Cream Shop in the tiny town of Chatham. We are still in search of, “The Best Soft Serve,” in the country. There is much more research to be done.

The joy of traveling is finding a place that is unique and surprising. After seeing a brochure for Lakenenland Sculpture Park, we decided to visit it on the way to Marquette. We arrived with very few expectations, “Come on, a sculpture park in the middle of nowhere.” We have included just a few examples of the many sculptures in the park. To learn more, Tom Lakenen can introduce Lakenenland Park himself at www.lakenenland.com. His website is as unique as he is.

We made a short visit to Marquette, with a hike on Presque Isle. The park road around the Isle is closed to traffic until 1 PM. From our walk we could see the Iron Ore Dock; each years 9.5 to 10 million tons of ore are shipped from the dock. Historic homes in the area make it obvious that mining and lumber brought great wealth to Marquette.

Over the years of traveling, we have made some unusual discoveries. During our five days in Christmas, Michigan, we had one of those discoveries. Have you ever wondered where Santa’s elves kept the toys to be distributed? We have discovered where they are kept for Michigan.

As we continued our traveling north to Baraga State Park, we discovered more and more waterfalls. In addition we visited the Bishop Baraga – Shrine to the Snowshoe Priest. Bishop Baraga spoke 8 languages including Ojibwe and Ottawa. Why snowshoe priest? Starting in 1835, he traveled to missions around Lake Superior regardless of the season or the weather.

Sand Point Light, Baraga

Along with waterfalls, sunsets became the theme of our next 5 days on the shore of Lake Superior in McLain State Park. Each night we walked across the street to watch the sun make its nightly exit. We also had dinner with family friends of Francie’s and watched shooting stars in the evening.

Erosion at the beach in McLain State Park

One morning, we took a ride up to Copper Harbor and visited Fort Wilkins Historical Park, erected to help maintain order during the Copper Rush. Like many historical parks, there were people dressed in the garb of the time who answered questions about life during the mid- 1800s. A young woman (with very red hands) was doing laundry in cold water brought from Lake Superior in wooden buckets. The fellow helping her was using a yoke to carry the buckets. A teenage tourist enthusiastically volunteered to get more water. The teen began the trip back with the two buckets of water hanging from the yoke on his shoulders, his pace became slower and slower as he plodded along. By the end; he was grateful not to be living in the mid-1800s.

Since we were in copper country, we visited the Keweenaw National Historic Park to learn about the history of copper mines. Once again, thank you National Park Service for preserving an important part of our history.

River Trail

To finish our “waterfall tour,” our final stop was at Tahquamenon Falls nicknamed the Root Beer Falls, because of the brown watercolor from tannins leached from cedar swamps. There are two falls – the lower and upper. Our first hike was to the lower falls a mile from our campsite. The plan was to continue hiking halfway to the upper falls and then back to the campsite. The trail to the Upper Falls followed the river and went up and down the steep banks. “Should we do the whole trail; it is so beautiful? We can pay to take the shuttle back to the lower falls.” After finally making a decision, we hiked to the upper falls, a total of 7 miles for the day.

Lower Falls

Upper Falls

After viewing the falls, we looked for the shuttle. Francie spotted a bus that we thought could be the shuttle. We had to hurry because the vehicle looked to be leaving. Francie asked the driver, “Are you the shuttle to the lower falls?” She was not, but offered us a ride back to the lower falls. The “driver” was a professional photographer and she, her husband and two dogs were camping and travelling to her jobs.

The following day we drove to the small town of Paradise and the Great Lakes Ship Wreck Museum on Whitefish Point. Many ships sunk near Whitefish Point including the infamous Edmund Fitzgerald. Gordon Lightfoot’s song describing the sinking kept playing in our heads.

As we crossed the bridge to the Lower Peninsula, we both felt that Michigan’s Upper Peninsula if one of our favorite areas!