St. Ignace (Mackinac) to Munising

We got an early start and made an easy drive of about 75 miles to Paradise, Michigan to visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. 

On November 9, 1975 the Edmund Fitzgerald ship and her entire crew of 29 men and its cargo of 26,000 tons was lost in a horrible storm. Waves as high as 30 to 35 feet completely devastated the huge ship.  When it was first used in 1958 it was the largest ship to travel on the Great Lakes and it remains the largest ship to ever sink in any of the Great Lakes.  The Shipwreck Museum is a tribute to not only the Edmund Fitzgerald but to the hundreds of other ships and crews that have been lost.  The museum has several buildings including the home of the lighthouse keeper and the museum that has relics, photos, and stories about many of the ships lost throughout history.

From the Shipwreck Museum it was only about 25 miles to Tahquamenon Fallls.  The Upper Falls are among the largest falls east of the Mississippi, measuring 200 feet across with a drop of 50 feet.  The waterfall is a brown color due to tannins in the water and often goes by the nickname of "Rootbeer Falls."  The park has recently installed a 1/3 mile walkway down to a viewing platform.  For the more energetic folks among us you can go down 116 steps to the base of the falls.  We took the ramp.

Only about 5 miles down the road from the Tahquamenon Falls there's the MI Dog Sled Training Center.  We pulled in and got all the information and saw a couple of dogs but the timing of the tour and the driving distance to Picture Rocks National Lakeshore would have made it impossible to be on time for a cruise we had scheduled so we chose to move on.

We drove to Munising and tried to get a space at the Tourist Park Campground.   They operate on a first come, first served basis and the clerk said even though they had space he couldn't guarantee that someone else wouldn't take our space while we were on the cruise unless we left some chairs or things behind to hold our space.  Aside from the fact that we are generally pretty trusting souls that didn't seem like a wise idea so we passed and made reservations at the KOA on the other side of town.

We had to check in no later than 4:45 for our cruise and by the time we drove to the cruise terminal and found a place to park we were right on time.  We started out thinking that sitting on the top deck would be a good idea because we could see better. That plan lasted about 5 minutes because it was windy and cold up there.  We moved inside and went out on the back deck as needed to take pictures of the points of interest pointed out by the boat's captain/narrator. 

As soon as we got off the cruise we headed to Cap'n Ron's Fish and Chips food truck based on the  recommendation of  a YouTube channel that we follow.  We got a couple orders of the white fish dinner and an order of the smoked fish dip. 

Only a block away was Muldoon's Pasties. Pasties are meat and potato filled hand pies and everyone raves about them.  The word is that you simply must get some pasties when you're in Michigan, so we did.

As soon as we got our dinner orders we drove to the Munising/Pictured Rocks KOA, checked in for the night and sat down to eat.

We both enjoyed the fish and chips and the smoked fish dip is great.  The fish is not like you normally think of in a fish 'n chips order in that it is not heavily breaded and deep fried but it is really good.

After the fish and chips we were pretty full so we split one of the meat pasties we had purchased. Apparently we have no taste because although everyone seems to think pasties are just the greatest thing ever, neither Bill nor I really cared for it.  

So it was a very busy day. We saw and did a lot and we are tired!  Goodnight.

Mackinac Island

We went to bed with rain, it rained all night and we woke up to a light rain this morning.   We waited around a little while until about 9:00 AM and the rain had slowed to a light shower.

We walked up to the campground office to get the free shuttle to the ferry docks and while we were there I bought a small umbrella, just in case the rain continued. Fortunately,  we had very limited rain on the island and I only had to use my new umbrella very briefly a couple of times.

The shuttle arrived promptly and dropped us off at the dock.  We sat and visited with another couple until it was time for the 10:00 AM ferry to the island.

