Travel: Michigan's UP

 

When we started talking about going to Michigan on vacation I knew I wanted to go to Mackinac Island.  I thought I wanted to then go to Isle Royale National Park, which Pinterest had told me was beautiful.  Then I looked up how far that one was from our house and quickly nixed that idea.  We decided to hit the other National Park in the UP, Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  I covered our few days in the Northern Lower Peninsula on Tuesday and now we're talking about the second leg of our trip - Munising and the Pictured Rocks. 

We left Mackinaw City and headed North on I-75 (I did not know until this trip that it was 75 that crosses the Mackinac bridge, I spent COUNTLESS hours driving on 75 to get back and forth to UD nearly 20 years earlier).  I do not like large bridges but it was still a bit cool to cross it.  Our first stop was Castle Rock, not too far past the bridge.  Matt's sister had suggested it while we were at our church beer tent the night before we left (in case you were wondering about our late start...the beer tent the night before may have had something to do with it.  A sister-in-law had suggested the Cross in the Woods which we visited on our way up).  It costs us $1 each (then 15 month old Sam was free) to climb some ramps/stairs to see the view.  It was definitely a cheesy tourist trap type place but it was also only $3 and the views were pretty cool.  

 

Then it was onto Tahquamenon Falls, a location I never learned to spell.  It was about 90 minutes without stops and we needed to stall some time before we could check into our next apartment.  So Tahquamenon Falls it was! (Thanks to my Mom for that suggestion!)  We tried a picnic lunch when we got there but it was VERY buggy.  We still ate and then walked to the lower falls first which were pretty impressive.  We did multiple viewpoints and LOTS of stairs there and then drove to the Upper Falls which had next to none (or none) stairs and were less impressive.  This was the warmest we were our whole time in Michigan.  Matt was even in shorts and I was slightly regretting my jeans.  

We enjoyed our time at Tahquamenon Falls and then had about another 90 minutes to get to Munising, Michigan.  Let me tell you, there isn't much in Munising.  This was difficult lodging to figure out but then we ended up with a wonderful apartment.  It was much more spacious than our cabin in Mackinaw City and it almost felt like we were the first people to ever stay there, it was so clean.  Still only one bedroom but more space to move around and it worked out great.   Highly recomend if you are ever in Munising.

We walked down to the lakeshore that first night and visited a Farmers Market (Matt, predictably, bought bread) and I think hit up a gas station for some milk (I feel like we tried a grocery store but they didn't have skim or were out of milk...it took awhile to find milk).  Anyways, not much to do in Munising.

Our first full day in Munising was very overcast, rainy, and cold.  We spent a good portion of the day, until mid-afternoon, holed up in our little apartment which was, honestly, delightful.  Sam took a good nap in the pack-n-play in our bedroom while Matt, Luke, and I read and maybe watched something?  I had Luke drawing pictures for me every day on our trip and it was just wonderful and relaxing.

 

 

Once Sam woke up and the rain had stopped we ventured out to the Painted Rocks National Lakeshore.  We hiked to a waterfall near the Munising Visitors' Center and tried to drive to see more of the lakeshore but it was SO FOGGY and COLD that we didn't get much of out getting out the car and looking around.  So we headed back.

The next morning, our last full day in Munising, we woke up to GORGEOUS clear blue skies, slightly warmer temps, and no rain in the forecast.  We had to see A LOT of the Pictured Rocks this day!  We headed out and started driving, stopping where there were scenic overlooks or places to park.  It was a gorgeous, but slightly chilly, day. 

 You all, Michigan and the Great Lakes are SO PRETTY but we've never had a warm trip there.  That's a major problem with them.  You have to be prepared for the cold!

We drove through the morning and early afternoon but then headed back to Munising because we had tickets for a boat tour around 5pm.  We decided to pack supper to eat on the boat even though, it turns out, the water was so rough that we didn't feel like eating on slightly upset stomachs (nobody got sick...just didn't feel the need to add to our stomach contents). 

 

Our guides were entertaining and informative and we saw SO MANY THINGS we had no idea we had been driving near-ish all day.  It was truly spectacular if, also, a little chilly (Sam and I stayed inside almost the whole ride, Matt & Luke ventured to the top, open, deck a few times.)   I HIGHLY recommend the boat tour if you are visiting Pictured Rocks.  There are so many things you can only see from the water.  (And, in fact, strongly recommended it, successfully, to my parents when they visited this summer.  They agree with us that it's a must for visiting.)

We ate our packed supper back at the apartment and headed home in the morning, a nice 8 hour drive away!  (Still seems like a piece of cake after some of our drives this past summer!).  

Our Michigan trip was lovely, chilly, beautiful, and relaxing.  We saw many new places and got some downtime that we just can't seem to give ourselves at home.  It was a great time!