We started out the day watching bluejays and black squirrels from the window of our surprisingly picturesque Super 8 backyard. Then we got in the car and drove. And drove. And drove...over 560 miles.
It turns out that the UP is basically closed for business between October 1 and May 1. The ferry to Macinaw Island was more or less not operational, so we skipped it, but we did take a look around the town, enjoyed the scenic lakeshore, and bought some fudge. The bridge itself was an amazing sight and there were a number of spots on the drive with a great view of lakes Superior and Michigan.
I got some smoked whitefish, which is like an ice cream cone made out of smoked fish. Mmmm. I got a pastie too, not nearly as delicious though. Given that it's coal miner food I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
The highlight was probably Kitch-iti-kipi, a little lake spring outside of Manistique, MI. (Manistique and the surrounding towns are great, by the way, because there is pretty much one road that all businesses are on. No GPS for us! We saw a billboard for Gram's Pasties where it directed drivers to head to "the second stoplight in Gladstone".) Anyway, Kitch-iti-kipi is an absurdly clear, astoundingly green lake that's fed by an underground spring. You can take a little boat that's on a rope line out to right over the spring and watch the sand from the bottom spew up like some kind of dysfunctional volcano.
From the UP we drove into Wisconsin (where Alex attempted to convince me that if I mooed hard enough I could get a 3G signal) and so naturally we had to go to Green Bay and get some cheese curds. From there, a long drive to Chippewa Falls and our hotel room. Tomorrow: Minneapolis!
Below: The front of our car after driving through Michigan (yes, those are bugs, not dirt)
Surely this is written by the female Alex...or my cousin is no longer a vegetarian (fishie carcass!)
ReplyDeleteYummy bugs! I once went on a band trip from LA to Reno, and one kid forgot to bring money. He said he'd lick a foot-long strip of bugs off the front of the bus, chew them, and swallow them, if we'd each give him $20. And of course, being high school kids, we had to see him do it! The band director was furious because he thought we were hazing him. :-)
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