Up North - July 2017 - Days 1 & 2

July 1, 2017 (Saturday)

Mackinac Bridge

On the road again!  Our adventure started early since we had a pretty long drive up to Baraga State Park. Traffic was not too bad with exception of the Mackinac Bridge toll booths. Gas prices were about 40 cents higher in Mackinaw City verses Baraga. (Our past experience was that Baraga had cheap gas and the same was thru this time.) For this trip we took our camper.

It must have rained a lot in the Baraga area prior to our arrival – the ground was very saturated.

July 2, 2017 (Sunday)

Fort Wilkins State Park

It rained more over night!  Luckily for us it was out of the area by the time we left the campground. The day started with driving up to Fort Wilkins State Park.  We checked out the buildings and then headed down to the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse.  There was a $5 per person fee. There are four museums at the light station – a keeper’s museum, a maritime museum, a fishing museum and the Keweenaw history museum. The history building that had a neat display about how the freighter named the City of Bangor shipwrecked in a storm. The ship was carrying over 200 brand new Chrysler cars. Most of the cars were able to be driven off the ship once the ice froze – one is on display in the museum. We were able to go into the lighthouse; however, we were not able to go to the very top. 

Eagle Harbor Lighthouse

Leaving the lighthouse we continued to drive south where we had a picnic lunch at a roadside park. After lunch we headed to McLain State Park (we had camped there years ago and loved the views at the park). We checked out the beach/lighthouse before continuing our journey.

In Calumet we checked out some of the old buildings and churches. The Keweenaw National Historic Park visitor center is closed on Sundays so we were not able to stop by for a visit.

We did stop by the Laurium Manor for a self-guided tour ($8/person). The building serves as a bed and breakfast so some of the rooms were rented out so we couldn’t see them.  The neatest part of the building was the top floor where they had before and after photos of the repairs that were needed in the structure. It is recommended to allow 30 minutes to an hour to check everything out.

A view from Baraga State Park

Before returning to the campground we stopped for some ice cream at the Frostie Freeze in L’Anse. Back at the campground we had a campfire and then headed to the bay to wait for the fireworks.  We waited and waited and finally gave up at 11pm.  Finally at about 11:15 the fireworks started.