Spending some time in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We have wanted to come up here for some time, but with their winters so cold, the peninsula doesn't really warm up too quickly; middle of July was perfect.
The UP is surrounded by Lake Superior to the North, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron to the South and East, and Wisconsin to the West. First Europeans greeting the natives were Frenchman looking for a shortcut to the Far East. Eventually, the French gave up rights to the UP after the French Indian War, then to the US in 1783. It wasn't always part of Michigan. It was awarded to Michigan when Michigan agreed to give up their rights to the "Toledo Strip" to Ohio in 1836. At the time, Ohio appeared to have the better deal. However, when copper and iron ore mines were discovered on the UP, things changed. The mines eventually produced more wealth than the gold rush in California. The mines are closed now, but the area still produces timber logging and borders the freight traffic that navigates on the Great Lakes.
We stayed in the little town of St. Ignace (SE tip of the peninsula); must say the area is not very crowded for peak of the summer. We did discover that Winter can be busy; they had ice 4 foot thick Lake Huron this past winter. This was perfect for their famous Pond Hockey Tournament (215 teams), one of the largest in the country.
One exception to the rather modest number of tourists was the delightful Mackinac Island; reachable by ferry (no autos allowed). The island has a colorful history, including Ft.Macinac, built by the British, taken over by America in 1783, then back to the British during the first battle of the War of 1812, then back to America in a later treaty. The fort has been fully renovated, sits up on commanding hill, the preservation society gives many tours and soldier demonstrations in period costumes, great fun. The place was packed with people, horse/carriages, bicycles and some nice places to eat; we had a great time.
View of the town on the way up the ramp to the Fort.
Street scene next to the water; lots of people, beautiful day
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Picture of the famous Ft. Mackinac.; nice hike up there
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