Our destination is the Houghton, MI, home of Michigan Tech.This huge light marks the entrance to the Keewanaw Waterway which provides a channel across the peninsula through Portage Lake. The channel separates the twin cities of Hancock and Houghton and reminds us a lot of the Mississippi in the Quad Cities area.
The channel was built to accommodate freighters (not today's 1000 footers) but the largest vessel currently using it is the Ranger III pictured at left which takes hikers to Isle Royale National Park.
This area is rich in family history for Doug, whose dad graduated from Mich Tech, so we'll spend several days here. Our marina is on the Hancock side, across from the Ranger III dock and MI Tech in the background. Definitely a different scene from Copper Harbor! The marina is just past the lift bridge --- the heaviest lift bridge in the world, often called the "Little Mac". The center section rises to accommodate vessels needing more than 32 ft clearance (we made it, no problem). We were snug in our slips by 2 p.m.
Garry and I had had some issues with our folding bikes in all our miles at Copper Harbor, so our first stop was "The Bike Shop" (recommended to us by a real biker at Copper Harbor). We went in for a new seat, pedal, etc. and ended up trading in the folding bikes for regular "crossover" bikes (who knew). I'm not thrilled about carrying them on the upper deck, but they are definitely what we need for the amount of bike miles we're logging. Steve, the young owner, listened carefully and met our needs to the T! We spent a little more time shopping in town before heading back to the dock on our new bikes.
Thursday, July 4th
We did chores (laundry, dishes, clean up) in the morning, then it was time to play. First objective, try out the new bikes. There was a great bike path along the water past the university, so off we went. No doubt, we love our new bikes!
It was a beautiful, sunny, day, so we went back to the marina to deploy dinghies. Jan and I actually had swimsuits on --- whooooohoooooo! Back to the dock for cocktails and dinner. We didn't see fireworks, but take a look at the view.....................
Friday morning we set off in a rental car for a Doug Martin history tour. Doug's grandmother was born on Isle Royale and grew up on the Keewanaw peninsula in the Calumet area. We enjoyed seeing the sights and hearing the story.
To say these early settlers were a hardy lot is an understatement. Imagine spending winter in the 1800's and getting 25 FEET of snow. The picture at left gives you an idea of what that would look like ----- I'm heading south!
Some of the sights along the way..........
Eagle Harbor Lighthouse
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| A little local history........... |
Poor Rock Abbey
Just across the road is the Jam Pot, where the monks sell wonderful jams and baked goods. There was a line out the door to purchase the goodies ------ jams, muffins, cookies, breads and candy. The muffins and ginger cookies were delicious!
Our last stop on the way back to the dock was Toni's --- home of arguably the best pasties on the peninsula. All the tables were full (all 6), so we got them to go. Still fresh and hot when we got back to the dock, yummy!
After lunch, we set out for Doug's cousin Geri's cottage at the far end of Portage Lake. Billed as "4 miles", it was actually 8 in very rough water. But we stuck it out ---- and were very glad we did as the afternoon and evening just got better and better. We enjoyed a guided boat tour of the end of the lake courtesy of Rick and Geri followed by a lovely dinner on the deck.
The evening seas calmed beautifully and we had a nice ride back to the dock.
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| Perfect end to a perfect day! |
Saturday, July 6
We still had the car, so we did chores and errands in the morning --- groceries, filled LP tank, got fresh fish from Peterson's, got the new bikes tweaked, etc. After all that, we took a little dinghy cruise to cool off. Back at the dock, we grilled that beautiful fresh whitefish and called it a night.
We have really enjoyed our time here in Houghton.
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