Michigan trip. What to do?

Go to Munising and take the Pictured Rocks Boat tour. Quite a sight from the water. If you do go to Canada you'll probably go to Saut Ste Marie. The Soo Boat Locks are there allowing Ships to sail between Lake Huron and Superior. You probably won't see the Northern Lights as too early. They usually can be seen in October.

You'll be an hour from my house LOL. I am a half hour south and a half hour east of the bridge.

You say you're going to take a lock tour (good choice!), so you'll be in Sault Ste. Marie, and there's a bridge to Canada right there.  I went to college in that town!  If you want to get the "UP" experience, heading over to Munising is a couple hours west, but probably worth it once you get there.  The Pictured Rocks are beautiful, and there's some waterfalls and such around there.  Munising is a beautiful little town nestled right on Lake Superior.  And I can tell you from experience, first of June it will still be WAY too damn cold to swim in!!

Head up to Paradise and check out the ship wreck museum.  There is also a great place there to get fish!

Tbone95 wrote: If you head over to Munising, when you head back east, go to the southern side of the UP, come back through Manistique.  There's a bridge that floats, and there's Kitch-iti-kipi, it's pretty interesting and beautiful.

Wow I didn't realize there was that much there. I kinda thought several of you fellas were in that area. Thanks for the suggestions. We'll go through them and figure out where/what we have time for. May have to make another trip.

Edited by thendrix - 23 Feb 2023 at 11:31am

If you are planning to go to Canada, make sure you have a passport, passport card or an enhanced driver's license. You will need one of the three for customs.

thendrix wrote: We're working on getting passport cards. I understand that's all we need to cross into Canada.

My Dearly Beloved and I camped near Ontonagon pre Covid. In all the years I have lived in Michigan that was my first time in that beautiful town. And the Porcupine Mts. are worth the drive! The year before we pulled the Camper into the Keweenaw Peninsula to Copper Harbor,Calumet, Houghton and Hancock. Went to the Quincy Mine. Learned a lot about the Upper Peninsula. My sister in law is from Trenary and made Pasty's. They were better than the one's they sell along the highway!

alan-nj wrote: Tbone95 wrote: "Seney Stretch", lol oh yes!  Aptly named because if you don't stop and stretch you'll probably fall asleep.  Honestly, except for the Straits area, and then Sault Ste. Marie itself, the eastern UP is kind of boring.   Many years ago, drove from Macinac to Pictured Rocks.  I didn't mind, but to this day the wife still reminds me about how much she hated that drive.

I would like to see the Edmund Fitzgerald stuff. We'll definitely try that

We'll look into those Dave. The trip may be put off due to my mother in law having some medical issues but we'll definitely check those out

In Sault Ste. Marie, right next to the Soo Locks Boat Tour dock is the Museum Ship Valley Camp, a retired Great Lakes Ore Carrier converted to a floating museum with displays of all kinds relating to Great Lakes shipping, well worth the stop. An hour and a half  north west is Whitefish Point with a lighthouse and Coast Guard lifesaving station and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, 45 minutes west of there is Tahquamenon Falls, another worthy stop. The hot tip on the Island is to go out in the afternoon and stay the night, once the tourists leave for the day, it takes on a completely different atmosphere, I recommend staying near town and not at the Grand Hotel. The Palace restaurant in the Soo is top notch for relaxed dining, if you want to sample Lake Superior Whitefish at it's finest, make the 20 minute drive west to Brimley and visit the Cozy Inn, but the kitchen closes promptly at 8. If lighthouses are your thing, there are several close to the Soo. And there are the Casinos if you're into that. In any case, there is plenty to do.

I hope your mil will be ok. If you go to the locks June 30 you will be able to see and do many things not allowed on all other days. Check out Engineer's Day on line. Also, if you do venture west in the UP consider stopping by Oswald's Bear Ranch near Newberry. I'm generally anti tourist trap but my whole family and I love this place. In the Mackinaw City area Historic Mill Creek and Fort Michilimackinac are worth visiting. For natural beauty on the Superior shore Grand Marais between Paradise and Munising is hard to beat. On Mackinac Island be sure to take the narrated carriage ride and rent bikes to ride around the island perimeter and inland. If you get the right ferry from Mac City it will take you under and around the Mighty Mac Bridge which is great. I could go on. Enjoy your trip.