thevcblog: UP Bike Tour - Heading Home Highlights

Lake Michigamme in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan sure is far from home. I'm taking my time driving back. I'm still riding my bike every day, regardless of where I am. This update covers multiple days of my return trip home.

After I got to Lake Michigamme, I spent a day hanging out with family members.

We took two pictures, so that we would have a picture of everyone. Barry (Steve's father) and I took turns being the photographer.

My brother-in-law Steve's family owns two lakefront cottages. One of them was originally purchased by his grandparents. The other one, pictured below, was where we were staying. It was owned by a woman for decades, and Steve's family bought it from her family when she passed. They have not changed one thing about it, and the hundreds of tchotchke's are as they have been for decades. This is a time warp classic lakefront cottage. Barry says "It's not a house on the lake unless it has knotty pine."

Amy took this picture of me sleeping instead of playing cards with them until 2 in the morning.

In the afternoon, we took a trip to experience "Yooper" culture at the tourist trap 20 miles down the road.

They have "the world's largest rifle" by the side of the road to get your attention.

For dinner, we had "Pasties", which are a local delicacy. A pasty is basically a big hot pocket with ground beef, onions, potatoes, and rutabagas. They were a staple food for miners. I forgot to take a picture until after we had eaten them all.

My bike ride for the day was riding into the small town of Michigamme, which is scenic and on the lake, but there is not much in it.

The next day, I drove to Traverse City, Michigan to visit my friends Dave and Betsy. It was about a six hour drive. You have to go over the Mackinac Bridge, which goes over the strait between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron. It's the 7th longest suspension bridge in the world.

My daily bike ride was 25 miles out and back on a nice lakefront bike path north of Charlevoix.

I got to spend the afternoon and next morning visiting Dave and Betsy.

They are spending the summer at Dave's family's summer house on Traverse Bay.

Betsy is on the historic preservation commission in Livonia, Michigan, where they live, and I was on the Howard County, Maryland commission for a few years, so we had a great time where Betsy showed me the weird architectural features of this house and we tried to figure out how it evolved. It was built in the 1890s, and in the 1920s it was given an Arts and Crafts makeover, with distinctive 3 over 1 windows and a large porch added. I think the original house was an M-roof center hall design that faced south, parallel to the road (which was probably not much of a road then). This has always been a summer home, it has no insulation whatsoever. We crawled around the attic looking for clues. This was very fun.

The next day, I drove six hours to Put-in-Bay, Ohio. I am taking a day off here. Put-in-Bay is a small town on South Bass Island in Lake Erie. You have to take a ferry to get here. The easiest thing to do is park on the mainland and take the ferry over with your bike. The island is only about 3 miles long. Most people leave their cars the mainland and rent golf carts to get around the island.

My bike rides were riding around South Bass Island exploring. I rode on every road on South Bass Island.

Put-in-Bay was the site of the Battle of Lake Erie in the War of 1812. Commander Oliver Hazard Perry defeated the British, which gave the American Navy control of the great lakes. Perry had battle flags made saying "DON'T GIVE UP THE SHIP" and you can still get T-Shirts with this message all over town!

Here is the memorial to Commander Perry.

My dad used to take my brother and I fishing here when we were little. I remember him telling me that the town of Put-in-Bay would not allow any old buildings to be torn down and they wouldn't allow any new buildings to be built. As a little kid, I thought this was really cool, and I have vivid memories of the unique historic buildings in Put-in Bay. Like the Roundhouse Bar on the left in the picture below.

Put-in-Bay has much new construction hidden away, and there are many, many more hotel rooms than there used to be. Now it is known as the "Key West of the Great Lakes" and it's a big party town. The historic core of the town on the square facing the harbor is still intact. I'm staying at the Victorian-era Park Hotel, which is the white building next to the Roundhouse. It's very authentic - the bathrooms are down the hall from the bedrooms, which is probably why it's the cheapest place to stay on the island.

Another thing I remember from childhood visits is a pizza place that had a big mural on the wall of drunk Italians trying to make pizza. I actually remember watching the artist paint it. The mural is still there. Every time I visit, I check to make sure the mural is still there.

Apparently the mural was painted in 1970. So I remember this from when I was 7 years old.

The pizza place is Frosty's. It's the brown building at the end of the path on the right in the picture. And the pizza is still good.

I spent two nights a the Park Hotel. My plan for my day off was to take the passenger ferry over to Middle Bass Island and ride my bike around, but the weather was foul and the ferry didn't run. So I hung out around town and took a bike ride in the evening when the rain stopped.

Not much happening at "Key West of the Great Lakes" when it's cold and raining.