July 30, Friday
Mackinac Bridge
We left Traverse City State Park around 9:30 am and stopped at a Marathon gas station to switch drivers because we were about to cross the Mackinac Bridge within the hour. We thought it would be best if I drove since Lisa had a phobia of heights.
The bridge was opened in 1957 and is 26,372 feet long (almost 5 miles) and 200 feet above the lake at mid-span. The outside lane is 12 feet, and the inside lane is only 11 feet wide. The towers rise about 550 feet above lake level and about 200 feet below it. The maximum speed limit is 45 mph and 20 mph for loaded trucks.
The conditions were perfect for crossing the bridge, and we had no problems. We averaged 35 mph the entire bridge. We had to pay $8 at the toll booth on the Upper Peninsula side of the bridge ($2 per axle).
We took the first exit past the toll booth and drove through St. Ignace to Tiki RV Park. Surprisingly, the city was not busy, and we arrived at the campground around noon.
Tiki RV Park
We had a full hookup site, and they assigned us a back-in site against a hill, which we learned later was the site of an Indian burial ground. The gravel site was barely long enough for the trailer, and we were less than 10 feet away from the trailers on either side. The space taken by the utility pole and the sewage hookups made it more confining. We did not have enough room to extend our awning. Since we did not plan to spend much time at the trailer, we were not too worried about it.
Bridge View Park
After setting up, we headed over to Bridge View Park. Located just west of the toll booth, this beautiful park gave us great views of the bridge. It was decorated with lots of flowers and there were plenty of picnic tables and benches so that you could sit and enjoy the views.
We found a picnic table and ate our lunch there. Afterward, we walked around the park and visited the small pavilion that had displays of the history of the bridge.
Father Marquette National Memorial
The Father Marquette National Memorial was just up the street from Bridge View Park. It was a heavily wooded park with a road that took you to a parking area. You then took a short trail to a pavilion that had information about the life and travels of Father Marquette. The trail continued to a viewing area where you had views of the Mackinac Bridge.
Mystery Spot
St Ignace was a tourist town and had plenty of tourist attractions. I have seen advertisements around the country for various Mystery Spots but had never visited one so we decided to visit the one in St Ignace.
The Mystery Spot was built in such a way as to create optical illusions. We saw balls go uphill, stairs and ramps difficult to climb, chairs difficult to stand up from, and floors that looked straight but forced you to lean to keep from falling over. I had expected more, but what I saw was very interesting.
Rest Stop
We then drove west on US2 to a rest stop that provided another view of the bridge.
Curio Fair
As we turned back toward St Ignace, we stopped at the Curio Fair, a large gift shop with a tower that looked like a lighthouse. The entrance was covered in seashells, and the interior was covered in birch bark, which I would assume was to emulate an Indian hut. For only $1, I could climb the tower, which was built 1955-56 and stands 85 feet tall with 100 steps. Several levels and windows at each level gave me great views of the straits and the bridge. The best views were at the top, of course. The unpainted plywood interior was full of graffiti, which I assume is encouraged or not discouraged.
Chief Wawatum Park
We then drove back into St Ignace and picked up our Mackinaw Island ferry tickets from the Starline ticket office. We then walked around the nearby Wawatum Park and Lighthouse.
The Wawatam lighthouse was built in 1998 for a Michigan welcome center along the Ohio border near Monroe, Michigan. In 2004, the welcome center was renovated, and instead of destroying the lighthouse, it was given to St Ignace at their request. The lighthouse was reassembled in St Ignace in 2006 and named after the SS Chief Wawatam train ferry home-ported in St Ignace for several decades. The pier where the lighthouse sits is the same pier that SS Chief Wawatam used. The lighthouse is now an official USCG privately maintained navigational aid.
When we walked down the pier to the lighthouse, we could also see the remains of the St Ignace dock that had collapsed in 1984.
Castle Rock
We then drove up to Castle Rock. Castle Rock was known as “Pontiac’s Lookout” by the Ojibwa Tribe. It rises 195 feet above water level. I climbed the 171 steps to get to the top. At the entrance to the stairs was a Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox statue for photo ops. It only costs $1 to climb to the top, as its primary purpose is to draw tourists to the gift shop below it.
Mackinaw Fudge Shop
We returned to our campsite around 5 pm after stopping at the Mackinac Fudge Shop for some pictures with their giant popcorn bags. They also had a rowboat display filled with various saltwater taffy that was interesting and a wood carving of an old cowboy and his mistress.
