Our unintentional tradition has been to visit Lake Superior every fall for a weekend getaway. Partially, fall is a favorite time of year to travel in the late season after the whirlwind summer crowds have been through and the weather is still reasonable. I also think sometimes it takes that long to make summer plans these days! Summers are busy times for me at work, and we had some travel arrangements this year in addition to lots of house projects and yard landscaping work. Nonetheless, fall showed up and Lake Superior was calling...
We took a Friday off of work and headed north along the west shore of Green Bay. Aside from getting stuck behind trucks and campers (it's a one lane road each way), I love riding the backroad highway with all the bay views. Makes one realize how huge the bay really is (1,600 square miles, if you were wondering).
We were in the UP in no time and headed for Tahquamenon Falls State Park to view the Upper and Lower Falls and take in some early fall foliage. Upon arrival and payment for our day pass, we parked and walked the short distance to the Upper Falls views. It was running quite high due to lots of recent rain, and the leaves were just starting to turn near the river. It was a pretty cold day with temperatures in the 40s, moderate winds, and sprinkling rain, so the park was not very busy at all. After viewing the falls, we headed to Tahquamenon Brewing Company right at the end of the trail for some delicious early dinner and beers.
Then it was off to Whitefish Point, another 35 minutes down the road. We had reservations to stay at the Point at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum's Crews Quarters B&B for the weekend right on site. A unique opportunity to sleep right next to Superior and a lighthouse? I'm in!
We arrived at the museum just in time to check in to the B&B and took a cold, windy evening walk on the beach. Because of the location of the Point, many large freighters and superlakers pass by very closely as they enter or exit Lake Superior via the Soo Locks. We had fun using binoculars to read the names of the ships as they went by, and later discovered an app that shows all of the shipping traffic (including the Great Lakes, check out marinetracker.com). It was a cold blustery night, but waves from Superior all night long.
The next day we had continental breakfast at the Crews Quarters and went for a walk again around the grounds. The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum includes exhibits in several buildings plus the Whitefish Point Light Station, and the US Fish & Wildlife Service Seney National Wildlife Refuge- Whitefish Point Unit is adjacent, along with the Whitefish Point Bird Observatory. It was really nice to have so many different things to check out all in one place, and be able to stay right there too.
Next we checked out the museum buildings and watched a film about the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sunk just 15 miles northwest of Whitefish Point in Canadian waters the 1970s. Hard to imagine the force the Lake has to take down a loaded down ore freighter. The wreck was found in the 1990s and left undisturbed, aside from the bell that was brought to the museum. It was replaced with a memorial bell with the names of the crew.
The birdwatching at Whitefish Point was phenomenal even though it was late season for migration. Many warblers, woodpeckers, a couple of peregrine falcons, loons, and others were using the shoreline and the sand dunes, and even walking around in the grass right outside the buildings. I was scrambling at times to identify many of them, all in winter plumage and some that were entirely new to me. It was a lot of fun, and despite the cold and got in several rounds of birding throughout the day. I also joined the waterbird counters from the Observatory for a little bit on the shoreline.
We took at ride to Brown's Fish House in the nearby small town of Paradise for whitefish fish fry dinner- so delicious! I got a kick out of our server telling everyone after they paid their bill to "have a nice day in Paradise!" We did. After dark, we went back to the bird observatory for an owl banding program about their long-term banding and monitoring work. They even captured a saw-whet owl in the nets while we were there and we had the chance to watch the banding operation. It was really cool to talk with the researchers and share some of the bird-related things going on in Green Bay. It's a small world in wildlife, so usually people have heard of other projects or know people working in those areas. There was a huge difference in wind that night- no waves whatsoever all night long.
The next day was incredibly calm on the lake- almost no waves at all. We ate breakfast, said goodbye to Superior and headed southwest. We stopped at Seney National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center & gift shop, voted in their annual photography contest, and took a nice ride around the Wildlife Drive throughout many of the impoundments looking for waterfowl. Still some tundra swans and ducks (ring-necked ducks, wood ducks, mallards) hanging out for some good views while auto touring.
Next stop on the return trip was Manistique to grab some beers at Mackinaw Trail Winery and Brewery and check out the Manistique lighthouse. Manistique is located at the north end of the bay of Green Bay, about 120 miles from the City of Green Bay. Another short ride to Escanaba, and a stop for lunch (mmm..pasties!) and beers at Upper Hand Brewery before the drive down the west shore of Green Bay back home. Always fun up der in da UP!
