The Land of Hiawatha

Friday. 7 June 2013.

By the shores of Gitche Gumee,

By the shining Big-Sea-Water,

Stood the wigwam of Nokomis,

Daughter of the Moon, Nokomis.

Dark behind it rose the forest,

Rose the black and gloomy pine-trees,

Rose the firs with cones upon them;

Bright before it beat the water,

Beat the clear and sunny water,

Beat the shining Big-Sea-Water.

Some of our blog readers may recognize the lines of Longfellow's epic poem, The Song of Hiawatha.  I remember having to memorize part of it as a class project in 6th grade; class members than recited the entire lengthy, epic poem.  Anyway, I digress.  We left our campground in Mackinaw City the morning of 6 June and headed north on I-75 to cross into Michigan's Upper Peninsula (UP).  The weather cooperated just beautifully and there was virtually no wind as we paid our $14 bridge toll and headed across the Mackinac Straits five-mile long suspension bridge.  No problem whatsoever; piece of cake.  Although I don't think I'd like to try it in gusty winds!

Before picking up the rest of our trip across Michigan's UP, I want to mention a restaurant In the Mackinaw City area, actually in the quaint little town of Cheboygan, 14 miles south of Mack City on US Route 23, right on the shores of Lake Huron.  We had a few errands to run at a pharmacy and decided to drive the 14 miles down to Cheboygan.  After finishing our errands, we decided to grab a bite to eat before heading back to our campground and performing some of the required chores to break camp the next morning.  Boy, did we find a great place: Alice's Restaurant on Cheboygan's Main Street. When we passed the restaurant on the street I just knew we were going to come back and have lunch there.  And Alice's turned out to be a local gem;  friendly staff and good food, at reasonable prices. Highly recommended for future travelers to this area.

Anyway, back to today's blog entry. We picked up US Route 2 just across the bridge and headed west, following the curvature of Lake Michigan's shoreline.  US Route 2 turned out to be a good road and we made good time.  Michigan's UP is definitely a "wild" area with numerous signs reminding motorists to watch for all kinds of wildlife.  We passed thru some beautiful forested areas, including the Hiawatha National Forest; the Lake Superior State Forest;and the Escanaba River State Forest.  At times, the distance across the UP between Lake Superior and Lake Michigan was only about 30 miles.  We were treated to several beautiful views of both lakes and we wound our way across the UP.  

We continued west on US Route 2 until we came to SR 117 and turned north.  About 15 miles later we caught SR 28 and headed west, deeper into the UP.  When we stopped at a roadside rest area on SR 28 that was right on the shores of Lake Superior, I got out and took the following pics while Lynette made us a bit to eat.  I don't think the photos do justice to the "immense" feeling I got in looking out at the world's largest body of fresh water.  Absolutely breath-taking!

Our rest stop for lunch on the shores of Lake Superior

After lunch, we continued west on SR 28, following the shoreline Lake Superior, toward Marquette. Just outside Marquette we picked up SR 41 which took us to our destination campground for the evening, Country Village RV Park, in Ishpeming, MI.  Nothing fancy, but large sites and close to several restaurants (within walking distance).  We opted for the Jasper Ridge Brewery and Restaurant, a mere 100 yards from our campsite.  And once again, we lucked into a real treat.  Good good, friendly service, and excellent brews.  Lynette opted for the BBQ short ribs (huge plate of ribs) with beans and home fries, and a glass of Riesling.  I spied a Shepard's Pie on the menu and it just sounded good; I decided to try a pint of their blueberry ale to go along with my pie.  I was not disappointed in either the food or the drink.  One of the best Shepard's Pies I've ever had, and the brew came with a half-dozen blueberries in the bottom of the glass.  And yes, Jamie and Lisa: the brew did have a blueberry taste!  

Tomorrow we head further west into the UP on SR 41 and picking up SR 28 again just outside Marquette.  We'll stay on SR 28 all the way to the Michigan-Wisconsin border, exiting the UP at Ironwood, and crossing into Wisconsin.  Today's destination will pull us virtually all across the state of Wisconsin, and we'll overnight in South Range, Wisconsin, just outside Duluth, Minnesota. But that's story for the next blog.  Cheers!