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 RED PINSTRIPE FLAMES NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER $8.98 Time Remaining: 26d 14h 2m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 TRICKSTER SAD SCARY CLOWN NEOPRENE FACE MASK JOKER ATV BIKER PAINTBALL $8.98 Time Remaining: 8d 17h 55m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 JUNGLE CAMO NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 18h 45m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 SILVER OVER BLACK CHROME SKULL NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK ATV BIKER ATV MOTORCYCLE $7.25 Time Remaining: 8d 17h 32m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 USA EAGLE NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 11d 8h 36m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 RED BLACK FLAMES NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK ATV BIKER $7.25 Time Remaining: 9d 49m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 USA STARS STRIPES AMERICAN FLAG NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 6d 16h 54m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 BLACK AND GOLD SKULL NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER PAINTBALL SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 4d 4h 7m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 GREEN BOMBER NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 11d 8h 39m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 PINK FLAME NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 57m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 PINK PINSTRIPE FLAMES NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER $8.98 Time Remaining: 26d 14h 4m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 BLACK NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 8d 22h 29m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 THUG LIFE NEOPRENE FULL FACE ATV MASK BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 12d 5h 57m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 DIGITAL GREEN CAMO NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.25 Time Remaining: 22d 5h 23m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 BLACK NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE ZAN $8.98 Time Remaining: 5d 8h 38m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 SMALL GLOW DARK CHILD SIZE SKULL REVERSIBLE BLACK NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER $9.98 Time Remaining: 28d 17h 57m Buy It Now for only: $9.98 |
 HANNIBAL NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 5d 8h 41m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 GLOW IN DARK JASON NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER $8.98 Time Remaining: 21h 27m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 HELL HOUND NEOPRENE FACE MASK EXTENDER FOR LARGE HEADS ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $12.95 Time Remaining: 23d 1h 15m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 COBRA SNAKE NEOPRENE FACE MASK BIKER ATV ROTHCO $8.98 Time Remaining: 16d 8h 36m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 RED PIG NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 18h 1m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 BLACK VENTED MOUTH FLEECE HALF FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE COLD WEATHER $9.95 Time Remaining: 9d 19h 24m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 ORANGE HOG NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 16d 5h 22m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 CLOWN NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 22h 32m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 BLUE CHROME SKULL NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK ATV BIKER $7.25 Time Remaining: 10d 7h 36m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 BURNING SKULL FLAMES NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.25 Time Remaining: 21d 8h 35m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 JUNGLE WOODLAND CAMO NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.25 Time Remaining: 18d 2h 4m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 GREY ALIEN NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 52m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 SMALL SOLID BLACK CHILD SIZE SKULL REVERSIBLE NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER $9.98 Time Remaining: 8d 18h 49m Buy It Now for only: $9.98 |
 NEW JESTER NEOPRENE FACE MASK EXTENDER FOR LARGE HEADS ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $16.98 Time Remaining: 23d 18h 13m Buy It Now for only: $16.98 |
 CITY URBAN GREY CAMO NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK BIKER ATV $6.25 Time Remaining: 19d 8h 37m Buy It Now for only: $6.25 |
