Say Cheese and Let's Go UP: Wisconsin + Michigan

    

     Surprisingly, it has already been a month since we left our home base of Abbeville, Louisiana. We’ve already hit our goal of exploring six states we’d never visited together as a couple—Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan—and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed every one of them, especially the ones that have provided us with much cooler temps!

    Let's Talk About the Badger State

    When planning a trip this long, you quickly realize you can't see it all—and we knew we’d have to pass on quite a few popular sights along the way.  If there’s one place we wish we had budgeted more time for, it’s definitely Wisconsin.

    Finding an affordable and available place in the area we wanted to stay was a little challenging; amazingly, we found availability at a mom-and-pop-owned campground next to Iron Lake, located in the small community of Iron River, Wisconsin.

    Our site was very close to the lake, where we spent our two nights relaxing outside in the cooler weather, making campfires and soaking in the quiet serenity of this wonderful location.

Ah, the wonderful smell of a campfire, a
wonderful view of the lake, and
no mosquitoes!

Iron Lake at Top O' The Morning Campground

    With only one full day to explore, we got an early start and drove over to Amnicon Falls State Park. So many people had recommended it that we just had to check it out. It’s known for having seven waterfalls—though only two were actually falling while we were there, and the other five were totally MIA!

Found a selfie station.

    From Amnicon, we detoured from the main road and took a 90-mile Lake Superior Circle tour route to Ashland, WI. This scenic road led us to several areas where we could park and have fantastic views of the largest of the Great Lakes. Our hearts were thrilled to see the massive lake with its crystal-clear water.

Hunger led us to a wonderful surprise!

    The coastal route led us through a few very small towns, one of which David was able to get a $1.00 cup of coffee; however, none of the towns had much to offer in terms of a restaurant.  We kept seeing a sign for Bayfield, so we decided we would hold on a little longer and look for a place to eat there.  

    Boy, did we get an amazing surprise!  The quaint coastal town was packed with tourists exploring downtown, framed by incredible views of the Apostle Islands.  After circling the area trying to find a place to park, we were so thankful for our compact car—it fit right into a tight parallel spot on a nearby side street. 

    We walked over to Hoops Fish & Chips, an outdoor restaurant located right on Lake Superior.  We ate fresh Superior whitefish for the first time, and you talk about delicious!  We loved the food, the ambiance, and the perfect setting for dining. We highly recommend Hoops to anyone traveling in that area.

One of the Apostle Islands and a
little birdie looking for a handout!

 

Fresh-caught Superior whitefish

What a view!

    Our one-day exploration of the Superior Circle tour ended in Ashland, a historic port city located on the south shore of Lake Superior's Chequamegon Bay. We totally forgot Ashland is famous for being the "Historic Mural Capital of Wisconsin," so we only caught a glimpse of a few murals painted on the buildings along the coastal road as we made our way to Walmart to pick up a few groceries.

A building painted onto a building.

     After returning to our RV, we realized we had missed a lot of the town’s famous murals. Although we drove back through Ashland on our way to Michigan, the RV made sightseeing tough—so we had to settle for viewing them in the brochure instead!

    Michigan's UP - Upper Peninsula

    We saved Michigan for last because it was the state we were most excited to explore—especially the Upper Peninsula! Visiting right in the middle of peak summer made finding a centrally located RV park a bit of a challenge.  

    Our RV Life app helped us find Charley's RV Resort in Little Lake—a hidden gem of a campground that hasn't hit everyone's radar yet. Located about 20 miles from Marquette and 50 miles from Munising, it offered affordable rates, fantastic amenities, a charming General Store, beach volleyball, cabins, large private showers, and even a well-kept ball field right on site.

O Christmas trees...
and a beach volleyball court!

Marquette

    Since we didn't know much about Marquette before arriving, we stopped at the visitor center to gather local tips, a map, and plenty of brochures. 

    The very nice elderly gentleman working at the center kindly mapped out the area for us, highlighting all the must-see places.  Though he talked slower than a sloth moves, we were super thankful for all his great recommendations. Taking the time to chat was 100% worth it! 

    We won't overload you with every single detail of our visits to Marquette, but every stop was amazing—so we'll just let the pictures do the talking!

Inside the wooden Superior Dome.

 

The Superior Dome, the world's largest
wooden dome. Located on the
Northern Michigan University campus.

A view from a cliff at the top of
Presque Isle Park.
You can drive on a one-way
loop and then pull off and walk
a short distance to the cliffs that
overlook Lake Superior.

Another stunning view.

A working iron ore dock & Superior Dome
in the background. We watched a
freighter ship dock to load some iron ore. 
Our tourist center friend gave us a
couple of iron ore pellets;
samples of what the ship
loads from the dock.

    As we left Presque Isle Park, we pulled into a beachside parking lot with a shore made entirely of beautiful, smooth stones instead of sand. After torturing ourselves trying to wade barefoot in the water, we looked for a few good-sized rocks and built a small cairn right by the water's edge—one rock to represent each of our twelve grandchildren and our sweet great-grandchild!

Can I have one Lake Superior on the rocks, please?

Painfully standing in the
crystal-clear water!

Our tribe of grands!

I spy a cairn on the rocky cliff!

How About a 75-Million Dollar Yacht?

    Remember our slow-talking friend at the visitor center?  He tipped us off about a $75 million superyacht docked in downtown Marquette.  We were not really interested in viewing it; however, after grabbing lunch and walking around town, we stumbled right onto it and found an empty park bench along the walkway for a front-row seat to watch the crew prepare it for departure.  

Yacht to be kidding me!

    A quick Google search informed us that the 207-foot vessel is called the Satori and is owned by an American corporate turnaround specialist, billionaire, and philanthropist, Jay Alix. 

The preppy, British-accented deckhands
wouldn't disclose their destination to the
gawking onlookers who were
brave enough to inquire.

Our Greatest Feat This Whole Trip

    To get the best view of Marquette, we headed up the highly recommended Sugarloaf Mountain. Reaching the summit meant taking the "easy" route, which involved rough, rocky paths and several staircases totaling 304 steps—a real workout for the Aging Cajuns, but well worth the climb!

 

So glad we made the climb!

Just a portion of our view.

Munising 
The Main Gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

    Although it was about an hour’s drive from where we were staying, the trip there took us down some very scenic back roads.

    So many fellow travelers told us that the Pictured Rocks boat tour is a total must-do in the UP, so we couldn’t pass it up! We booked a 3:00 pm ride and arrived in town early to wander around first.

    Touring the Pictured Rocks museum, browsing local shops, popping by a few yard sales we discovered around town, and having lunch at a quaint pizza place filled our time perfectly before boat tour check-in.

One of the town's murals.

Where we ate lunch...outside!
We were blown away by all 
the beautiful flowers up north.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

    Pictured Rocks is a stunning 42-mile stretch of protected coast along Lake Superior.  It was worth every cent to take the boat tour.  Again, we will let our photos do the talking!

A view of one of the boat tours that was
about to depart.  Same boat we went on
later in the afternoon.

An old lighthouse on Munising's
Grand Island.

Our Current Whereabouts

   Our time in Little Lake wraps up on Tuesday, August 18th! Next stop: a four-night stay near Lake Huron where we will be in a better location to see the eastern side of the UP. There are a few key spots we want to explore over there (Sault St. Marie, Mackinac Island, and places along Lake Michigan) before we start making our way down through the "mitten" of Michigan and turning south toward home.

    Until next time, blessings from our neck of the woods to yours!