Michigan State Parks GeoTour 2: Upper Peninsula Adventure 2

 TaGeez and I are on our 2nd day of our UP adventure and working our way from Ironwood to Marquette. The weather is Pure Michigan beautiful, skies are Michigan blue, and the roads & parks empty.

MSPGT2-UP: Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park GCAPW3M

First stop of the day. What an odd location? Is it abandoned? We took the long way in, and the mosquitoes are out. 

Afterwards we pulled off the road across the street and communed with Lake Superior.

MSPGT2-UP: Twin Lakes State Park GCAPW3Q & Twin Lakes Contact Station GC4F7NX

This was a lovely drive along Lake Superior to get here. Honestly, I don’t understand why this spot was selected, but we are game. Beep! Beep! Quick find!

After grabbing the GeoTour cache nearby, we detoured here for this highly favorites cache. Quick find, and we drained the water.

MSPGT2-UP: McClain State Park GCAPW3F

❤️ This was my favorite state park cache today. Lovely walk in a pretty lakeside park to the cache. We appreciated the container, and then, afterwards, we stopped to enjoy the view.

MSPGT2-UP: Michigan Iron Industry Museum GCAPW3H

After stopping at 2 nearby quilt shops, we made it to this cache. 

For some of the parks, we wonder why they were selected for these tours, but this one was interesting with the museum nearby (closed now) and the geology trail to the cache.

MSPGT2-UP: Little Presque Isle GCAPW3D

Last state park of the day. If we did this again, we would park across the street & walk in. We went the wrong way on Song Bird Trail and did more bushwhacking than we would’ve liked. Afterwards, we went off to explore the Presque Isle parks more.

👻 My Happy Place - Presque Isle GCAJGWM

After a rather long day, I was a bit cranky at this point, but I wanted to see why my niece loved this park so much. Truly is a lovely place to see - the ore dock, the lighthouse, and the view right here!

Afterwards, it was time to eat! Per my niece, who is brilliant, recommended the Iron Bay Restaurant & Drinkery. Ok, 1.5 hour wait for a table or immediate seating in a fun bar? Woot! 

And have you ever had Superior Whitefish Tater Tots? SO FLIPPING DELICIOUS!

And, we know the rule... after every 5 or so quilt shops, Steve gets a distillery! In Marquette, that would be The Honorable Distillery! Which, although in a cute downtown, was up a very steep hill from the Drinkery! But what a view!

This is Steve's idea of a souvenir!

Tomorrow's adventure is from Marquette to Sault Ste Marie - along Lake Superior - and down some very interesting back roads!