Checking out

I was lucky enough to spend all of last week staring at this view. Magical. There were leisurely mornings over coffee — no email involved. In fact, no email or cell service at all. All week. Bliss. A quaint old house phone would ring every now and then. I'm not sure I even realized how great the disconnect was until I got home and felt it all creep back in. But for that time …

There were long swims in the refreshingly frigid waters of Lake Huron, slip sliding over the rocks.

Hot days picking sweet wild raspberries in old-fashioned baskets made by a grandma, later turned into the most divine cobbler… 

A lucky evening of fishing with the perch Queen … 

There was ice cream cone licking, a game called Frisbeer and leisurely afternoons chatting with neighbors with a cocktail in hand. Aaaah. I'm still savoring it all so much as we go into Labor Day weekend. Hope you capture the taste of summer this weekend! 

UP trip: Part 4. Keweenaw to the Soo

It's Friday and I wind down this week with the final installment of photos from our trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula. When I left you on Wednesday, the boy and I had been exploring Porcupine Mountains State Park. Next stop: the Keweenaw Peninsula. We drove north through Houghton, over the river to Hancock and kept going. We jagged west out to the coast and wound our way along until we landed on the doorstep of the Eagle River Inn. The humble entrance above led to one of the trip's highlights: Fitzgerald's.

After several evenings of mediocre dinners, Fitzgerald's was a shock to the system. The hotel and restaurant is owned by two young guys, one of whom is the son of the original owner. They are doing amazing things. Everything about our meal and evening was perfect. I had the incredible dish above: walleye dusted in pecan flour with Michigan cherry butter. The beer and wine selections are great with a heavy dose of Michigan producers. The dining room is rustic and sits right on the beach of Lake Superior. We moved over to the tiny 6-seat bar after dinner and spent a wonderful evening talking with one of the owners and another couple visiting from Germany. We watched a spectacular sunset that dropped so instantaneously I think you could hear it.  As it got later, the staff slowly joined us and a couple of locals stopped in and let me tell you, it was lively. 

The best part, all we had to do was tumble up the stairs to our room with this view. I could hear the waves lapping and watched a brilliant sunrise from bed. No phone, no television. Perfect.  

We stopped the next morning at the Jampot Bakery. Owned and run by monks of the Society of Saint John, this little gem serves a huge selection of jams and jellies, very popular fruitcakes, ginormous muffins … I could keep going. Someone at the bar the night before said their truffles were the best he'd ever had. Right after we walked in, though, a huge group of crazy motorists driving what looked like a crazy ugly modern version of the Ranchero all packed themselves into this tiny little shop. They just kept shoving in. I panicked and grabbed a jar of pear butter and a huge muffin (that lasted me about five days) and ran out the door. We thought we would come back the next day when we could leisurely ask questions and read every label, but sadly, didn't have a chance. Something for next trip.

This log home along the way was stunning. The design, materials, location…

This rocky part of the northern west coast of the Keweenaw reminded me a lot of Maine. We explored some more and eventually made our way back down the east coast and back to Marquette. 

  

On our final day we beelined east all the way to Sault Ste Marie and the Soo Locks. (We decided to save Tahquamenon Falls for another trip, too.) The locks connect Lake Superior to the St. Mary's River and the rest of the Great Lakes. They allow boats to rise or drop the 21-foot difference between the two waterways. It's really a site to see. We first watched a smaller barge (above) drop down from Lake Superior. And then watched this 737-foot freighter raised up. Amazing. Dang, people are smart.

And then… back across the bridge. Home again, home again, jiggety-jig.

And so ends our U.P. saga. I hope you've enjoyed reliving it with me. Have a wonderful weekend!

UP trip: Part 3. Porcupine Mountain State Park

We drove west from Marquette one morning and by the time we hit the west coast of the peninsula, Lake Superior was churning. We were about to be hit by a spectacular storm that produced crazy wind and 8-foot swells on the lake. 

We found a cozy little cabin to rent nestled in the trees right along the beach with tremendous views of the storm over the water.  We lit a fire and spent a wonderfully relaxed afternoon and evening watching the waves and storm, staring into the fire and finishing this puzzle that looked much like where we were staying.

The next day we drove south a bit to get to the Michigan's largest state park: the Porcupines. Looking out over the Lake of the Clouds (above) with all the leaves changing was magical. We spent several days checking out the area and doing some hiking.

I became obsessed with the moss. It was just so lush.

The trees were so yellow, but mostly at the top, making it seem like the sun was shining even on days that were quite grey.

We would then pass through areas that were cool and blue-green and ancient feeling.

To the west of the park is the Black River Scenic Parkway. A hiking trail connects five waterfalls on this  tremendous river — each more spectacular than the last.

 

Just one more leg to go — the Keweenaw to the Soo. But I may surprise you with a recipe tomorrow before the final trip roundup on Friday.

