Our trip to Michigan's Upper Peninsula was a last minute addition we added to our trip to the Indianapolis MotoGP and the Indy Mile races when our friend Marshall Martin (Rotax National Race Director) invited us to come by and check out the Rotax Max Challenge being held at Shawno Wisconsin at the USA Raceway which ran the same week as the MotoGP.
So what we did was to revise our driving plans to make a complete loop by heading north across the mighty Mackinaw Bridge to our first stop in St Ignace. We found a nice hotel right on the water and had dinner on the waterfront at the Mackinac Grille. Afterwards we stopped by the famous Murdicks Fudge store for a sweet treat.,
In the morning we headed off to Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. This is the area where the Edmund Fitzgerald sank. In fact this area is a sunken ship grave yard. AFter spending some time on the coast we headed to the upper and lower Tahquamenon Falls. We did a bit of hiking around the falls and then headed west to Munising to check out the Pictured Rocks and a multitude of water falls. We did a little more hiking. Throughout the journey the weather was ever changing from hot to cold, with some rain thrown in. It is however a beautiful area and we shot a lot of pictures along the way. One of the coolest waterfalls along the way were the Wagner Falls which are a short drive out of Munising and the a short 1/4 mile hike to off of the road.
We then headed from the Lake Superior area (north) back down south to the lake Michigan coast to the historic town Fayette an old industrial town that no longer exists other than the restored buildings and charcoal manufacturing furnaces. It is located on an inlet with bluffs and cliffs and a sweet view of the lake.
We then headed down to Escanoba. The film Escanaba in da Moonlight with Michigan's Jeff Daniel's was based on this town. We had an excellent breakfast a the Swedish Panty where they make the most amazingly tasty French Toast we have ever had.
Our next stop was to the west . Along the journey to Shawno we made a couple of stops. First was to check out Taliesin which was famed architect Frank Lloyd Wrights home. I love this mans work!
A stones throw from Taliesin is the famous House on the Rock.
Our next stop was Shawno and the Rotax Max Challenge. The pinnacle race series for karting in the United States. From there we would head down to Indianapolis for the MotoGP races.
All in all it was another great adventure for Karoline and I. ! We managed to get quite a bit of climbing and hiking in as well as a multitude of cool photos. We hope you enjoy our photography.
There are a few links to sites related to the area on the sidebar.
Cheers,
Jim