 BUTTERFLY NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 5d 8h 38m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 ARMAGEDDON TOXIC POISON GAS MASK SKULL NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER $8.98 Time Remaining: 24d 16h 43m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 3 PANEL BLACK NEOPRENE FACE MASK BIKER ATV SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 5d 8h 41m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 BUFFALO RED BLACK PLAID NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK BIKER ATV PAINTBALL SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 26d 14h 5m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 ZAN BLACK WHITE SKULL NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.25 Time Remaining: 9d 19h 45m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 HELL HOUND NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 11d 8h 43m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 DIGITAL ACU CAMO NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.25 Time Remaining: 22h 42m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 PINK WHITE FLAME NEOPRENE FACE HALF MASK ATV SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 2d 16h 19m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 RAT FIEND NEOPRENE FULL FACE ATV MASK BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 5d 8h 40m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 FILTERED NEOPRENE AMERICAN FLAG FACE MASK MOTORCYCLE SKI ATV SNOWBOARD $15.99 Time Remaining: 14d 43m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 BLACK DOG NEOPRENE FULL FACE ATV MASK BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 42m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 ROAD RASH NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 31m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 BLACK PAISLEY NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 21h 37m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 BULLDOG OVER BLACK NEOPRENE FACE MASK BIKER ATV ROTHCO $8.98 Time Remaining: 16d 8h 36m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 BLUE CHROME SKULL NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER $8.98 Time Remaining: 10d 8h 35m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 GLOW IN DARK SKULL NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK AIR SOFT ATV MOTORCYCLE SNOWBOARD $8.99 Time Remaining: 4d 22h 7m Buy It Now for only: $8.99 |
 SOLID BLACK NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK AIR SOFT ATV MOTORCYCLE SNOWBOARD $8.99 Time Remaining: 9d 19h 36m Buy It Now for only: $8.99 |
 GOLD BLACK NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE ZAN PAINTBALL SNOWBOARD $8.98 Time Remaining: 1d 19h 6m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 COMEDY TRADGEDY SKULL NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER $8.98 Time Remaining: 26d 13h 55m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 GREY ALIEN NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 8h 27m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 Neo X Neoprene Neck Face Mask with Filter Solid Pink ATV BIKER MOTOCROSS $9.95 Time Remaining: 8d 7h 40m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 CLOWN NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 11d 8h 39m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 Black SKI FACE MASK Under Helmet MOTORCYCLE ATV BIKE $7.90 Time Remaining: 10d 5h 36m Buy It Now for only: $7.90 |
 NEON COLORS CLOWN NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.25 Time Remaining: 14d 8h 38m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 BLUE DEMON NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 48m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 BLACK NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK WITH EXTENDER FOR LARGE HEADS BIKER ATV PAINTBALL $12.95 Time Remaining: 22d 19h 30m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 NEW SAMURAI NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 25m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 DIGITAL PINK CAMO NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.25 Time Remaining: 11d 8h 36m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 SPIDER WEB NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 8h 27m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 Neo X HALF Neoprene Face Mask with Filter Solid Pink ATV BIKER PAINTBALL SKIING $9.95 Time Remaining: 8d 7h 40m Buy It Now for only: $9.95 |
 BLUE CHROME SKULL NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK EXTENDER LARGE HEADS BIKER ATV $12.95 Time Remaining: 25d 14h 25m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 GLOW IN DARK SKULL NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.25 Time Remaining: 11d 8h 35m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 BLACK WHITE SKULL NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK EXTENDER LARGE HEADS BIKER ATV $12.95 Time Remaining: 22d 19h 55m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 HEART WINGS GLOWN IN THE DARK NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV PAINTBALL $8.98 Time Remaining: 26d 13h 59m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 RED PAISLEY NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 16d 5h 22m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 RAT FIEND NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 56m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 BLACK ORANGE FLAME NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $7.95 Time Remaining: 4d 7h 36m Buy It Now for only: $7.95 |
 WOODLAND CAMO NEOPRENE FACE MASK WITH FILTER MOTORCYCLE ATV HUNTING OUTDOOR WORK $19.99 Time Remaining: 20d 17h 3m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 SMALL JUNGLE CAMO CHILD SIZE SKULL REVERSIBLE NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER $9.98 Time Remaining: 8d 18h 51m Buy It Now for only: $9.98 |
