Halfway To 102

OK, so maybe I'm not absolutely thrilled about getting older, but I'm not depressed about it either.  There's nothing I can do to stop it, so I'm not going to get upset about it - even though I'm now halfway to 102.  I must admit, my birthday last Saturday was actually rather pleasant.  My darling husband asked me what I wanted to do, and that's exactly what we did.  We did one of my favorite things. . . in my very favorite place. . . with the person I love most. . . and ended the day at one of the restaurants I like the best.  Want the details?  If so, keep reading.

"Let's go for a ride," I said.  So, we toured the Keweenaw and even discovered a few roads we hadn't already explored.  That doesn't happen very often.  When driving around this peninsula, it's sometimes easy to lose your bearings.  You start out heading west or east and you suddenly realize you're going north.  You may think you're heading deeper into the peninsula when you reach the crest of a hill and this comes into view.

Maybe you're driving along an unpopulated road and come upon an old mining structure.  We thought that was the case when we saw this old building along the side of the road.  I researched it later and discovered it was the remains of the Calumet Brewery - out in the middle of nowhere.

We then went on to some roads we hadn't been down in a while.  Five Mile Point Road is a pretty one we wanted to tour before all the leaves pop out on the trees.  You're able to see things you can't see at other times of year.  The road runs parallel to Lake Superior part of the way, and we were treated to quite a few lake views.

Funny how we don't remember noticing this roadside park in the past.

Now that we know that park is there, we'll be visiting it again.  It would be the perfect picnic spot on a warm summer day.  It has picnic tables, grills and outhouses - all the comforts of home.  Plus, your visit would be enhanced by the intoxicating smell of those pine trees and the sound of Lake Superior waves lapping against the shore while you ate. 

We continued on Five Mile Point Road to its conclusion in Eagle River and turned left onto Hwy. 26 towards Eagle Harbor.  We paused briefly at Jacob's Falls to snap a photo for you.  It's right next to the road, so it can be photographed through your open car window. 

We also paused just down the road at The Jampot.  We wanted to read the sign in the window.

Yes!  They open for the season on Steve's birthday.  We'll be there first thing in the morning that day.  If you're ever in this area, you must try their muffins and cookies.  The lemon cream cheese muffin is my personal favorite, and Steve loves the coffee muffin.  The sugar cookies come in a close second.

We drove through Eagle Harbor and turned onto the road going out to the marina.  If you check out a map, you'll notice that it's a C-shaped harbor.  The eastern side of the "C" is the finger where the marina is located.  From that point, you are actually looking back across the harbor toward the land.  It's nice how they made the road go around this tree.

We spotted some geese out for a stroll.

Seagulls were also nearby, and one decided it was time for a swim.

We left the marina road and continued toward Copper Harbor.  We wanted to take the drive up Brockway Mountain.  It's closed to auto traffic during the winter months and is only used as a snowmobile trail.  The vegetation still looks dull and gray.

Once you reach the summit, you're always impressed with the view at any time of year.

You find yourself turning around in circles to take it all in.  You can see Lake Bailey with the island in the middle of it in the distance.

If you're nearby on a hot summer day, this summit is where you go to cool off.  We couldn't stay up there forever, so we started down toward Copper Harbor.  We could see the golf course of the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge peaking through the trees.  I had to zoom way in to get this shot.

We continued down the mountain, and Lake Fanny Hooe and the waters of Copper Harbor and Lake Superior came into view.

We rounded another curve and pulled over at the overlook.  You can see the tiny community of Copper Harbor in the foreground, the lighthouse out on that narrow sliver of land and Lake Superior beyond.

We continued to comment all day that we never tire of looking at that beautiful sapphire blue water of Lake Superior.  If someone is depressed or tense, it seems all they would have to do is drive out to the shoreline and sit for a few moments to be rejuvenated.  Ahhh!

Well, our tummies were beginning to rumble, so it was time to start back down the peninsula toward Calumet.  We chose to take Hwy. 26 back again.  Like I said, we never tire of looking at that water.  Esrey Park is about midway between Copper Harbor and Eagle Harbor, and it's pretty difficult for us to pass by without stopping.  We missed it on the way up because we got off 26 and took Brockway Mountain Drive the rest of the way to Copper Harbor.  Esrey Park is a lovely little roadside park with rock steps you can climb to get a great view if you desire.

If you don't care to make the climb, you can still see this from your car window.

OK, one last deep breath of Lake Superior air, and it was back on the road.  Our tummies were really speaking loudly now, so we wasted no time getting to The Hut in Kearsarge - about 3 miles from Calumet.

The Hut Inn is nothing fancy on the inside or outside, but the food is fantastic.  Plus, they don't serve alcohol, so the atmosphere is very family friendly. 

Can you say generous portions?  Unfortunately, the batteries in the camera gave up the ghost, so we don't have any photos of the "Northern" fried chicken or the walleye we ordered.  Take our word for it:  Delicious!!!  I got a piece of birthday cheesecake to take home, and it was creamy and wonderful.  Best of all, we get to go back again on Friday night for Steve's birthday!  Yippee!  We'll let you know what he decides to do on his big day, and I'm sure we'll have more photos.  All is well in the Keweenaw.

P.S.  I updated one of the blog pages tonight.  Click on "Scenic Beauty Of The Keweenaw" to see the new photos.  It's in the list of Blog Pages in the left column.