We made a bee-line up the “Sunrise Side” of Michigan to make sure we would be in St Ignace on the first of September. The wind and weather cooperated nicely and we were able to drop more than a few anchors around Michigan’s Upper Peninsula (UP) as we passed a major milestone: we have left the most northern point of our adventure and are now, officially, heading south.
Much of the UP was sparsely populated, home only to wild life and those lucky enough to have summer cabins. Drummond Island offered a Jeep Week Festival and multiple off-road trails but was short on bike paths and restaurants. We learned that summer help was sparse this year so some places never opened and/or were closing the summer season, before Labor Day, because the students were returning to school.
We cruised through the Les Cheneaux Islands on our way from Drummond to St Ignace and were struck by the similarities to The Thousand Islands: rocky shoals (yikes!), boat houses and Clayton, NY’s sister city – Cedarville, MI.
The “One of Everything House” on Dollar Island was strangely attractive…
Another first this week was a weather delay… the forecasted thunderstorms and wind had us staying in Hessel for an extra day. This one was transitory so we still had our dinner at the Les Cheneaux Culinary School 😋.
In short, the UP proved an eclectic mix of cultivated and raw beauty…