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« on: February 22, 2018, 08:06:47 pm »
We followed the shore of lake Huron then crossed over to Petoskey and up along Lake Michigan, crossed over the Mac. Then went to Soo St. Marie.
The Tunnel of trees is a scenic road above Petoskey it is a tight road for the 2350. If you have anything longer I would not recommend that section of road.
In Cross Lake Village I would recommend stopping at Legs Inn they have authentic Polish food. And brew there own beer. Now to the U.P. The locks in Soo St. Marie are worth while seeing. Its even better if you catch a freighter going thru one of the locks. Plus they have there fair share of fudge stores across the street.
There are many Light house along the shore of Superior. A lot of them you can drive to some are in remote areas. Copper Mines where a big part of the U.P.
Some of the memorable place I remember Start in Grand Maris There is a nice sandy beach with a board walk. The Town operates a RV and campground I Think it a first come first serve. You pull in and drive around find a spot you like and then go to the office to pay for the site. If no ones there you leave the money in a envelope and drop it in a slot. You do have to climb down a flight of stairs to get to the beach. There is a Agate Museum near by but was closed when we where there.
Head west and just before Marquette stop and see the Lakenland Sculpture Museum. Its a drive thru park with all sorts of sculptures made from scrap iron. It was free when we where there. Just a little farther west. Is kind of a unique RV park. The name is Gitche Gumee RV park. And the owner is very friendly and the sites are spread out in a wooded area. The lake is just across the road. In the city of Marquette check out the old iron ore dock.
In Ishpeming, Cliffs shaft mine Museum has a tour of the buildings and part of the mine shaft.
In Houghton, on the campus of Michigan Technological university. Seaman mineral museum has a large display of gems, minerals, and local copper. It would take a couple of hours to see all the exhibits. Cross the bridge into Hancock you will find the Quincy mine. They have a very good tour. You ride a cog railway down a steep hill then you are taken into the mine by a tractor pulled wagon. Once back on top you can see some of the equipment they used back when the mine operated. I was in awe of the size and engineering of the hoist system. It operated on steam power.
Head farther north into the Keweennaw peninsula. Before Copper Harbor, Delaware copper mine has self guided tour. On this one it would help to bring a good strong flash light. Because the lighting was not the greatest. Copper Harbor has a state campsite but we left early because it was very noisy with all the kids there. There is a esker in Copper Harbor that is a nice drive and scenic. And the only place that you can get cell coverage.
We found a nice quiet campground (at first) just west of Eagle River off of the 5 mile point Rd. Called Sunset Bay RV park. My wife like the beach for all the rocks. And that what this trip was for. She collects rocks for her jewelry making. I said this was a quiet campground, till a storm blows in. Then the lake becomes very angry. My wife grew up near Boston and she never seen waves on the ocean that we did that one night. She did not sleep very well thinking we would end up with all the ship wreaks. The next day all the rocks on the beach were gone. Wash back into the lake.
In Greenland Mi. Adventure mining co. Has 4 different tours you can take, One of them has you repelling down a shaft to a lower level.
As said before the Porcupine Mountains and Apostle islands are scenic stops.
We stayed a lot of state campsites. So we purchased a park passport which gives you free admission to state parks and a discount for state campgrounds. I don't know if a young person would enjoy any of these places. But I enjoyed learning how people lived and worked in the past two centuries.