#Gates50States

Michigan, our friendly neighbor state to the north, houses our long-standing football rival, U of M.  Fortunately, we don’t let sports allegiances interfere with our travel plans.

The great state of Michagan has much to offer in terms of history, industry, and scenery, which, as always, makes it difficult to condense the type of trip we enjoy into a short period of time. Even the northern reaches of lower Michigan are within about 6.5 hrs, so we decided to save that for a 4 day weekend in the future and concentrate all our efforts on the Upper Peninsula (UP). This plan, conveniently, allowed a looping roadtrip through Wisconsin for the first stage of the trip, followed by 6 days in the U.P. and a final drive home through the Lower Peninsula.

We had the entire day to drive from Neenah, WI, to eventually end up in Au Train, MI, on the shore of Lake Superior.  We took our time driving up the coast of Wisconsin on Rt. 41 into Michigan, then Rt. 35 to continue hugging Lake Michigan’s coastline. Marquette looked like a cute little place for stopping, so we headed there for lunch and time to stretch our legs. What a great find!! Although it’s the largest city in the Upper Peninsula with 20,000+ residents, it exudes small college town charm. Check out Donckers for lunch upstairs and a fabulous chocolate/sweet shop at street level. Gluten-free bread for a large array of sandwiches was a wonderful surprise, too!

Although we probably could have spent more time at the small marina and walking around downtown, Presque Isle Park looked like a good place to explore before we left the area. Covering 323 acres of a tiny peninsula north of town, this perfect little park has it all: hiking trails, a lighthouse, a breaker wall to explore, cliffs and rocky hidden beaches, plus a perimeter road. The kids could have spent hours finding cool rocks and chucking them into Superior. Of note, the road closes for the season in early November.

We still needed to make it to Au Train for check in around 4pm, so we sadly left Marquette behind. Although Au Train is only 30 minutes from Marquette, there are several stops to make along the way. Our favorite, and a kitchy tourist attraction not to be missed, was Lakenenland Sculpture Park. A free and highly entertaining stop just off the M-28, this sculpture park may be seen by car, snowmobile or on foot via the 1/2 mile or so dirt road. We definitely recommend walking for great photo opportunities with these scrap metal works of art by owner/artist Tom Lakenen.

A pit stop for ice cream at Jilbert Dairy helped tide us over on the drive, as well.

After a fun-filled day of exploring, we finally reached Superior South Shore Cottage just across the road from where the Au Train River spills out into Lake Superior. Although we did have to cross the M28, which is technically a highway, traffic was always pretty light and we never had a problem or felt unsafe.

Having a huge, empty beach all to ourselves was pretty incredible, too.

The lake is freezing (from an adult’s perspective anyway) and the current shouldn’t be dismissed, but this really was the perfect place to splash around in the water and build sand castles, trenches and whatever else the kids could imagine.

For hours each morning, we would have the beach to ourselves, and this was in mid-August, prime tourism time. Our cottage had everything we needed, with a great kitchen, washer/dryer, outdoor toys for the kids and double bunk beds in the second bedroom. The owners even had kayaks to borrow. If we didn’t have the kids, RG and I would have loved to kayak the Au Train River.

This cottage is only about 10-15 minutes from Munising and its larger grocery store, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore Visitors Center and the ferry to Grand Island. Although Munising is the central hub, I highly recommend Au Train for its quiet, tiny town feel, access to the beach and river, plus geat location for exploring the U.P. in all directions.  Which leads us to…

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is truly and amazing place. Even in August, we had pretty cool, cloudy and often rainy weather, so definitely be prepared for all possibilities. Although it does get pricey to take a larger family, I don’t recommend passing up the cruise, especially if it’s even partly sunny. We purchased our tickets a day or two ahead of time and ended up pretty disappointed with the Sunset Cruise. I guess if the weather cooperated it could have been beautiful. The sheer height and various formations of the cliffs were impressive but the overcast day didn’t do justice to the vibrant color striations present. Plus, it was freezing with the wind blowing across the lake! We all wore long pants and jackets but all five of us wished we had winter coats, gloves and hats. Having said all that, if the weather is good, take a day cruise between 2-5 pm for the best photography lighting on the rocks and better warmth aboard the boat.

