We normally try to avoid toll roads, since it costs more with the fifth wheel; but crossing the Mackinaw Bridge, which cost us $8, was the only way to get to the Upper Peninsula. (Well, we could’ve gone an extra 12 hours around the other side of Lake Michigan, but no.) We stayed at the Lakeshore RV Campground for five nights while we explored the area.
We drove about 10 minutes to get to one of the ferry ports for Mackinac Island. There are no cars on the island, so people walk, ride bikes or ride in horse and carriages to get around. We paid the extra fee to take our electric bikes over to the island since it was cheaper than renting, plus they didn’t rent electric ones. It was about a 25 minute ride over on the jet ferry. We sat outside to get a good view, so it was a little chilly at high 60s, but worth it. Randy got some awesome pics of the bridge. once we got off the ferry, we rode our bikes around the entire island (8 acres).
We stopped at some of the sights along the way, including the Arch Rock and Grand Hotel. After finishing the outer loop, we rode around the interior some, seeing a cemetery, Sugarloaf, Cave Rock, and Point Lookout. I was surprised at how easy it was to get turned around on the island. At one point, I thought we were heading to “the city”, but when we eventually asked someone directions, found out we were going towards the back of the island instead. It was fun to wander around to see what we could see, especially since the electric bikes made it fun to ride around, without too much effort. The weather was nice and sunny, perfect with light-weight jackets. While walking around the town’s main strip, we took advantage of most of the fudge shops free samples. There was a fudge shop every third or fourth store and they REALLY wanted us to try their fudge! We also treated ourselves to some ice cream and Randy eventually decided on a slice of praline fudge to-go from Joann’s. I opted for some fresh caramel popcorn. We stayed on the island a lot longer than I thought we would, so we ended up eating dinner there, too, at The Pink Pony. I was slightly concerned that we’d miss the next ferry off the island and have to wait an hour to catch the last one. But they had changed the schedule from the one posted online and we ended up waiting about 30 mins for it. So, while I wouldn’t bother paying the ferry fees very often to go over to the island, it was definitely worth a visit at least once!
We drove about 50 minutes, up near the Canadian border, to learn more about the Soo Locks. We started at the Soo Locks Visitor Center to learn about how they raise and lower the water in the locks, then went out to an observation area and watched a few tour boats go through it. Not very exciting, since it was a slow process, but interesting to see. There was a ranger walking around answering questions and mentioned that before the locks, they would take a boat out of the water and roll it on logs between the river and Lake Superior. Once the boat was on Lake Superior, it would just stay there, never going back to the river; and cargo would be moved from the boat on the river to the one on the lake, sometimes taking multiple days. The locks invention made a lot of people very happy!
The nearby Museum Ship Valley Camp was interesting, too. I was wondering if it would be too similar to the battleships we’d already toured, but it was different enough; with a huge cargo space and smaller living quarters, plus lots of museum exhibits. The Edmund Fitzgerald shipwreck exhibit was especially interesting to me. They had the actual radio communications leading up to the ship sinking. It sounded like the captain expected to make it out alive, even with the damage they had. Then the stormy water just swallowed them all up. 🙁 Randy and I listened to Gordon Lightfoot’s The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald song once we got back in the truck and it had a whole new meaning to me! Oh, and the saying about it being “cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass monkey” now makes sense, too — who knew?!? (See the pic below that explains it, if you too would like to be enlightened.)
We had heard that visiting Tahquamenon Falls State Park was worth the drive, so we drove another hour to get to it. It was definitely pretty. They have recently built a bridge at the Lower Falls, so you can now walk over to the little center island instead of needing to rent a boat. We walked the path on the island and found a nice shallow spot to take our shoes off and wade in the water a bit. The unique looking amber water is not dirty or from the mythical upstream root beer factory, but from the decaying cedar, spruce, and hemlock trees in nearby swamps leaching tannic acid. Then we drove a few more miles to another parking lot to see the impressive, powerful Upper Falls. We had great weather, which made the day enjoyable despite the several hours of driving.
We had been told that we needed to try a Pasty when we visited Michigan (pronounced Pass-tee; not Paste-ee) so we decided to try Lehto’s Pasties, who claims it’s an original recipe from 1947. We got one beef and one chicken and both liked the beef one better. It was pretty good, but not one of my favorite foods. We decided that we’d like to try a different place that perhaps has improved its recipe through the years, haha.
I also did a small redecorating project, adding the sticky tile backsplash in the kitchen and bathroom. I also took down the blinds in the kitchen that were hard to open and close, plus were getting dirty from splattering food on the stove. I decided to put up some privacy film since we weren’t used to opening the shades on that window anyway. I think it turned out great and I like that the kitchen is brighter now! (I forgot to take a before picture of the kitchen, so am just including a stock photo we had, to give an idea of what it looked like.)
Most of the shoreline around the campground was rocky, but Randy drove about 15 minutes to find a spot on some sand dunes to relax one afternoon. (I chose to stay at the RV to do the decorating.) I don’t normally like the distorted panoramic photos, but he took this one to show how secluded his spot was.
So, our introduction to the U P was a positive one. I’m looking forward to exploring more of it at our next location!
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