Stonington

Friday in the UP is behind us.  It's 6:45 in the morning on Saturday as I start to write this, and I'm trying not to listen to the noise of the lobby and coffee shop right around the corner from our suite.  It hasn't woken me up during our stay here, but it's a lot to have to hear early in the morning.  If only this hotel had a doorway to close between the lobby and this wing of rooms.  Oh wait, they do.  Sigh.  I've already written a bad review on TripAdvisor and will argue with Conrad if he considers staying here again.  And yes, I did talk to them about this two days ago when it first happened.  So much for customer feedback, right?

Enough of that, though, Peter (and no, I'm not naming the hotel, but if you ever come up to Conrad's hometown, ask me where NOT to stay, and I will tell you). Let's get back to yesterday.

Two days ago we had grand ambitions of a drive over to St. Ignace and the ferry to Mackinac Island.  By yesterday morning, that had downgraded significantly.  We had breakfast with Karen at a new place in town (generous portions for the most part, but my breakfast burrito was mostly potato instead of egg) (I swear, this post is not just a litany of complaints), then spent time in the room doing some paperwork things that needed to be done.  It was after 1:00 when Conrad and I finally got ourselves going for a drive.  Mackinac Island?  Nope.  The Stonington Peninsula.

Yeah, not very ambitious.  A drive to a lighthouse at Peninsula Point. 

A nice drive, mind you, and the lighthouse was a lovely little setting. 

Everything so green there.  We were able to climb up the stairs inside the lighthouse

and take in the views from there. 

Lovely.  Back in the car, we headed through the tunnel of trees to the paved road, then past fields and occasional houses.  There was something about the green space that invited, and it would have been fantastic to stroll or run through those places.  Alas, aside from most of it being private land, I can only imagine what sort of ticks a person could pick up among those tall grasses and such!

We left the Stonington Peninsula behind us and meandered through the nearby communities, admiring some of the homes and gardens that we rolled past.  We headed on into Escanaba and picked up a few things needed for a night-in in the hotel room.  Once back at the hotel, we headed to the bar for a happy hour drink.  We've been enjoying the Mammoth Gin, a Michigan brand, and for all that we have had issues with the hotel, the bar has had good service and good drinks.  Credit to them for the terrific martinis. 

It's clear from the crowds at the bar when it opens at 4:30 that flood on in that they're keeping folks happy.

We came back to the room and began our grazing for the evening.  Veggies and dip, then a nice assortment of meats and cheeses with almonds and biscuits.  A good wine to go with it. 

Re-watching season one of The Crown on Netflix.  Eventually reading with music.  Little fuss, just us having that easy time together to end our last night in the UP for this trip.  A nice day for a drive, a nice evening, and the promise of being that much closer to being home.

Sunday in the UP

I don't think this will be a long one in terms of narrative, but there will be plenty of photos.  I'm writing it on Sunday night and posting it on Tuesday as I make my way back home to Pasadena.  A Sunday of driving and sightseeing in the Upper Peninsula.  Pure Michigan.  Pure beauty.

A late start to our morning, but at last we were out the door of the hotel and in the car, and before you know it, we were in Munising. 

A small town, barely 2000 people there (if that!).  We stopped into a little coffee and book shop for a modest lunch,

and then poked in a store

and saw one little corner of the town before wandering down to the lakefront. 

We could have booked onto a tour boat

to go see the Pictured Rocks, but no, we opted to just go see what we could by driving into the National Lakeshore instead.  Still, it was a gorgeous day on Lake Superior!

First stop, Miners Castle. 

A cool formation, not overrun with folks, happily.  We got some great shots there. 

The water was stunning.  After that, it was on to Miners Falls,

another easy walk to see, and a beautiful sight.  More of a waterfall than I expected, to be honest.  Impressive.

The last stop was not in the park but west of Munising, near Christmas.  The Bay Furnace, the ruins of an old furnace operation right on the lake shore. 

We stopped to admire it, and I got to go down to the water edge

and touch the lake.

We noticed on our drive and walking just how green everything was. 

And also how there were spring flowers in abundance:  forget-me-nots,

violets,

trilliums. 

So fantastic.

I have an odd relationship with the UP because of a long in-law history that has ranged from fine (right now) to very not fine (18 or so years ago).  Today, though, this part of the world really showed itself off marvelously!

And then we came back to the hotel and had a good meal in the dining room overlooking the water.  Pork shank for me!

a drive to Marquette on Christmas Eve

Ah, it was good to escape for a while.  To leave Escanaba behind, drive out the fog that has the whole town, the whole county, socked in. 

Get away from the boredom of sitting in the hotel while Conrad was going through his mother's personal effects.  It's been a sad, dull, awful week, truthfully, and any change in that was welcome.

We had no family obligations today, nothing to do with his Conrad's mother's things once we had dropped some boxes off at his sister's (and managed to do so before her household was awake).  Conrad and I went to a local diner for breakfast, then to get some groceries to function as our Christmas Eve meal (and likely bites for tomorrow night given that Christmas will be a mid-afternoon family get-together with frozen pizzas), then to Starbucks, then out of town.

I haven't been to Marquette in ages.  I was commenting to Conrad last night how funny it was that after all these visits where we kind of sit around in Escanaba at his family's beck and call, none of them wanting to venture out of town, resulting in me telling him that we should just say to them that we are going on an adventure and that we will see them at dinner, that after all that (run-on sentence, sorry), we do an adventure the week we're here for his mother's funeral.  But thank goodness we did.  Marquette is a cute little college town.  20,000 people on the shore of Lake Superior. 

Where Escanaba has a hollowed out downtown, a ghost of what it was decades ago, Marquette has some life to its downtown.  Yes, it's larger.  Yes, there is a university there.  And yes, they've managed to keep things feeling vital.  It's attractive, too, built on hills

on the lake shore, some handsome old homes and fine churches and excellent older commercial buildings. 

I'd be happy to go back.

We arrived late morning.  The fog lifted about two-thirds of the way to Marquette, though there wasn't sunshine there.  It's not going to be a white Christmas in this part of the Upper Peninsula, alas.  45 degrees, cloudy, damp-feeling today.  We parked at the lakefront and strolled briefly, taking a few photos, then parked downtown and began browsing stores.  Our big target was the good bookstore in town, Snowbound Books,

but we managed to find mementos and some treats in a few others, including a really nice little wine and cheese shop, Everyday Wines, that has provided us with the centerpiece for tonight's evening in at the hotel.  Lunch, meanwhile, was at Donckers, a sandwich that was already the freshest thing I've had in days thanks to the avocado and roasted peppers on it.  So welcome.

Back to the hotel after our poking in stores was done.  About fifty miles from Escanaba, the fog kicked back in, and now we're here in our room, looking out on thick whiteness obscures the lake just below.  I've made a cocktail, I'm writing this and some postcards, and we'll settle in to make the most of this unexpected, unwelcome Christmas.