July 12 -22 Michigan's Upper Peninsula

Peter and I have officially become Yoopers.  This is the local name for residents of the U.P.  or Upper Peninsula of Michigan.    There is a long suspension bridge from the mitten part of Michigan to the U.P. where Lake Superior meets Lake Huron.

I love this place!    Water on all sides, long sandy beaches, hikes with waterfalls, very little traffic and comfortable temperatures.  This is the closest to Washington State that we have experienced-----the only things missing are snow-capped mountains and major cities.

 Sault St. Marie:  This is the major city in the U.P.   It has an actual mall.  The anchors on the mall are Walmart, J.C. Pennys, and JoAnn Fabrics.   Sault St. Marie is best known for the waterfall and rapids that separated Lake Huron from Lake Superior.   These have been bulldozed out and there is now a set of locks called the Soo Locks so that boaters and commerce can flow between the lakes.  Apart from the locks there wasn’t much to see.  However, there were other hidden jewels available just west of here.

 

Tahquamenon Falls:  West and South of Sault St. Marie lies a wonderful state park.  We hiked to a lovely set of falls.    Remember, there are not a lot of mountains in Michigan, so the drop on the falls was fairly short.  However, the width of the river created a curtain of water that was really lovely.  People were wading in and around the falls despite warning signs to stay out of the water.   A couple of miles up from the lower falls was another set of much more impressive falls.   Walter was beginning to tire by this time---dangerously so----causing Peter to kick a large hole in the retaining fence and take him down to the water.   After a long drink and a short rest lying down in the water he was ready to tackle the climb back to the top, with only two stints of me carrying him.

The real jewels of our visit lay to the south on Lake Huron:  St. Ignace and Mackinac Island.  These are tiny towns on a par with Poulsbo in the 80s----1980s; not 1880s. 

St. Ignace has a museum that is fascinating—or was to us.  In chronicling the history of the    Archaeologists had uncovered some evidence leading to the hypothesis that the early inhabitants were here in the United States over 6,000 years ago.    DNA evidence shows that these early people were genetically related to the early tribes from Greece.      There is also clear evidence that over one million tons of copper were mined from this area yet no copper relics are found.  There is copper that suddenly showed up in Greece in the form of plates, art, and utensils at about the same time.   Finally, archaeologists uncovered stone tablets with carvings of a syllabic alphabet---when compared to Etruscan writing, the symbols are remarkably similar.  Other evidence of a link between ancient Greek peoples and early North American natives I thought was a little flakier.  It included stone carvings, rock stacking, and rock implements and tools.   It was all pretty fascinating.

area, the curators had a display about the native prehistoric people of the area.

 

Just east of St. Ignace and a mere jet-boat ride away lies Mackinac Island.  This is a really unusual place.  The island is eight miles in circumference----it was the second place to be designated as a National Park (right after Yellowstone).  It is accessible by plane and by ferry.   The residents banned   There are horse and buggies, horse and carriages, horse and wagons.  You can also rent a bike.    There is something for everyone here----fabulous restaurants, hotels, a fort, quaint shops, and tons of fudge and candy----they are renowned for their candy.

cars in 1898 so all transportation is by horse.

I have mixed feelings about the car ban.   On the good side it slows down the pace of life, it’s very quiet----especially when you get away from town, and there is a weird feeling of safety and calm   On the downside the smell of horse droppings and urine permeate everything, wafting towards you at inopportune times (like after your first bite of fudge—which visually is rather horse-dropping in appearance).  Horses or not----I am definitely going back.

as you listen to the clop-clop of horses going about their work.