It's Called Paradise for a Reason #MFRWauthor #BlogChallenge
Hi, and welcome back for another installment of the 52-Week Blog Challenge sponsored by our friends at MFRW.org
Before I begin, I have to tell everyone that my son has banned me from attempting to publish any more of what he deems as depressing and I am fully aware of as my dry sense of humor in any more of these Posts.
He said last week's Blog was the most depressing thing I've written and I need to quit it.
LOL
Onward Ho!
THIS WEEK: Week 27 is:
The Most Beautiful Place I've Been
Another tough one.
Very briefly, I've been to so many gorgeous places!
Freeport in the Bahamas
St. Pete Beach, Florida
and Niagara Falls, Canada
are probably the top 3 when it comes to Beauty, which is what the hop is all about.
However!
And not to come off sounding like some Tim Allen Pure Michigan wannabe, but...
MY choice for most beautiful place I've ever been is
Michigan's Upper Peninsula
We will begin at B and end up at A, but for the benefit of those not in the know, I've included this handy-dandy map.
If you ever plan on visiting our fair state, DO make sure you have a working camera on hand!
Like me, you'll be stopping every mile or so to snap something that takes your breath away, believe me.
Now, here are just a few of the reasons why I chose Michigan's Upper Peninsula for today's hop.
Whitefish Point
This is kind of the 'gateway' to Lake Superior, and Whitefish Point has a lighthouse you can climb to get panoramic views.
Also, it is home to a wonderful Shipwreck Museum (yeah, I know, but... bear with me) full to the gills with history, imagery, actual relics, and (no lie) Gordon Lightfoot's The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald on loop.
Folks, the white sand beach, so much flotsam, shell and rock scavenging to your hearts' content, and the iciest toe dip in as cold a lake as you can imagine (an almost constant 39 °F (4 °C) are all here for you to explore, discover, and be amazed by.
And, if you hang out til WAY after dark, you are bound to see these on any given night at most any time of the year...
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| Whitefish Point Lighthouse |
Heading slightly Soutwest on our quick tour of the UP, we make a stop in Newberry, MI to see, hear, and marvel at
Tahquamenon Falls
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| Upper Falls |
Trivia: The Tahquamenon Falls is a 46,179-acre State Park and is Michigan's second largest.
The Upper Falls, one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi, has a drop of nearly 50 feet, is more than 200 feet across, and with a water flow of more than 50,000 gallons per second.
Four miles downstream is the Lower Falls, a series of five smaller falls cascading around an island.
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| Lower Falls |
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| lower falls |
The amber water color is caused by tannins leached from the cedar, spruce, and hemlock in the swamps drained by the river. The extremely soft water churned by the action of the falls causes large amounts of foam, which has been the trademark of the Tahquamenon since the days of the voyager.
This is the land of Longfellow's Hiawatha - "... by the rushing Tahquamenaw" Hiawatha built his canoe.
Marquette, MI
This is one of perhaps three major cities in the entire Peninsula,
The rest of it being a vast wilderness of dense woodlands, dozens of waterfalls, glistening inland lakes, and a startling amount of wildlife to include wolves, black bears, and bald eagles.
Marquette is a College Town steeped in history.
So many museums, ancient buildings, and preserved factories/mining holes... it's amazing what you can get done in a day and end the day feeling a lot smarter than you did that morning.
But, for me, it is the soothing beach walks,
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| Presque Isle Beach |
the scenic every-which-way-you-turn aspect,
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| Sugar Loaf Mountain |
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| Presque Isle State Park |
and more important, the night sky.
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| Lake Superior |
Finally, we come to the Crown Jewel in my Northern Exposure tour -- the northern-most tip of our State...
Copper Harbor
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| the Bay |
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| Brockway Mountain |
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| yes, that's Copper |
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| Copper Harbor Lighthouse |
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| Highway 41 |
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| Copper Harbor Overlook |
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| Brockway Mountain Lookout |
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| Hunter's Point |
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| Hunter's Point, North Shore |
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| Stony Beach |
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| the sky at night |
This isn't my image, but it is precisely what I do when I travel to the U.P.
I find a cottage on a body of water, gather lots of wood and kindling, stock up on Michelob Lite, and wait for the sun to go down.
And, from a Writer's perspective, nothing could be more perfect than a North Woods backdrop to get the imagination flowing, and to work out even the most major of chinks in the armor that is Writer's Block, or just a bad case of the doldrums.
It is truly Paradise, and I feel blessed to live as close to it as I do.
Hope you enjoyed my idea of The Most Beautiful Place I've Been!
As always, I thank you for stopping by to read my post and appreciate the time you spent with me today!
Below, please click on the next in line using the Linky Link tool and discover what others have to say is the Most Beautiful Place They've Ever Been.
Wow -- you sure do like Michigan!
ReplyDeleteYep! Or, Yup as a Yooper would say ;-) Thanks for stopping by, Ed!
DeleteWow, Raine - stunning pictures! Do you really see the Northern Lights that frequently (even in the summer)? We're planning a trip to WI soon and I want to see them, so I may have to add the UP to our itinerary...
ReplyDeleteHi, Robin, and yes, it is possible. Unpredictable and more likely in winter than summer, but always a possibility. I've seen them twice, both in the UP, and both times in the summer. When my little bro lived in Marquette, he saw them nearly nightly from Sawyer AFB (around 2-3am). Here is a link if you are still interested. http://www.geo.mtu.edu/weather/aurora/
DeleteYour love for the UP shines in every word and picture. Its now on my bucket list.
ReplyDeleteHi, Shari, and thanks! It means a lot to hear you say that and it's very true. I took a job in Illinois for a time, and when I returned to Michigan, I developed a newfound love of the place.
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