 TIGERSTRIPE CAMO NEOPRENE FACE MASK BIKER ATV $8.98 Time Remaining: 18h 47m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 SILVER GREY CHROME SKULL NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER $8.98 Time Remaining: 14d 6h 32m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 TIMBER LEAF TREE CAMO NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $6.25 Time Remaining: 16d 8h 35m Buy It Now for only: $6.25 |
 CITY URBAN GREY CAMO NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK BIKER ATV $6.25 Time Remaining: 12d 7h 35m Buy It Now for only: $6.25 |
 TREE BARK LEAVES CAMO NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK BIKER ATV $6.25 Time Remaining: 19d 8h 37m Buy It Now for only: $6.25 |
 SKULL CROSSBONES RED NEOPRENE FACE MASK BIKER ATV $8.98 Time Remaining: 16d 5h 22m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 EAGLE NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $7.25 Time Remaining: 21h 46m Buy It Now for only: $7.25 |
 DIGITAL ACU CAMO NEOPRENE FACE MASK EXTENDER FOR LARGE HEAD ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $12.95 Time Remaining: 10d 20h 45m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 BLUE LIGHTNING NEOPRENE FACE MASK ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $8.98 Time Remaining: 21h 33m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 Black Noeprene Half Face BIKER Mask ATV SnowMobile $9.99 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 36m Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 SKULL CROSSBONES WHITE NEOPRENE FACE MASK BIKER ATV $8.98 Time Remaining: 18h 42m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 LETHAL THREAT DEVIL NEOPRENE FACE MASK BIKER SNOWMOBILE BIKER PAINTBALL ATV $8.98 Time Remaining: 6d 8h 39m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 NEOPRNE HALF FACE MASK NECK CHEST SHEILD ATV SKI SNOW MOTORCYCLE WINTER SPORTS $14.99 Time Remaining: 20d 20h 22m Buy It Now for only: $14.99 |
 CLOWN NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK EXTENDER FOR LARGE HEADS ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $12.95 Time Remaining: 22d 19h 58m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 SKULL Noeprene Half Face BIKER Mask ATV SnowMobile $9.99 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 36m Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 WOODLAND JUNGLE CAMO NEOPRENE FACE MASK EXTENDER FOR LARGE HEADS HUNTER ATV $12.95 Time Remaining: 10d 19h 43m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 DIGITAL PINK CAMO NEOPRENE HALF FACE MASK AIR SOFT ATV MOTORCYCLE SNOWBOARD $8.99 Time Remaining: 4h 24m Buy It Now for only: $8.99 |
 FILTERED NEOPRENE FACE MASK CAMOFLAUGE HUNTING FISHING SKI ATV SNOWBOARD $15.99 Time Remaining: 1d 4h 5m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 GREEN BOMBER NEOPRENE FACE MASK EXTENDER FOR LARGE HEADS ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $12.95 Time Remaining: 23d 1h 3m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 GREY ALIEN NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK EXTENDER LARGE HEADS ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $12.95 Time Remaining: 22d 20h 9m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 FILTERED NEOPRENE FACE MASK MOTORCYCLE SNOWMOBILE SKI ATV SNOWBOARD $19.99 Time Remaining: 14d 42m Buy It Now for only: $19.99 |
 USA EAGLE NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK EXTENDER LARGE HEADS ATV BIKER SNOWMOBILE $12.95 Time Remaining: 22d 20h 21m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 TIMBER OAK LEAF CAMO NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK BIKER ATV $6.25 Time Remaining: 3d 8h 37m Buy It Now for only: $6.25 |
 CHROME SKULL NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK AIR SOFT ATV MOTORCYCLE SNOWBOARD $10.99 Time Remaining: 4d 22h 17m Buy It Now for only: $10.99 |
 WOMENS FILTERED NEOPRENE FACE MASK MOTORCYCLE SNOWMOBILE SKI ATV SNOWBOARD $15.99 Time Remaining: 13d 3h 1m Buy It Now for only: $15.99 |
 THUG LIFE NEOPRENE FULL FACE EXTENDER FOR LARGE HEAD ATV MASK BIKER SNOWMOBILE $12.95 Time Remaining: 23d 1h 22m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 SKULL Noeprene Half Face BIKER Mask ATV SnowMobile $9.99 Time Remaining: 18d 1h 36m Buy It Now for only: $9.99 |
 BLACK GREY CHROME SKULL NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK EXTENDER LARGE HEADS BIKER ATV $12.95 Time Remaining: 10d 20h 10m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
 PINK WHITE BLACK NEOPRENE FACE MASK BIKER ATV ROTHCO $8.98 Time Remaining: 1d 23h 28m Buy It Now for only: $8.98 |
 BLACK ORANGE FLAMES NEOPRENE FULL FACE MASK EXTENDER LARGE HEADS BIKER ATV $12.95 Time Remaining: 25d 14h 27m Buy It Now for only: $12.95 |
Touring Mighigan's Upper Penninsula By Motorcycle
One of the reasons I ride is for the spirit of facing the road and life with a can-do attitude, and another is for the joy of seeing the landscape unfold. If that's part of your riding psyche, too, you'll feel right at home in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, or "The U.P." as the locals call it. Stretching 310 miles from Sault Ste. Marie near its eastern end to Ironwood near its western border, it's a wild land separated from the Lower Peninsula by the Mackinac Bridge, and from Detroit (293 miles to the south) by major cultural differences.