Once we were on the island we walked down the street until we got to the Pink Pony.  It is an iconic restaurant that started as a small cafe in 1902 and moved to the waterfront as "The Pink Pony" in 1948.  It is a very popular restaurant and has been voted as one of the Top Ten best restaurants for outdoor dining in the United States.   It was a little before their opening time but we we able to put our name on the list to be seated as soon they opened.  Of course,  we ordered their signature drink a Rum Runner.  At the waiters suggestion we both ordered the prime rib dip sandwich and they were delicious. 

After lunch, we made our way down the street past the countless fudge shops and bought our tickets for a narrated carriage ride around the island.  

One of the stops on our carriage tour was at Arch Rock.  It is a beautiful formation and looking through the arch you have a good view of Lake Huron.

At the end of our tour we were dropped off at the Grand Hotel.  I had heard how beautiful it is and had read recommendations to sit on their beautiful covered patio and have a drink.  However,  we discovered it costs $14 per person just to walk through the door to see anything and even to have the privilege of spending money to buy a drink.  That was BIG NO for us!  

From the hotel we walked back to town to buy some fudge before returning to camp.  I did a Google search for which store had the best fudge.  It came down to Murdick's who has been a fixture on the island since 1887 and JoAnn's who is rated better.  The deciding factor for us came down to the fact that Murdick's is a little stingy with their samples and only offered one flavor for tasting.  Joann's on the other hand let you sample as many flavors as you like and offered good sized samples.  We bought four pieces of fudge from Joan's.

We took the ferry back to St. Ignace and our campground.  Other than looking for Bill's lost glasses we spent a quiet evening at home.  We heated up some soup and made tacos with the leftovers from a few days ago, and spent the rest of the night reading and catching up on this travel blog.

Tomorrow we head up to explore the U.P. or Upper Peninsula of Michigan. 

Sleeping Bear Dunes to Mackinac

We drove a short distance from the campground to the entrance of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  Once inside the park you come to the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. It is a 7.4 mile scenic drive with 12 stops to see various sites.  It is a very beautiful area.

The name of the park is derived from an old Indian story that a mother bear and her two cubs were trying to cross Lake Michigan from Wisconsin to escape a raging forest fire.  As they swam the cubs cried out from exhaustion. The mother bear urged them on.  Seeing the white sand dunes across the lake the mother bear continued until she got to the shore.  From the shore she saw her little cubs sink beneath the water and drown.  The North and South Manitou Islands are supposed to be the remains of the cubs.  A large sand dune is where the mother bear laid down watching the water and grieving the loss of her cubs.

After leaving Sleeping Bear Dunes we traveled east to Traverse City to find the Moomers Ice Cream Shop.  They are nationally recognized and named the best ice cream in America by Good Morning America and USA Today.  I had one of their best selling flavors "Cherries Moobilee" and Bill had a butterscotch sundae.  I can't say for sure if it's the Best Ice Cream in America but it was really good.

After our ice cream treat we continued northward skirting the edge of Lake Michigan to the little town of Charlevoix.  One of the most intriguing things we saw was a neighborhood of "Mushroom Houses."  We saw two or three of them and didn't learn until later that there are actually over two dozen of these unique homes in Charlevoix.

The next destination on our whirlwind trip through Michigan was the Tunnel of Trees.  It is beautiful  and adding to the sights was a group of at least ten old Model T cars making the trip in the opposite direction.  However, whether it was misdirected GPS directions, a missed turn on our part, or road construction and detours it turned out to be a long drive on a very narrow road that really tested Bill's nerves and patience. He has never been so relieved to get off of a road.

When we finally got back on track we headed for the Mackinac Bridge and onto the Upper Peninsula. 

We found a space at the St. Ignace/Mackinac KOA and drove there immediately after crossing the bridge.  I got us registered and purchased our ferry tickets for the ride to Mackinac Island in the morning.   

We were directed to our space and no sooner got parked and set up before it started raining.  It has continued to rain, quite heavy at times, all evening. 

Tomorrow we will catch the free shuttle to the dock and take the ferry to the island for the day.