St. Joseph

There's so much you miss if you don't get off the interstate! We needed lunch and I wanted to see the lake - which I knew we wouldn't see again that day except possibly for brief views between old steel mills south of Chicago. We landed in the midst of a festival and a beautiful (and hot) summer day. D was happy staying in a cool place with ice cream and M walked around the arts and crafts booths, but I walked down steps and across the tracks to the beach (it's called Silver Beach).

Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor was where our convoluted figure-eight cross-country trip crossed over itself. We were here on June 28th, just 9 or 10 days ago, heading south and east. This time, we timed it so we could have dinner at Zingerman's Deli.

We had brought along Jane and Michael Stern's Roadfood book. I'd been exposed to them on NPR and had run into the website when searching for food options prior to the trip. We didn't plan the whole trip around eateries in the book, but it certainly led to some side trips and to some places we would have missed otherwise. Some, like Five Island in Maine and the Carnegie Deli in NYC, we already knew about.

Five Islands Lobster Company, Georgetown , Maine
Zingerman's Deli, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Java on Sherman, Couer d'Alene, Idaho
Red Lodge Cafe, Red Lodge, Montana
Carnegie Deli, New York City
Tempo Cafe, Chicago
Harry Caray's, Chicago
Bloedows Bakery, Winona, Minnesota
Original Hot Dog Shop, Pittburgh, Pennsylvania
Farmers Inn, Havana, North Dakota (on the website, not in the book)

Places we tried unsuccessfully:
New Sandusky Fish Company, Sandusky, Ohio (CLOSED when we visited)
M&M Bar, Butte, Montana (CLOSED until further notice)

Places we considered:
Wolf Lodge Inn, Couer d'Alene, Idaho (too crowded on the Saturday night we looked)
Flo's, Cape Neddick, Maine (drove past, should have stopped)
Lisa's, Greybull, Wyoming (we meant to check, but were through town before we remembered)
Frank's Diner, Spokane, Washington (too crowded the Sunday morning we swung by)

Good candidates for their next edition include:
Second Avenue Deli in NYC
Eleventh City Diner in Chicago
Norma's in NYC (not really road food, but worth driving across the country for)

Straits of Mackinac

D got the driver's seat for the drive across the bridge. Wasn't this featured in his 2nd grade science fair project?

There's something about the Upper Peninsula that made me think we were in Canada, or at least that crossing the bridge was a return to the lower 48. We drove into Mackinaw City to find Dad coffee and wound up with a glazed donut D could have hung around his neck (at the Mackinaw Bakery, I think).

Yesterday and today included lyrics from three songs on my Road Songs playlist:

-- The searchers all said they'd have made Whitefish Bay if they'd put 15 more miles behind her (Gordon Lightfoot). We'd have made Whitefish Bay if we'd put 80 more miles behind us last night and it hadn't gotten dark.

-- Took a bead on the northern plains and just laid that power on. 12 hours out of Mackinaw City, I stopped at a bar to have a brew (Bob Seger). He must have been going the other direction - 12 hours would be Grand Forks - there's a Starbucks there, although I guess that's not what he meant.

-- It took me four days to hitchhike from Saginaw. I've gone to look for America (Simon and Garfunkle). Four days from Saginaw - could be just about anywhere. We were counting cars on the New Jersey turnpike in two.

Grand Marais

We followed the back road up to Grand Marais and the Grand Sable dunes. I was afraid we'd run out of daylight, or find the missing bugs, but as it turned out there was time to hike down to the falls and to drive out to the dunes and the bugs never showed up. D ran (slid?) down the bluff (they call it the log chute, based on its historic use) and had the beach and Lake Superior all to himself for ten minutes before he started the long slog back up. M & I stayed on top.

We had dinner at the Lake Superior Brewing Company before climbing back into the car and leaving Lake Superior for the not quite so great lakes to the south.

Pictured Rocks

I expected the bugs would keep us from Pictured Rocks, but as it turned out the gray weather was a bigger obstacle. I suspect that clear skies and sunshine do wonders for this place - turning the waters blue and lighting up the rocks. The coastline itself is spectacular and reminded me in many ways of the beaches on Georgian Bay near Tobermory - although these beaches are sandy, not cobble.

We drove out to Miner's Castle and to the beach just around the corner (where M & D sat in car while I went out to the beach). I was blown away by the lack of flies and mosquitoes - I had expected a war zone.

I need to come back someday in late spring or early fall with more time and a kayak!

Marquette

Despite clear weather inland, the lake was still covered with fog when we got back to it in Marquette. The city is fixing up its old industrial waterfront and looks like its doing its best to keep the old buildings. I liked the old ore loading pier (blue skies and a blue lake would have made a better backdrop). We had lunch at a little beach just north of town, where D & I tossed the frisbee and Michele talked with Bev on the phone.