I was born and raised in Michigan's western Lower Peninsula, and can remember in grade school singing the unofficial state song, "Michigan, My Michigan" (to the tune of "Tannenbaum, O Tannenbaum"). In the 1970s I used to ride up into the U.P. on vacation. Despite a move to California more than 30 years ago I still return to my hometown, but had not been back to the U.P. since 1975. That's why I was especially enthused about the opportunity to ride there for a few fall days last October.
On this latest trip I found the U.P. refreshingly unchanged, and rather than my early 1970s Honda CB450 I was now riding an Electra Glide Classic borrowed from Bald Eagle Harley-Davidson in Marquette. I was also accompanied by Brad Kolbus, from Munising, on his Road King; he publishes a rider's guide to the U.P., seems to know everybody, and knows where to ride and what to see.
Just after we began riding along the Superior lakeshore by Marquette Bay, I immediately pulled Brad over at a vision that seemed right out of a Star Wars movie to ask, "What the heck is that?" It was a huge structure, massive and gray, and hundreds of feet long, a succession of high, close-set concrete archways extending out into the water. Brad informed me that it was the old Lower Harbor Ore Dock, now no longer in use. Railroad cars full of iron ore were shunted onto it, workmen lowered chutes and the ore rattled noisily into the holds of the huge ore carriers that used to dock here.
Next we ride west, where we note signs of the approaching fall season: Pontoon boats up on blocks, firewood neatly stacked on porches and the leaves turning yellow. We reach Big Bay; this little town was the scene of a murder in 1951 that inspired the book Anatomy of a Murder, and the 1959 movie by the same name starring Jimmy Stewart and Lee Remick. We grab lunch at the Thunder Bay Inn, which was the setting for scenes in the classic film. The pub in which we dine was built onto the hotel for the filming.
Though Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie and Ontario are referred to as "The Great Lakes," they're actually great inland seas. In Munising I board a 60-foot observation boat for a cruise along the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The captain informs us that Superior alone contains enough fresh water to cover the entire continental United States to a depth of 5 feet! It's cool and blustery this day, and once we clear Grand Island we're in Lake Superior proper where the waves begin to rock and roll. Most of the patrons abandon the cold, windswept open viewing area on top for the glass-enclosed seating on the main deck, as I consider abandoning my lunch over the side. All along the Pictured Rocks we're treated to a humorous, running commentary about the rock cliffs that have been eroded by eons of wind, rain and freezing weather, and painted in shades of brown, tan and green by the runoff of the limonite, copper, iron and manganese. We sail past caves, arches and a rock called the Indian's Head. A wide, filmy waterfall drops like a veil from the striated cliffs.
The next day Brad and I ride from Munising east on M28 along what is called "the Seney Stretch," 25 straight miles through scrubland full of stunted trees and pines. Thirty-some years ago I had stopped in Seney to commemorate that it was right here, where Highways 28 and 77 intersect, that a young Ernest Hemingway had disembarked the train in 1919. Wounded in World War I, Hemingway had hiked north to fish the Fox River, and would later fictionalize the experience in one of his Nick Adams stories called The Big Two-Hearted River. But wait, the Two Heart is actually well north of here; did Hemingway get it wrong? Nope. Like a true fisherman, he had misnamed the river in an attempt to keep his favorite fishing spot a secret.
We ride eastward on a tree-lined two-lane road, and when we pass the sign for Deer Park I recall camping near it on Muskallonge Lake in the '70s. My evening was enlivened when five raccoons came snuffling up from the lake, begging on their hind legs. I gave them some bread, and half an hour later was toasting marshmallows over the fire when something tapped me on the shoulder. Startled, I turned around to find a raccoon, and when I turned back another was running off with the toasted marshmallow as two others were hot-footing it into the darkness with the entire bag between them! They don't wear those little bandit masks for nothing!