Although the actual Pictured Rocks are best seen from a cruise, we thoroughly enjoyed the varied hiking opportunities on land even more. Waterfalls and hiking trails abound in the area.

Check out the Mosquito Beach Trail if you have enough mosquito repellent. Seriously, I’m talking high concentration DEET! The coast line and beach at the end of the trail were totally worth it but even with long pants, wool hiking socks and OFF repellent, we still got bites! The colors of the rocks and water even on partly sunny day were like nothing we had witnessed before.

Au Sable Lighthouse and Dunes were also great hiking opportunities. A wide, dirt road makes up the trial to the lighthouse, so that’s a great trial for smaller children. Many short paths led to the waters edge for added fun as well. If two cars are available, or if someone wants to head back from the lighthouse and get to car over to the Au Sable Dunes parking lot, the hike from the lighthouse to Au Sable Dunes and waterfall is worth it. Most of it is through dense forest but coming out along the 200+ foot high dunes was pretty amazing. Don’t miss the dunes themselves (but please don’t be those people who diregard signs and climb all over the dunes) or the waterfall. Keep going past the waterfall for direct access to a large rocky beach. For our kids, rock hunting was probably the highlight of the U.P., so we never missed an opportunity to beachcomb.

Places to eat are pretty sparse between Munising and the various hiking of Beaver Basin and Chapel/Mosquito areas so make sure to pack plenty of food and water or have an open mind about The Bear Trap Restaurant. Decent comfort food if you’re starving after hiking all day, but not my idea of a great dinner.

Although we didn’t have enough time to justify the expense, if the kids were older, we would have taken the ferry to Grand Island and spent the day biking and hiking. Minimal inhabitants, dense forest growth and a beautiful, rocky coastline make it look a pretty fun place to explore.

On our last full day, the weather was predicted to be horrible -cold, rainy and windy the whole day. So, we scoured the radar weather map and determined that the only place with a hope of sunshine was the far western edge of the peninsula. Heading out at the early hour of 6:30am, we let Google Maps lead us to Houghton, MI and the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum at Michigan Tech. RG and I found this to be one of our more fascinating finds. Beautiful gems and minerals with excellent descriptions of how different minerals are formed make this a fabulous educational stop for older kids and adults. Everyone, even the 7s, enjoyed the fluorescent/glow-in-the-dark minerals exhibit and one highlighting minerals used in everyday life.

The Keweenaw Peninsula of Upper Michigan boasts the world’s largest concentration of native copper. This 19 Ton piece of native copper in it’s own pavilion outside the museum was also great segue into the copper mine tour with the crew at Adventure Mine in Green… MI about 45 min away

We were quite happy with our Prospector’s tour – reasonable price, long enough to really get a sense of the mine and jobs involved but not too long since it was pretty cold (add one more layer than you think you’ll need.) Older kids (13+) and physically fit adults would likely love the more involved tours including rappelling to the deeper levels, crossing a swing bridge, and getting gloriously muddy while learning.Syl’s Cafe was the next stop for a genuine UP pasty (classic miners food) on recommendation from our guide at the mine. The kids weren’t thrilled, but hearty, comfort food was welcome just the same after our long day and cold hike underground.

To pack in one last experience, we squeezed in Porcupine Mountain Wilderness State Park with Lake of the Clouds. I wish we had more time to explore the area! The view of the lake was incredible at the end of the day and many hiking trails were beckoning to us. Too little time this trip but maybe down the road. I would never dream of visiting anywhere in the UP during summer months without gallons of mosquito repellent though.

