Michigan is where my wife hails from, more specifically from the Upper Peninsula area of Michigan. Who thought it was a good idea to take a chunk of land away from Wisconsin, separated by lakes and a five-mile bridge, and hand it to the hand (of Michigan). Well it's a riveting tale of sloppy surveying, the infamous Mitchell map, the Toledo Strip which sparked the Toledo War except nobody ever fought, and a final quid pro quo between Michigan and Ohio so that Michigan could be admitted to the Union as a state. Reading about that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Meeting for the first time
What it looked like in the winter
I met my future-wife in college while we were in Minneapolis. I took her to her family home in Upper Michigan after the school year was over and I was greeted by the first photo. Beautiful weather, lots of trees, nice family. But after we got married we tended to use holiday events like Thanksgiving and Christmas to visit her family. At those times of year it looked like the second photo. It sometimes snowed several inches every day and we'd have to get out the snowblower and clear out the driveway and the sidewalks. Thankfully we also made some trips there during better weather.
A look out towards Lake Superior
One of the Jilly Cows
Marquette Harbor Island Lighthouse
There wasn't a long list of things to do there but we always took a trip to Marquette to see the Lighthouse and walk out on the rocks to the marker. We also had to stop at Jilbert's Dairy for Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream as it was the favorite of nearly all of us. We would also go see the animals at the Presque Isle Park Zoo until that was closed down, but it was still worth the time to take the drive around that point. For dining there was The Villa Capri which was a staple in the area, as well as Ralph's Italian Deli in Ishpeming for cudighi to bring home and make sandwiches. It is their version of spicy Italian sausage patties, found in the Upper Peninsula. The other local food is the pasty which is a meat and veggie hand-held pie that miners would take to work for lunch. I have eaten all of the above and once held the record for eating the most pasties in one sitting.
The family Christmas tree
Christmas was the special time for my wife and it didn't feel like Christmas to her if there wasn't any snow, so we did go up there a lot in the winter. There was always more than enough snow to go around. The time was made even better as other family members also came and we had visit from other friends and family in town. So did we ever go to Lower Michigan? Yep, had a number of adventures there, plus went to Mackinac Island.
Went to Joe Ricci Dodge to get my wife's 2006 Charger because she had to have a red one
Celebrated another anniversary at St. Joseph on Lake Michigan, too cold to swim
Took a ferry to Mackinac Island and spent the day looking around
As I close this chapter down I will also mention that I have driven the Mackinac Bridge, the five-mile long suspension bridge that connect the Upper Peninsula of Michigan with the Lower Peninsula. The bridge is off-limits to pedestrians every day of the year except for one, and that one day is Labor Day. On that one day the bridge is closed to vehicles as well as ships below. The Governor of the State normally leads that walk. Put in on your calendar and give it a go.
Until next time,
Arktander
(aka David Andreasen)
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