On the road in the mitten
May 28, 2015
It is that time of year again when you want to find fun summer vacations or adventures to go on, but you have no idea where to go. A lot of people would say they have not been anywhere much out of the Detroit area, or they usually go out of state. Why go anywhere else when you can explore in your own backyard? Here in Michigan we have an upper peninsula, and five lakes, with permissible weather, these places become advantagable to summer activities. Typically people do not think they can find fun things to do other than be on a boat somewhere or the beach.
At the mid tip of the U.P. is Tahquamenon Falls. A state park five and a half hours away from Roseville in Paradise, Michigan, having five small waterfalls to swim and explore in to bigger falls to photograph. The water of these falls go down 50 feet and moves across 200 feet, one of the biggest eastern falls. Not only that, it is a state park so you can go hiking and rest at any of the four campgrounds.
If you are looking for multiple things to do in the U.P., Marquette is your place. For all of the bikers out there, Marquette holds an Ore 2 Shore Mountain Bike Epic. This epic event surrounds the cost of Lake Superior. Interested? Visit http://www.oretoshore.com/. Also, Lake Superior is safe for cliff diving in some specific spots, most likely the black rocks, which are located in Presque Isle Park. For directions and safety on the black rocks, go to http://mqtmag.com/cliff-diving-in-marquette-michigan/.
On the North West side on the coast of Lake Michigan, you can go backpacking, hike by day and camp by night along South Manitou Island. There are shipwrecks all around South Manitou, one found by our very own RHS teacher David Clulo, which is a little out past from well known wreck, Wreck of the Francisco Morazan.
Macomb County is at the corner of Michigan’s “thumb,” therefore, for traveling the thumb isn’t too far. You can drive along the coast of Lake Huron from southeast to north of the thumb and go for endless miles just left of the water. As you drive along the coast, there are several camp sites and grounds more north, private and public beach spots, and shops more south. Port Austin is a common place to go at the mid-tip of the thumb. It is a village located in Huron County. It has many beaches along Lake Huron and also is a great place for kayaking. You can go to Turnip Rock, which is a tall mushroom shaped-shaped rock hundreds of feet above water that you can kayak around. During winters, you can walk across the water as it will turn to ice and “mountain” climb to the top. Turnip Rock was once officially one of the Seven Wonders of Michigan. For more events and things to do in Port Austin, visit http://www.portaustinarea.com/.
Many people have been to festivals, ones in your local city or a couple cities away. Believe it or not, small towns and villages hold bigger conventions! In Caseville, they hold a cheeseburger festival every year including 2015, on August 14 through the 23. This festival has more to it than cheeseburgers. For the ones who are into that hippy and tropical trends, like Jimmy Buffett-like bands, this is for you. Form car shows to sailing parades and craft shows to volleyball tournaments, there are things to do for every beach bum. To find out more of what the Cheeseburger festival is about visit http://mfea.org/event/cheeseburger-in-caseville-2014/.
Your budget, schedule, and distance. Why not discover and explore the state you live in whether your 50 or 500 miles away.