We capped off the day with ice cream from a little road side shop then hit the highway for a 3 hr drive back to Au Train. With so many lakes visible from the winding road back, we couldn’t help but stop to stretch our legs and capture the amazing sunset on display in the rear view mirror. 

Last year, a day of this length with so many miles and stops would not have been possible. The kids were just too young. Pleasant surprise greeted us on this trip as the kids embraced all the day had to offer with minimal complaining. Really, the whole trip highlighted how they’re maturing even though in previous years we couldn’t image this day would ever come.Encouraged and emboldened by our mini road trip success of the previous day, we decided last minute to include the Seney Wildlife Refuge and Whitefish Point on our way to Sault Ste. Marie on our final day in the upper peninsula. Our original goal was to make it to the Soo Locks by lunchtime then continue on into lower Michigan to end up in Saginaw or follow the shores of Lake Huron to end up in Bay City by evening. Ah, the best laid plans…

What we did instead was use input from the kids to craft a completely different itinerary that involved a lot of spontaneous decisions culminating in a very memorable day.

If given the opportunity, do not pass up the Seney Wildlife Refuge off M28. A beautifully serene place, with a small but fabulous nature center and an easy driving tour await. Being animal lovers and photographers, we took the drive much more slowly than others but honestly, we could have spent all day! Trumpeter swans in various states of maturity were definitely the highlight. The kids were amazed to see so many in one place. Given more time, we would have taken advantage of a ranger-led night drive and a few more of their educational opportunities. Check out the schedule online or give them a call.

Following our long detour at Seney, we continued on toward Whitefish Point, passing by Taquamenon Falls State Park. Unfortunately, time just wasn’t available to experience what we were told is a highlight. The Upper and Lower Falls draw many day trippers and campers and the tough hike between the two looked awesome. Again, one more experience for a later date.

The kids chose Whitefish Point specifically requesting more time for agate-hunting. I have never seen kids so excited about rocks! We brought back a bucketful. 🙂 Only time (and the rock-polisher we’re getting them for Christmas) will tell if we have any keepers, but collecting them was time well spent. Whitefish is a beautiful peninsula sticking out into Lake Superior providing ample rock-collecting opportunities. Definitely a tourist destination, however, so in hindsight we would have liked to have found a quieter place.

After a quick packed lunch in the parking lot, yummy fudge and a bucket of rocks, we got back on the road to Sault Ste. Marie and the Soo Locks. Growing up near the Ohio-Erie Canal, the kids have all been exposed to the concept of the lock system before, but standing on the observation platform watching a 1,000 ft ship barely eek into the lock was a totally different experience. The ingenuity behind locks and how they have impacted shipping and thus the world is remarkable. Experiencing the engineering up close and personal impacted Ryan and me and will hopefully stick with the kids as a truly unique experience as they get older. 

Being so far behind schedule actually made it much easier to disregard how long of a drive we had left and embrace the local culture. We opted to stretch our legs and walk quite a way through town to dine at the Wicked Sister, and we were so glad we did! Not only did they have amazing burgers (try the one with a whitefish spread) but they even had gluten free bread options. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinner and the relaxed, friendly atmosphere of the restaurant. What a great find off the touristy main drag down at the waterfront.

Since we didn’t have any reservations for the night, we just decided to drive for a couple of hours and find a place to crash. Big mistake not having reservations! I usually make arrangements but wanted to be flexible for this night as I wasn’t sure how the day would unfold. Apparently, August is a busy month for hotels on I-75 and no rooms accommodating 5 people were to be had that Saturday night. So, after multiple long days in a row, we had a to make the full drive back to Ohio, not arriving until 3am. Ouch! Totally worth it to sleep in our own bed though.

Someday, we’d like to do a 4 day weekend exploring the shores of Lake Huron or Traverse City and Sleeping Bear Dunes National Recreation area, but for now, we’re so glad we chose to concentrate our time experiencing the beauty of the Upper Peninsula as part of our Wisconsin-Michigan 2017 trip.