Rocks, Pasties & Roadside Bathrooms

WARNING: This post contains potty humor.

Throughout all the COVID mess, I’ve been following travel bloggers and Instagrammers for their thoughts on the pandemic. And there’s one thing I’ve noticed that’s not mentioned: bathrooms. National attention was paid to the TP shortage but why is no one talking about how the pandemic affected access to bathrooms?!?  Case in point: on a trip to Upper Peninsula Michigan in 2020, we were having trouble finding a roadside bathroom that had been maintained in the last century.  Maybe that’s normal even during non-COVID time, but I’m guessing it was more likely the result of reduced staffing.  Either way, I got desperate somewhere along Hwy 41. I thought I’d done well with my lightning speed and the long sleeve door opener method, but when I got in the car the stench had followed me. And I totally had a Seinfeld moment when in panic mode I told Eric “the stink is on me, it’s on me Jerry!!!”

All potty humor aside, our drive from the Porcupine Mountains to the Hiawatha National Forest was quite lovely.  We made a quick stop in Marquette, a sleepy little college town with a great vibe. We purchased gigantic cookies and our first pasties from Jean Kay’s and had a picnic at Presque Isle City Park.  I get really excited by city parks that have forests and great walking trails, and this one did not disappoint.  As we were people watching, we noticed a man from the local TV station filming a trashcan, which of course piqued our curiosity.  We searched that station’s online stories the next day and lo and behold…

I know it’s hard to see, but that’s us in the background eating our pasties.  If you’ve never had a pasty it’s a savory pastry usually filled with meat and veggies.  The Yooper version is a Cornish pasty, with beef, potatoes and rutabaga. It’s very different from the meat pies we’re used to in Louisiana or Texas, which are smaller and IF they have veggies it’s only onions or peppers. Taste-wise, Eric and I still prefer a good Natchitoches meat pie or an empanada, but if we want something to fill our bellies then we’d grab the pasty in a heartbeat.  If you’re as fascinated by meat pies as we are, CLICK HERE for a good article about the Cornish version and CLICK HERE to read about meat pies in other cultures.

In Marquette, we got our first glimpse of the UP’s industrial history.  Situated next to the city park was an Iron Ore Dock which was built in 1911 and is still an active facility.  Further east we explored Ishpeming, an historic mining town with a 1904 Carnegie Library and the Cliffs Shaft Mine Museum (both of which were closed because of COVID). Ishpeming was worth the stop, a quick drive was enough to get a sense of this area’s history and see the beautiful homes.

Ore Dock bins up close

Mine Museum

Ore Dock

Our Michigan trip concluded with the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and it did not disappoint. The weather had begun to turn nasty by this part of our trip, so we didn’t get to hike as much as we hoped, but what we did see was GORGEOUS!  I knew the Great Lakes were big, but I wasn’t prepared for an endless horizon.  Looking across Lake Superior was disconcerting because it was as vast as an ocean but serene like a lake.  I’ve never seen anything like it. We were able to hike portions of the North Country Trail (NCT) and explore the Grand Sable Dunes.  We loved the trail from the Visitor’s Center to Sable Falls and the Dunes.  And the view from the Log Slide Overlook is worth the trip alone.  I want to return someday to do more of the NCT.  The section at Hurricane River Campground was especially pretty, like something out of an enchanted forest. The beach there was also one of our favorite stops within the Pictured Rocks area. It was full of agates and had a rushing waterfall.

NCT Miners to Sand Point

NCT Trail

Hurricane River Campground

Hurricane River Campground

Hurricane River Campground

Miners Castle Overlook

Miners Castle Overlook

Log Slide Overlook

Grand Sable Dunes

Grand Sable Dunes

Sable Falls Trail

Sable Falls Trail

Sable Falls Trail

Sable Falls Trail

Grand Sable Dunes

Grand Sable Dunes

lunch on the dunes

Grand Sable Dunes

Grand Sable Dunes

Grand Sable Dunes

Sable Falls Trail

Sable Falls Trail

Sable Falls Trail

We opted to stay at an AirBnB in the Hiawatha National Forest.  Our cabin had great lake views, but I wouldn’t stay here again as it was too far from the Pictured Rocks area and the roads were pretty rough.  It would be the perfect spot, however, for anyone who loves ATV trails — they were EVERYWHERE!  I think we saw more off road vehicles than we did cars or trucks.  But boy did we have some beautiful sunsets!

Sadly our trip ended early, so we missed out on Mackinac Island and more time in the Milwaukee area. Someday we’ll return to complete that portion of the trip. One thing I noted on our return to the airport was a Milwaukee village called Whitefish Bay. It was adorable and we only stumbled upon it because we were looking for a place to picnic and ended up in Klode Park. There are excellent walking parks all along Lake Michigan in the Milwaukee area, making this a likely repeat for us.  Oh, and the Milwaukee airport has a used bookstore overflowing with wonderful old books, so I’m a fan for life!

Find out more about our trip to Michigan and why it was cut short at Bittersweet Michigan.