Lake Superior is cold, gray and whitecapped on this blustery day, and when the rain begins I huddle into my electric gear and crank the thermostat to "weld." The Classic's fairing and lowers keep the worst of the weather off me, and Gordon Lightfoot's haunting dirge "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" plays through the stereo on our ride to The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum on Whitefish Point. The song recounts the sea disaster that occurred on November 10, 1975, when the ore carrier sank in a storm with all 29 men, just 17 miles northwest of here. In the Museum's boathouse I meet Tom Farnquist, executive director of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society. Speculation is that the SS Edmund Fitzgerald was too close to Caribou Island some 40 miles northeast of here, where 35-foot seas in 45 feet of water allowed the carrier to strike bottom, which damaged her hull and caused her to take on water. She eventually broke in two and sank in 535 feet of water off Whitefish Point. Farnquist has dived on the wreck and personally helped recover the ship's bell, which now comprises the centerpiece of the museum.
Dinner was at the Antlers Restaurant in Sault Ste. Marie, which was packed this Friday night. Yeah, it's a Yooper place all right, with trophy heads and stuffed wildlife arranged along the walls and among the rafters. Suddenly, a siren sounds, lights flash and we ask the waitress what the heck's going on. "Oh, they do that every time they open a new keg," she explains.
In the morning we cross the street from our motel for a view of the famous Soo Locks. Unfortunately, at this particular moment there's not a ship in sight. The International Bridge looms in the distance with Canada just across the way.
It's about a 55-mile freeway ride south to the Mackinac Bridge, then we turn westward on Highway 2 through low scrubland with Lake Michigan on our left. In Blaney Park Brad introduces me to Steve Zellar, who puts on an annual motorcycle event called The Blaney Park Rendezvous. He gives us a tour of his expansive campground that accommodated 3,000 riders last year; his 2010 rally will be held June 18-20.
The thumb-shaped Garden Peninsula hangs down into Lake Michigan, and is home to Fayette Historic State Park. Fayette was established in 1867 as an iron-smelting operation with huge furnaces, an extensive dock and homes; about 500 people lived and worked here. When the charcoal iron market declined, the operation was discontinued in 1891 and Fayette was abandoned. Today, it has been left as an arrested ruin, a gift from the past with its unpainted foreman's houses, the old hotel and castlelike stone remains of the smelter on picturesque Snail Shell Harbor.
We stop in Nahma at the Nahma Inn, a bed & breakfast with 14 charming rooms and a full bar and restaurant. Brad introduces me to owners Charley and Laurie Macintosh (he seems to know everybody) who are planning a bike event there in the near future. Next door is the old general store, which was abandoned in the '50s with some of its merchandise still intact. Its owner, a gentleman named Pat, gives us a tour of its time-capsule interior.
Brad leads us up H13 north into Alger County, and this fall Sunday afternoon we enjoy the turning leaves as the Harley feels surprisingly nimble following the road's hills and gentle curves. Every few miles a trail or two-tracks leads off into the yellow woods, where muddy dirt bikes and ATVs disappear; we long to follow them into the forest.
From there it's west where we visit Da Yoopers Tourist Trap near Ishpeming. As an ex-Michigander it was just as corny as I'd hoped, with life-sized dioramas of a Jeep driven by a deer with a hunter tied across the hood, of deer playing cards, the place full of Yooper bumper stickers and souvenirs. Out front is "Gus," the world's largest running/working chain saw (it's in The Guinness Book of Records), and "Big Ernie," the largest working rifle.
The ghost town of Fayette serves as a symbol for much of the U.P. that, unfortunately, is suffering economically.
Along the roads are abandoned homes and factories. Tourism is now the main economic driver in the area, and there is much about the U.P. to love. To me, the true charm of the place-with its pines and cedars, maples and birches, hidden lakes and bays, and rustic cabins-is how the whole thing comes together. On this fall Sunday we rumble along backroads to The Up North Lodge near Gwinn. The sunlight dapples the red-and-yellow maple leaves, and there's a cool dampness in the air from a recent passing shower. We tromp inside as the fragrance of wood smoke wafts from the stone fireplace. Many patrons turn to nod and greet us. Burgers and pollock, ribs, whitefish and smelt populate the menu, and a football game illuminates the big screen. This welcoming, rustic friendliness confirms that this truly is still Michigan...my Michigan.
— Bill Stermer
About the Author
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Elmo riding a powerwheels gets ran over by a drunk driver!