Lake Superior in the Rearview Mirror

 


on Lake Superior shore



It was a bit sad today as we said goodbye (for now) to Lake Superior as it has been with us for days and clearly defines this whole north shore of the Upper Peninsula  It's hard for us not to think of it as an ocean because of the size and and activity.  As the locals here say: "This is Superior; no salt, no sharks." We drove all the way to the tip today at Copper Harbor through "Sherwood Forest" where all to be seen were dense trees on both sides of the highway. Anyone who loves trees would love to be in this area. We actually reached the beginning of US Highway 41, extending from Copper Harbor to Miami, a trip of 1990 miles.

Then we came back down along the shoreline with the lake right next to the highway in many places. There were roadside parks everywhere and we stopped often. Then headed east across the heartland of the Upper Peninsula. 




at the tip of Michigan

 We were struck by how the scenery was so much like what we experienced in Maine, especially along the coastline.  But there were also some sharp differences.  One we saw over and over was the architecture of the houses in the towns. Here we began to see the strong Scandinavian influence:  houses were narrow and high (for ease of heating) and with the steepest roof lines we have ever seen. Some of the houses were built on hills and, if so, usually the garages were at street level no matter how high the houses were on the hill (for snow plowing we assume).  We assumed we were correct in the Scandinavian influence when we began to see signs like for the town Norway, Michigan or Swedish Settlement School.

We also wondered just how bad the storms and/or snow might be. Came on one roadside park which made that clear for us also:






We were also reminded over and over of the Welsh - English heritage in this part of the US. Besides forestry, one major industry is mining. We passed the location where iron ore had been discovered. We didn't see active mining, but we certainly saw the influence. Our favorite reminder of this heritage: pasty was advertised everywhere! If you are not familiar with this dish, it is very popular in southern Wisconsin (where Marie's parents are from) and we had it often enough that Vic developed a liking.  Unfortunately today is Sunday and the places we saw were closed.  

We are in a different world tonight at Harris, MI. We are staying at a casino hotel as part of a golf stay and play package. This countryside is a bit more agricultural than we have seen. The casino/hotel is huge and packed with people. All license plates here are from Wisconsin or Michigan -- all ages of people though mostly not very young looking. Anyway we may pass up that attraction. There's two golf courses; both appear pretty open and links style. That will be a big change from the last place where we played. It's a great hotel with spa & convention center and all kinds of activities -- like poker, bingo, etc.  We think it will be fun to stay here. We'll play golf two days and stay three nights before heading to yet a different part of Michigan.
















 


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