Loyal readers of this blog may have noticed it’s been a while since our last post. We’ve been dealing with some medical issues that have forced us to suspend our travels for a bit. It’s nothing life-threatening but something we need to deal with before we can resume our roadtrip again. In the meantime, we’ll catch up on the last few stops we’ve made.
From the Wisconsin Dells, we drove north into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to experience the Yooper lifestyle. As we arrived in Munising for a few days to explore the Pictured Rocks National Seashore, the forecast for the coming days called for rain. We had plans to take a cruise to see the rocks from the water, but weren’t sure how well that would work when the weather turned wet.
Fortunately, there was a cruise leaving at 3 p.m. on the day we arrived, so we ate a quick lunch and drove to the dock. There were still a few tickets remaining and we hopped on the boat and take advantage of the last window of good weather.
The Pictured Rocks are a series of sandstone rock cliffs along the southern shore of Lake Superior. As ground water oozes through the porous rocks, it deposits minerals in long vertical streaks of various color, looking very much like someone has painted the rocks with a paintbrush.
The best vantage point to see the painted cliffs is from a boat. Late afternoon and early morning brings out the colors to their fullest. The red and orange streaks are from iron, blue and green from copper, and brown and black from manganese. The white streaks, our captain told us, are from sea birds.
At one point, the captain pulled our boat into a narrow cove, just wide enough for the boat to fit inside, and provided with a nearly 360 degree, up-close view of the rock cliffs.
The highlight of the boat tour is Chapel Rock, the unofficial symbol of the Pictured Rocks seashore. Chapel Rock was carved by the waters of the lake some 3,800 years ago into a beautiful sculpture. A solitary white pine stands on top with no soil to support it. The tree survives only because its roots stretch across an open gap to the mainland, a stoic testament to strength and perseverance. The roots once ran along an archway that has now collapsed.
Chapel Rock is so iconic that when the U.S. Mint created its America the Beautiful series of coins in 2018, Michigan’s quarter featured the landmark.
The next day was rainy as promised, and we spent most of the day reading inside our trailer. I popped out to pick up some lunch, trying the classic staple of UP cuisine, the pasty.
Not to be confused with the nipple coverings required in strip clubs by some states, the pasty (rhymes with nasty, not with tasty) is a hand-held meat pie. It is, however, much more tasty than nasty.
Cornish miners made the dish popular as they could easily carry it into the mines for a 12-hour work shift. Different ethnic groups adopted the pasty and created their own favorite versions.
I got my pasty from Muldoon’s, which apparently had won some sort of contest for the best pasty in the UP. It’s a pretty simple dish, mainly ground beef seasoned with just salt and pepper, with some vegetables thrown in for good measure. It really calls out for some sort of sauce. I had turned down the restaurant’s offer of gravy and just went with ketchup. My pasty had a sort of burger-ish taste to it, but I found it rather bland.
I later learned the UP is divided along gravy versus ketchup lines. I suppose it’s like ketchup or mustard on a hot dog, or having your Philly Cheesesteak with peppers versus onions.
With all due respect to all the Yoopers, I’m not sure I’m clamoring for another pasty anytime soon.
The following day, the weather cleared enough for us to visit the Pictured Rocks visitors center, and take a short hike to a scenic waterfall. We drove a little further to see the Miner’s Castle — a rock formation we had seen from the water — from the shore.
On our way out of the UP, we stopped by Tahquamenon Falls, a large crescent-shaped waterfall known for its ruddy, tannin-stained water. It’s colloquially known as the root beer falls. We stopped in for lunch at the Tahquamenon Falls Brewery, located within the state park named for the falls. The beer was okay, and the food was passable.
We had plans for a quick trip to Mackinac Island before reaching the mitten part of Michigan, but health issues derailed those plans. Just another thing to add to our future road trip to-do list.
Days: 207
Miles Travelled: 24,996
Next Stop: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
