Upper Peninsula Weekend

It's been a long, long time since I've been north of the bridge during the winter. I've forgotten how things are since the early 80's when I lived up there for school. Like how 3/4 of businesses are closed for the season, and the most common species flourishing is the snowmobiler. Casual tourists like us are few and far between. But I figured we'd have a good time when I planned a weekend getaway for one of Tim's Christmas presents way back before Christmas.

It was sheer coincidence I chose Superbowl weekend. Which goes to show how much I care about the sport. If we had been home, we probably would have done the exact same thing we did up north: fall asleep at 730 and 8pm, both of us with books on our laps. At home there would have been a cat or two on top of both of us. If we had been in Grayling, we would have had more fun watching the game on Dave's big screen TV, and we would have eaten sodium and fat-laden snacks, and drank a hell of a lot more beer. As it was, the owner of the Pinewood Lodge Bed and Breakfast was unable to get the TV working on an outside signal, so we chowed down on our pasties from Jean Kay's in Marquette, had one or two Stevens Point 2012 Black Ales and called it a night.

It was also sheer coincidence we chose Munising's Ice Fest weekend to visit. So there were a few more people wandering around town. We found out where the ice-climbing was going on (just past Munising Falls), and got directions from a park ranger and a few ice climbers as to where the best observation was to be had.

One year (around 2004 or 5, I'm guessing) we were exhausted from an afternoon of snowshoeing around the loose snow in our own neighborhood. This Superbowl Sunday, we were exhausted from afternoons of snowshoeing and cross-country skiing around the eastern Upper Peninsula. The Valley Spur trail system is beautifully groomed and has a warming house with a wood stove. Novices like us appreciate the train-track precision of the ski grooves, and can only watch in wonder as the pros telemark/skate past us.

Unfortunately neither one of us took a pic of the faithful little green Coleman stove on our truck tailgate heating up a saucepan of hot chocolate I had made ahead of time at home. No schapps, as suggested by a fellow skier, but what it lacked in alcohol it made up for in whole milk and generous amounts of Ghirardelli 100% cacao bars.

We had no shortage of places to eat, in spite of sought-out places being closed (the Galley in St. Ignace, where I'd hoped to score some whitefish livers is only open during warm months, and the Vierling brew pub in downtown Marquette was being remodeled). We ended up having some of the best fried fish I'd ever had in a bowling alley (Fred's Pub) in St. Ignace Friday night, and then huge broiled filets at the Brownstone Inn, almost walking distance from the Pinewood. We skipped Lehto's this time for pasties, and got online and local recommendations for
Jean Kay's.

We very much enjoyed our stay at the Pinewood. But the decor came as a bit of a shock when we walked in. The online pics did not reveal a good deal of it. I did NOT see the nightstand tables in our suite, consisting of plaster cherubs smilingly holding up round plate glass. Nor did pics show the fringed lamps, girly frou-frou items and overabundance of artificial flowers EVERYWHERE in our room. It was as if mom had improbably purchased/inherited a log cabin and liberally applied her decorating skills to it. But the owners Jerry and Jenny were excellent hosts, and we had the entire place to ourselves the weekend. Jerry said they don't push the business in the winter because they get plenty during the summer. And they've gotten a little discouraged after hosting snowmobilers (things like using the bathroom towels to clean greasy skis and parts, and returning at 2AM don't endear yourself to bed and breakfast owners).

Some really wonderful things about the Upper Peninsula in the dead of winter: no mosquitoes. And the vault toilets don't stink!