UP trip: Part 2. Manistique to Marquette

On to part two of our UP adventure: The boy and I woke in Manistique to beautiful sunny, clear skies. After an amazing breakfast at the Three Seasons Cafe, we went on our merry way enjoying the crisp fall air.

The guide at the Welcome Center had given us a few recommendations and the Seul Choix lighthouse was one of them. The lighthouse apparently got its name, Seul choix meaning only choice, when a crew of fisherman were forced to take shelter from a storm in its harbor, though it wasn't very protected or sheltering. It's really quite beautiful and I'm not sure we would have checked it out without his recommendation.

We headed on to Lake Kitchitikipi, or Big Springs. A glass-bottomed boat propelled by hand on a wire across the lake takes you over huge burbling springs of icy cold fresh water. It is about 43 feet deep and as you can see, crystal clear the whole way down. The way the sand is churned up makes it look volcanic with ash spewing out.  

We drove north through Hiawatha National Forest to Munising — a gorgeous  route, especially with all the leaves turning. We decided to take the boat tour out to Pictured Rocks. You can hike around out there, but we both wanted to see them from the water and it was way to rough for kayaking. (Maybe we'll be brave next time!)

While we waited, we stopped into this absolutely charming shop in Munising: Open Wings Pottery and Gallery.

They carry work from all local artists including, hand-turned wood, jewelry, knitted pieces, paintings, photography — and, of course, the owner's pottery.

I wanted everything in the place, including the fixtures made primarily with driftwood.

We were both so in awe we almost missed the boat! 

The Pictured Rocks: photographs can't nearly do it justice. We lucked out with spectacular weather perfect for a boat ride and the water just shimmered. The color of the water made it looked like the Caribbean, and the rocks themselves looked like the painted desert.

We had the requisite cheesy guide who tells jokes throughout, but he also plied us with plenty of interesting facts about Lake Superior that blew my mind. Did you know you can fit all of the other Great Lakes into Lake Superior and still have room for five more Lake Eries? You get the picture.

That lonely tree in the middle is living on top of those rocks with no dirt. You can see its roots stretched across the gap to the left bringing nutrients from the ground across the way. Amazing, yes?

Next stop, Marquette where this ore dock sits prominently in the harbor. It is massive and we got to see another one farther down in the harbor in use a few days later. It's quite an impressive operation.

We checked out the local food co-op and I had serious co-op envy. Marquette's Food Co-op is like the Harrod's of co-ops. Seriously. AND they had this funny sign.

We did a little thrifting in Negaunee — a somewhat depressed looking mining town nearby. The baskets that run on pulleys on the ceiling made me thinking of B&H photo in New York. Such fun.

We then rested our weary vacationing selves at Vierling's Brewery, a must in Marquette. Excellent beers and amazing food. (I think we ate there 3 times!) 

More adventures in the next leg: Marquette to the Porcupine Mountains. You can expect plenty of waterfalls, autumn leaves and vivid green moss.

UP trip: Part 1. Ann Arbor to Mackinac Bridge

After trying to narrow down the 1,000-plus photos we took on vacation to a reasonable amount for a blog post, I decided to give you little tastes, rather than the whole thing all at once. So here's a glimpse of our trip from Ann Arbor to the Mackinac Bridge. We drove west through Grand Rapids and then up along the coast of Lake Michigan, passing through Traverse City. We continued to hug the coastline as closely as possible, including M-119 — the Tunnel of Trees — that runs north of Harbor Springs to Cross Village. This was my favorite part and where most of these photos were taken.

The boy was in charge of provisions for the car. Not only did he roast a chicken for some tasty sandwiches,
but he made several snack trays like this one of ham, cream cheese and scallion rollups.

This was the first of several dream homes we saw along the way.
It's absolutely perfect, right down to the tree swing. Sigh…

We knew we were officially on vacation when we hit no service!

Welcome to the Good Hart, MI General Store. Home of pot pies and good old fashioned charm.

The baked goods looked amazing.

They even let me have a look into the kitchen at the day's batch of pot pies!

At the General Store, they tipped us off to this beautiful old Mission church and Native American burial ground.

With high winds and sweeping clouds, it felt exciting to explore the beaches along the way.

The reason why this is called the Tunnel of Trees.

The winding scenic drive leads right to Legs Inn in Cross Village.Built in 1921 by Polish immigrant Stanley Smolak, the Inn is filled with handcarved curiosities and bits of naturein every nook and cranny. We didn't eat there, but it had an impressive Polish menu that sounded divine.

Even the landscaping at Legs Inn — looking right out over Lake Michigan — is whimsical and filled with curiosities.

And so we reach the end of Leg 1 and crossed on over the Mackinac Bridge into the Upper Peninsula.

Stay tuned for part two: Manistique to Marquette!