Best things to do in the UP!
 

We are driving to the UP from the Twin Cities - MN the weekend before labor day and staying their the whole week after labor day. Best route to get to the UP and the best places to go. Nice but inexpensive accomodations. Is it possible to camp or is it too cold? Any healthy restaurants? THANKS

I will try to answer a couple of your questions.<BR><BR>As for route, I cant help much except to say if you come in At ironwood you can hit a number of my favorite places. Eastbound on higway 28 will bring you to the Presque Isle and Black Rivers near porcupine Mountains. The harbors and the falls on the Black river are beautiful, head north from 28 near Bessemer, follow the signs.<BR><BR>Go to the east of of the Porcupine Mountains and go to Ontanagon. Go west from there along lake Superior to the overlook at the Porcupine Mountains.<BR><BR>Trips to marquette and the kewanaw penisula will be well worth your time.<BR><BR>The temperatures for the msot part should be good. Be wise, there are bear in the UP

Definately visit the Black River Falls. I was there in the winter and they were breath taking then. I can only imagine how pretty they would be in the summer. There are trails thru the various falls so you can walk from fall to fall. Bring a camera!<BR><BR>Also try and get a glimpse of the "Mystery Light of the UP" up near Watersmeet. It's a light that seems to have no origin that floats above the trees. No one can explain it. I've personally never have seen it but members of my family have

Annalisa: A few years ago, we visited the "Pictured Rocks" area - near Munising, MI., I believe - it was breathtaking. We stayed at a Best Western or Holiday Inn - nothing special; but it was cheap. (Long story - we were supposed to stay at someone's cabin, but it turned out to be a nightmare of a place & I refused to stay in it - this was after driving up from Chicago.)<BR>Regarding your food question - there were NO "healthy" restaurants that we found. Their idea of a salad bar was to put out cottage cheese and a few wilted iceberg lettuce leaves. I couldn't wait to get home to eat some veggies. <BR>We were there in early October & one of the things we noticed was grammar school kids. For the most part, they were obese! It looked like a training camp for a young football team!

UP?

To ??: The UP is the Upper Peninsula of Michigan

Thanks. Never been there so sorry I can't offer any advice.

Please tell me you're kidding about "watch out for bears" in the UP. Lived there for many years and have seen 1 bear. Don't worry about bears.

Go to the Hilltp Motel in L'anse and get the Hilltop Roll. It's a pastry with a whole apple baked inside. mmmmm good. I think the apple makes it healthy, eh ?

Unfortunately, restaurants in the UP leave something to be desired. Don't get me wrong - I'm a native, I love the UP (just moved back after 11 years away!), but, as my husband says, I'm sure glad I know how to cook!<BR><BR>That said, in the Marquette area, there's definitely a few worth visiting. For lunch, try either New York Deli on Front St. just north of downtown, for really, really good NY style deli food. Great soups, salads, and sandwiches. Very easy to find healthy food here. Another choice for take-out/lunch type food is Sweet Basil, on Third St. They have many different types of salads (both pasta and green), quiches, and interesting sandwiches. There's also the Third St. Bagel company, which makes bagels, bagel sandwiches, and salads. If you're in the mood to try real UP food, head up to Jean Kay's Pasties on Fourth St/Presque Isle (Fourth turns into Presque Isle Ave right around Jean Kay's shop). They make both standard pasties (beef, potatoes, and veggies) and a pretty good veggy pasty. It may or may not be healthy, but it's good!<BR><BR>Dinner-type food is more difficult. Almost everyplace has whitefish, and on Friday nights fish specials abound. Try the Village Pub on Third St. for really good grilled whitefish, but only on Friday night. It looks like a slimy bar, but it's good, trust me. Another excellent place is in the same location as the New York Deli, only at night it's called the Italian Place or something like that. Great pasta, fish, etc.<BR><BR>What else? Border Grill makes good take-out Mexican food. The Rice Paddy on Preque Isle Blvd is GREAT Thai/Chinese takeout, but be warned, they're closed on the weekends. <BR><BR>Also, if you have room for one non-healthy thing, be sure to try Jilbert's Ice Cream. They have a big store out by Shopko (look for the large cows and the red barn) and they make ice cream to die for. <BR><BR>Enough about food - it *should* be easy enough to camp out. The weather isn't that cold around labor day. Most hotels/motels are inexpensive up here. The best route from the Twin Cities is to go east through Eau Claire to Wausau, then north from Wausau on Hwy 51 (I think that's it, don't have a map in front of me) then east to Rhinelander and north to the UP. <BR><BR>Feel free to email me if you have any more questions!

Upper Michigan is beautiful! My favorite place to explore is Tahquamenon<BR>Falls in the northeast part of the UP. Here is the website: http://www.exploringthenorth.com/tahqua/tahqua.html<BR>Some interesting accomodations might include a lighthouse: http://www.sandhillslighthouseinn.com/<BR>You might want to visit the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum: http://www.shipwreckmuseum.com/<BR>Have fun in Michigan Annalisa!