The Gangplank Pub & Grill
We decided to go to the Gangplank Restaurant in St Ignace for dinner. It is right across the street from the lake, and their dining area is an enclosed patio area. We got a nice two-person table in the back that had bench seats with pillows. We ordered a Yooper beer with our dinner.
Molly Moos Ice Cream
After dinner, we went down the street and stopped at Molly Moos for some ice cream.
Afterward, we went back to our campsite to settle in for the rest of the evening.
July 31, Saturday
Kitsch-iti-kipi
Today, we followed scenic US-2 along the southern coast of the Upper Peninsula. We took off about 9:45 am and drove up US-2 along the northern shore of Lake Michigan. We decided to go quickly to Kitch-iti-kipi because it is known to get crowded in the afternoon.
It was a scenic one-and-a-half-hour drive that followed the coastline for over half of it. It was very windy so the waves on Lake Michigan were high.
Kitch-iti-kipi, The Big Spring, is Michigan’s largest freshwater spring. It is 200 feet across, 40 feet deep, and over 10,000 gallons a minute gush from fissures in the underlying limestone. The flow continues throughout the year at a constant 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
A manually operated observation raft held about 40-50 people that could be used to cross the spring. There was a line to get on the raft, so we had to wait about 30 minutes before boarding. While in line, we talked on a road trip with a group of young adults from the Houghton area. They were excited to share things we should see when we were up there.
After boarding the raft, a park employee slowly pulled us across the spring. A glass-bottom viewing area in the center of the raft allowed us to see into the water clearly. We had great views of the water flowing up from the bottom of the spring and lots of lime-encrusted branches and large trout. The springs in the Ozarks were much more impressive, but this spring was interesting because it looked more natural. The large trout in the spring were also fun to watch.
After getting off the raft, we went to the picnic area and ate lunch.
Fayette Historic State Park
The Fayette Historic State Park features over 20 historic buildings of a once-bustling iron-smelting industrial community surrounding Snail Shell Harbor. During twenty-four years of operation, 1867 to 1891, Fayette’s blast furnaces produced 229,288 tons of pig iron using local hardwood forests for fuel and quarrying limestone from the bluffs to purify the iron ore. When the charcoal iron market began to decline, the Jackson Iron Company closed its Fayette smelting operation.
Because of its remote location, I was surprised about how large and nice the park was. The buildings were nicely restored, and most of them were displayed. The size of the smelters was impressive.
Manistique
About midafternoon, we started back toward St Ignace to take our time and enjoy the views more. Our first stop was at Lakeview Park in Manistique to see the beach and the pier lighthouse there. It was interesting to learn that local sawmills had dumped over 5 million tons of sawdust and wood waste into Lake Michigan, and it now blankets the beaches around Manistique.
Seul Choix Pointe lighthouse
As we continued west, we detoured off US-2 and drove down the Seul Choix Point (pronounced Sis-shwa) to see the lighthouse. The conical tower was completed in 1895 and is about 79 feet tall. It is connected to a two-story red brick house accommodating two families.
The original outbuildings are also still standing, including explosives storehouses and a fog signal building, which now houses a gift shop and museum. The lighthouse helped warn ships of the point itself and the large limestone shoal that extended into the water almost 100 yards.
Northernmost Point in Lake Michigan
Our next road stop was at a wayside, marking the northernmost point in Lake Michigan. When Michigan was established as a territory in 1805, this point was used to denote the area’s western boundary. At the time, Indiana territory sat due west of the boundary line. It also had a very nice beach.
Epoulette Bay Rest Stop
This was just a quick stop to see another view of Lake Michigan.
Lehto’s Pasties
We decided to stop and pick up some dinner from Lehto’s Pasties to return to our camper. Lehto’s opened in 1947 — 10 years before the Mackinac Bridge — making it one of Michigan’s oldest pasty restaurants in the Upper Peninsula. Brought over from England by the Cornish miners in the mid-1800s, the pasty is essentially a meat pie with either beef, chicken, or vegetables mixed with potatoes, onions, and rutabagas.
We were back at the camper around 6 pm where we enjoyed the pasties with some Black Cherry Cream Soda and Leelanau Cherry Tea.
Aug 1, Sunday
Bentley’s B-M-L Diner
Since we were less than an hour from our next stop, we decided to go downtown to Bentley’s B-M-L Diner for breakfast. We got there when it first opened, which was good because it got full fast. Built in 1923, it was a typical diner where the waitress yelled orders to the cook and greeted the regulars. The waitress’s elderly mother helped seat people and kept our coffees full, which gave the place a more family-run feel. It’s retro, with the original counters, stools, and soda fountain equipment.
We returned to our camper around 10 am and soon headed up to Brimley State Park.