In September 2005, Felicia, Kendra and I flew north to see the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We flew into and out of Green Bay, Wisconsin and stayed at a central point in the eastern UP. Felicia had found some wonderful cabins near Hulbert that were centrally located in the areas we wanted to go and see.
We saw a lot of lighthouses, shipwrecks, trees, and miles of coast. We saw Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, and Lake Huron. Superior had the coldest water – Kendra tried them all out. The Great Lakes are so large we often thought we were near the ocean. Hulbert is located between Whitefish Point, Sault Ste. Marie, Mackinac Island and Munising.
We spent over a week there and drove about 1000 miles and were only able to see the eastern half of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. We will have to go back another time to see the rest, but the parts we saw were very nice and we had a wonderful time.
Click on any photo to see a larger view
Kendra and Felicia beside Lake Michigan on the first day of our vacation. We were surprised at how big and cold the lake was when we stopped to get our feet wet.
After flying into Green Bay, we drove north to Escanaba and spent the night in a bed and breakfast. Next day we drove north again to Munising and took the Glass Bottom Shipwreck Tour. We saw four large shipwrecks that were very close to the surface, all were wooden hulled ships. The cold water of Lake Superior helped to preserve the wood.
Our first excursion was to visit Mackinac Island on Lake Huron. We drove down to St. Ignace and across the long Mackinac Bridge across the Straits of Mackinac to Mackinac City. We took Shepler’s Ferry to Mackinac Island where no cars are allowed. The island has been a tourist resort for the wealthy for many years, before that it was a fort that controlled the passageway between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
We walked all over the island, toured the fort and took a carriage ride around the island when we got tired of hiking. When we go back again, Kendra had better know how to ride a bike as that seems to be the best way to get around the island
Fort Mackinac was founded by the British in 1780 and is now a National Park. It also has one of the best views from the island.
