Travel Junkies

Last weekend we had a meeting at a church in a town called Shingleton, near Munising in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It was a trip to a beautiful part of the state.
*click on any photo to enlarge itWe crossed from the Lower Peninsula to the Upper on the Mackinac Bridge - a five mile suspension bridge spanning the straits of Mackinaw where lakes Michigan and Huron meet.

Our daughter Natali got a few days off work and made the trip with us.

Weather was beautiful, clear and hot as we headed north.

We took time in Saint Ignace to go to the famous old "tourist trap" Mystery Spot.

It's a place where things get out of kilter, and you lean one way while the building and everything in it leans another. Sue and I had been there as kids, but Natali had to experience it.

By late afternoon, we arrived and settled in to our hotel before exploring around Munising.
The next morning, with air temps only in the low sixties, we went out onto Lake Superior to see shipwrecks on a glass bottom boat. On Grand Island, we passed by the old lighthouse, built in 1863 at the east entrance to the bay.

As we got out further into the lake, we passed over huge schooners that sunk in the 1860's. It was so cool! You could see them from the upper deck where we were sitting, but from the lower deck through the glass bottom they were very clear. Below is just one of many shots I took - this the bow of one of a schooner. It was a trip worth taking!

Of course for lunch, afterward, we stopped at Muldoons for the northern delicacy called pasties - meat, vegetables, potatoes and rutabaga, all wrapped together in a dough. Really not too bad!

In the afternoon, we explored around the beaches and waterfalls of the area. Natali got her feet in the waters of Lake Superior at Sand Beach, but went no further with water temp around fifty degrees. (Although behind her some UP-ers didn't seem to mind.)

Later in the day we took the sunset cruise along the Pictured Rocks national shoreline. So while most of the nation was suffering in summer heat, we bundled up because it was windy and in the fifties for that trip!

The waters were choppy, but the rocks beautiful in the sunset.Sunday morning we had a good service with the folks at the church in Shingleton, and of course, being Baptists, there was a delicious potluck lunch together.
We also learned that we, from the lower peninsula, are called "Trolls" by the locals (who are called "Yoopers") because we live beneath the bridge (the Mackinac).

Next, we headed toward Paradise to see Tahquamenon Falls, also known as "Root Beer Falls", colored brown because of the tannins from the cedar swamps which the river drains. Of course, being in the UP, we had to find some black bear. Years ago, my dad used to take us to the dump to see them feeding, but now the dumps are closed, so we went to a bear ranch which takes in abandoned or orphaned bears, and of course, charges to take a picture with a cub.

After seeing bear in the back country, we "trolls" had to head back home beneath the bridge.

But it was a good time!