Nick a I took a summer trip north to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, first time for each of us that far north. We planned these four days almost six months ago, and it was quite the logistics to get five households in the same place at once.
We left mid-afternoon on Tuesday and stopped in Higgins Lake to see Duncan for a couple of hours, which Nick was very patient while I gossiped with my former boss. He napped in the car while I sat along the beach with a beer and Jasper, seeing the sun drop over the lake's west beaches. Duncan's grandfather built the cottage on the north side, east shore in 1926, and it's really something. He encouraged us to stop at Gobblers on the way to the UP for a turkey sandwich but the sign on the door said 'closed - out of gravy' so we rolled into Big Buck Brewery in Gaylord, which worked out fine (see large bottle of beer in the photo.)
Having checked into St. Ignace on Tuesday night, we awoke Wednesday morning to our own adventure, as the other boys wanted to parasail and we weren't ready for that just yet. Nick wanted to visit Sault Ste Marie, so we booked a locks tour and visited the Museum Ship along the shore before and after, which is inside of a retired tanker ship. Very cool all around. Lunch was spectacular battered perch at the Lockview Diner, which was the best meal of the trip. By evening we caught up to the rest of the family for dinner at Dawson's, a little show at the Lumberjack event, and finally ice cream in downtown Mackinaw in the evening. A little holler of 'Timber!' was enough to make conversation with the group of teenage girls nearby, my effort to help the three teenage boys in my circle network a little. Mason got a phone number, Noah smiled and declined, and Nick disappeared to stock up on more candy from the store nearby. Nick and I wrapped up with a nightcap at Keystone Bar, and nearly bought an $1,800 sheep made of car parts, until the price was obvious.
Thursday was a travel day to Newberry for our second hotel. When we pulled in, Nick accurately described the hotel as 'Bates Motel or Schitt's Creek' but either way, we weren't staying. We'd lost Earl and Sue along the way when Carrie called an audible and redirected us from the Falls to the hotel. They all backtracked, but Nick and went forward, finding a much nicer hotel in Munising, and Pictured Rocks Pizza. I sat along the bay in the evening watching the ducks and relaxing, far from the circus back in Newberry. And because we love to eat, we tried Eh, Burger along the bay in Munising, which was busy as the only late place in town to eat. There was also an uneventful hour cruise around the Seney National Wildlife Park squeezed in there, but we saw nothing, maybe a dozen different species of housefly if you count those.
Friday was the main event, we took a five-mile kayak tour of Pictured Rocks, which was amazing. We had perfect weather, the tour was well organized, we stayed dry thanks to some aprons I'd never seen used before, and the views were breathtaking. Robin brought us snacks, and there's no shortage of pics and videos to capture the scenery. Half the gang joined us, the other half watched us from a boat tour at a distance. Following lunch at the DogPatch in Munising, we needed to entertain Carrie's 8-year-old twins for a few hours, which was why I booked a hotel with a pool and waterslide, which easily passed 4+ hours for us. We went back into town for an evening drink and pizza.
Saturday was the ride home, we brought Jessica along with us since we passed DTW along the way.
