Camping in Michigan's Upper Peninsula/Mackinac Island

Last August, we set out for a camping weekend in Michigan's Upper Peninsula with our friends the Hoopers (congratulations Tyler and Andrea - you made the blog again). We saw three of the five Great Lakes on the trip - Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as we crossed the Mackinac (pronounced Macki-naw) Bridge here:

We camped right on Lake Superior:

As a side note, we saw Lake Ontario on our trip to Niagara Falls. We got within a few miles of Lake Erie on a trip to Ohio, but we never actually saw it. Maybe we'll put that on the Bucket List.

Now, back the UP (Upper Peninsula) trip. A common food there is a pastie (rhymes with hasty). We heard good reviews, but were not impressed. I (Bruce) think it was like a dry pot pie with some odd spices. They apparently became common in the region when many Cornish people came over and took lumberjack jobs. For someone who just needs food to provide fuel to the body for a long work day, this was a great dish. For someone looking for good food, this is not a great dish.

Unfortunately, our trip was cut short. We went sight seeing for a day, but were hampered by wind and rain. We did see a waterfall during a short hike:

The wind was forecast to continue at 20mph through the night and into the next day. We decided to pack up our camp, which had already been rearranged by the wind. We spent the night in hotel and the next day at Mackinac Island.

While waiting for the boat, Hayden Hooper had a great time scaring birds away from the dock! He had so much fun that he has even mentioned the incident 7 months after it happened.

The weather on the island was beautiful! There are no cars allowed, so we rented bikes and rode around, starting here in the most commercialized part of the island...

continued on...

and on to more remote parts of the island.

We biked around the entire 8 mile perimeter, then got some ice cream before leaving. Most of us put it in our mouths, but Hayden wanted to save some for later.

In case you are wondering what the island was used for in the past, the Army stationed a few hundred troops there. You may be tempted to think that the Canadians were a big threat, but it was really the Indians (Native Americans) that were the concern. For many years, Mackinac Island was also the place for wealthy midwesterners to vacation. It is now accessible to all income levels.

Going back even further, the island had a Catholic missionary presence. Father Marquette established this chapel (yes, it was a chapel) in the 1600s.