Hi friends,

We recently took a road trip around the UP of Michigan and I wanted to share a few highlights from our trip. We had the most beautiful weather and it was a nice break from the Alabama summer heat!

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We started our trip at Bronners Christmas Wonderland in Frankenmuth. It’s not in the UP, but we had to make a stop. They say they are the largest Christmas shop in the world and have just about any kind of Christmas ornament you could possibly want. There are lots of nativity sets and fun displays all over the store. And of course the giant Santa outside! If you love Christmas it’s a fun place to stop. Give yourself plenty of time to explore. 🎄

We went up to Sault Ste. Marie in the UP and took a boat tour with Famous Soo Locks Boat Tours through the Soo Locks. It was so fun and interesting to be on the boat as it rose or fell to meet the level of the water in the different parts of Saint Marys River and continue on along the coasts of both the US and Canada for a 90+ minute tour. The first photo below is the bow of our tour boat. The 2nd is the gate holding the water back as we were at the lower water level. The 3rd shows how low we were compared to the top of the lock. And the 4th shows our great captain keeping the lines taut as we rose with the water level – we were about half way at this point. I’m sure someone else can explain all the mechanics of how this works much better than I can – I just really enjoyed the tour and ride. 🙂

Our next stop was the Upper Tahquamenon Falls. By following a recently built accessible boardwalk through the surrounding forest, it’s an easy walk to get to the falls. The boardwalk has 5 switchbacks with landings where you can get different views of the falls. The brownish color of the falls is from tannins in surrounding swamps. This was one of my favorite stops!

We took a Pictured Rocks Cruise along the shores of Lake Superior. The tour lasted about 2 hours and took us along the shore to see the beautiful Pictured Rocks that you can really only see from the water. In the photos below you can see Miners Castle, Grand Portal, Flower Vase, Painted Coves, Spray Falls, and East Channel Lighthouse in Munising Bay (even though it looks like a church!) These photos a just a tiny fraction of the beautiful Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. If you find yourself in the UP of Michigan, I highly recommend taking a cruise along the lakeshore! And if you’re adventurous, you can take a kayak tour along the shore.

On the Keweenaw Peninsula we found this unassuming bakery called Jam Pot. It is run by the Holy Protection Monastery, a Byzantine Catholic Monastery, and they make delicious baked goods, jams, jellies, candies and more. The individual caramels are amazing!! Definitely worth the stop!

We made a quick stop at the northern most point of Lake Michigan which was fun because we grew up on the southern shores of the lake. 🙂

There were beautiful flowers in bloom everywhere!

One thing we didn’t do on this trip was to take the ferry to Mackinac Island because we did that a few years ago, but I highly recommend visiting the island if you get a chance. You can read about our visit in this post.

Michigan is a beautiful place to visit filled with miles of lakeshore, fun little towns, lots of pine trees, and yummy pasties up north. 🙂

Anita