small treasures, stumbled upon

So there we were last Friday, driving up to Marquette and some other, nearby UP towns, hunting for Russel Wright ware and other interesting collectibles. Conrad, his sister Karen, and I - packed in a car, enjoying the magnificent colours of the UP. No rush, driving along and catching up.

En route, we thought we'd pop into Trenary and find the bakery, perhaps buy some toast there. We did find Trenary. We didn't find the bakery. No worries. We drove on.

By this point, though, we kind of wanted coffee again. Marquette was a little ways off still, so we detoured a little more at the sight of a sign for an organic store and cafe. 6 miles later, we were at Lily's of Traunik.

What a great little place. Good coffee and a good chat with the owner, some fun browsing about the shelves. Some good products there, and cheaper than in Chicago in some cases. We didn't mind the delay. Contained within a heritage building, it's a special place in that part of the UP. We hope it will have a successful future. For coffee, at least, we'll try to drop in on future trips up north.

That wasn't the only delightful place we visited, though Karen was familiar with this other one. Midtown Bakery and Cafe is a cheery place in a small town that has seen better days. If only the entire downtown of Negaunee could be so vivid, colourful, vital, and inviting. I will say that we found some nice collectibles in the town, but I especially liked having a bit of lunch in this cheery place. And ah, the cakes were tempting. We resisted, I am sorry to say.

Conrad's hometown has not done well in recent years. Much history and civic pride work to its advantage, but economic trends have not. The downtown is mostly deserted, life seems to take place in the big box stores. It's a shame because Escanaba is itself a small treasure. Sunday morning I was up before everyone, so I strolled over to a newer coffee shop on Ludington (the main street in town) and took a few photos along the way. In the gentle morning light, everything looks wonderful, even the sore thumb of an apartment complex that constitutes the Escanaba skyline. Or the derelict ship parked just near the city hall and library. Speaking of libraries, Escanaba has an old Carnegie library building, now in private hands awaiting a future as a home for someone. It's great that the building survives even if the public will no longer have its use as their own. Escanaba, though, is a lovely town. It's Americana, or what I think of as Americana. I should take a series of photos of the homes on Lakeshore Drive and the areas nearby. In a different reality, I'd almost crave one and a quiet, small-town lifestyle. Oh, and the autumn colours were beginning to show about the tranquil streets in the neighbourhood. Later, before we left, we had breakfast at the Swedish Pantry (Swedish pancakes with lingonberry - mmm), and the town seemed to have woken up some as well.

Escanaba is not a foodie's paradise. I think most anyone there should admit that, and no shame in it. Conrad and want food done well, fancy is not important. So I'll amend myself. Escanaba is not a place to get fancy food. We can - and did - eat well, though. The Stonehouse is his mother's favourite place, and we've enjoyed meals there on the past couple of trips. You know what? It's pretty good. Oh, yes, I've had things plated better, and I've had more exotic ingredients. Just the same, though, the three fish on my Great Lakes platter (walleye, perch, and especially the whitefish) were prepared very correctly indeed, and I didn't even bother to squeeze on lemon, so tasty was the fresh fish in and of itself. The wine list had a nice NZ Savvy by the glass, further happiness for me. Our food shots turned out poorly, and Karen escaped being photographed, but she and I and Conrad, Conrad's brother-in-law Terry, and his nephew Dan and Dan's girlfriend Jamie all had a fine time together.

I think Conrad and I have got to a point of deeper liking and appreciation for what the UP visits offer. We think we'll next be up that way a couple of months from now, and it's kind of neat thinking of the variety of possible activities we can take part in. Three visits in three months now, and all have left us very glad to have gone.