Day 53 – 57 Marquette (Total Miles = 893.65)

Getting to know you…getting to know all about you.  Anyone remember the lyrics to Julie Andrews’ song Getting To Know You?  It reminds me of living in, and then years later, touring Marquette.  What a fantastic place!!  Seriously, if you ever have a chance to get to the UP, Marquette is a must see.

As a young adult, I don’t remember a lot about Marquette, but the one thing that sticks was its rustic charm.  No doubt, Marquette has grown, but that same charm can still be found.  The old buildings, laid-back lifestyles, and the iron ore heritage still remain.  I just love that they didn’t tear down old historic buildings, they just grew around them.

We arrived and settled in for a stay around.  We did get to our car rental in time to pick up a nice Nissan Rogue.  We dropped the bikes off at an established bicycle shop for some TLC.  The Quick Stop Bike Shop has been a mainstay even since I was there in the 70s.  It is the areas oldest and longest running bike shop.  They took us in on short notice and gave Honey Badger and Traveler a needed spa day.  Bought new tubes for our bikes, too, so we will be good to go if we get anymore flats.

Was it ever nice to drive a car!!!!!!  Woo-Hoo!!  And I hate driving!!  Ken did most of it, but I loved passengering!!  We got places!

We checked out Little Lake where the little trapper shack was.  Little Lake was about 25 miles out of Marquette.  The shack was gone, but we actually spoke with the new owners of the exact same property where it once stood!  The woman I talked to grew up in Little Lake.  She remembered the shack and the great grandfather trapper who lived there.  Another of my stories…when I moved into the shack, a small shed was there that held an array of old handblown bottles that were full of different scents to use in trapping.  I still had my dorm room at the college that I never attended classes to…so I took those old bottles and cleaned them out in the wash room at the dorm.  It stunk the whole place to high heaven!!  I still have those wonderful old bottles at my home today.  My niece Angie will appreciate that the old trapper had bee hives in the attic.  There was a tall, old wooden ladder that leaned up against the shack outside, when climbed, led to the attic and beehives.  Of course, at the time, I climbed back down very quickly and ignored the whole thing!!  When I moved to Little Lake, the city girl that I was, laughed because the only businesses there were a store that was combined with the post office and meat market, Brown’s Bar, and a laundromat.  Today, it is exactly the same!!  Only Brown’s Bar is now called The Throttle Bar (but still has the same old Brown’s Bar sign on the roof).  The laundromat building is still there, but empty.  The only thing missing was the telephone booth…the one I remember calling my grandmother on to find out how to cook french fries.  I told Ken about how I got arrested at the store, as we drank a beer at Throttles.  I hit a car in the parking lot of the little store…yes, really.  The po–lice were called and they found out I did not pay for a speeding ticket.  They handcuffed me, put me in the back of the caged po–lice car, and took me all the way back to Marquette, the scene of the crime.  I was fingerprinted, my picture was taken for posterity, and they threw me in jail.  A true story…could have been straight from an Arlo Guthrie kind of song!!

We left Little Lake and DROVE to Negaunee.  It was so surprising, on the way we passed the ski area I used to ski at, and it did not change one bit.  Wish I could have gotten a photo but we were moving too fast in that car!  I had moved from Little Lake to Negaunee, where I lived in a small apartment above a television repair shop.  It was there that I had Sarah.  The entire block of buildings have been torn down and just one new one put in its’ place.  The little laundromat, King Koin, where I hauled my laundry in a wagon with Sarah in tow, was still there exactly as I remember.  Negaunee was bustling when I lived there, but is now nearly a ghost town.  Most of the buildings are empty and falling apart.  Very sad.  It was so small though, that Ken and I drove around and around the same block just trying to understand it all.  Ken is so good!!  I am sure he was like…we are driving around the same block over and over again…what more can you see??  But, he just drove and smiled for my benefit.

We made a quick drive to Ishpeming where we had moved just before leaving Michigan for Colorado.   I could not find the duplex we lived in.  What I remember about living there…1.  Sarah was bitten by the owner’s dog between the eyes.  Went to the hospital to have it sown back together  2.  Sarah took off on her tricycle to the busy street…I could not find her until she was getting ready to cross the busy street!  3.  Sarah took a bag of her dad’s marijuana and threw it in the toilet and had fingers full of oil paints  4.  Because I would stay up all night painting pictures on canvas and then sleep until noon.  5.  Sarah repeated the F word here  6.  I felt like the devil was in wait for me.  7.  Time to leave and change our life!!

We spent a day in Marquette touring the old lighthouse and Lake Superior Maritime Museum.  This was such an amazing tour.

We were able to see an iron ore ship coming into the Presque Isle Dock to fill its’ hatch’s with iron ore.  9.5 to 10 million tons of ore are loaded and shipped from this dock.  The ore is transported to the dock via railcars, loaded into large bins, and emptied into chutes that lead to the ship.  It can take up to 4 hours to fill the ship.  We did not watch for that long, but it was very cool to see the ship dock, and the bins full and ready to load the ship’s hatches.

After watching the ship, we took off for a 4 mile run into Presque Isle Park.  It…was…so…wonderful…to…run!!  Run!!  We stopped along the way to take pictures, but I really needed to be running.  We saw some great views of the Lake and some deer, then headed back to the car.

We enjoyed the restaurants in downtown Marquette while we were there.  Found some good coffee.  Checked out the beach.  Just had some great downtime off the bike in a fantastic, rustic, yet modern, college town.  I really hated to leave!

Iron Ore Heritage Trail

Blue Heron On The Iron Ore Heritage Trail

U.P. Strong In Hard Times

Can You Tell Me What The Flags Say?

Love This Picture.  There Were So Many Ship Wrecks, That These Fellows Had To Patrol The Beaches Day And Night

Life Saving Crew Using A Lyle Gun

Life Saving Apparatus Used To Retrieve Men From The Water

Marquette Lighthouse

Lilac Bushes All Over The Lighthouse Property.  They Have Been There A Long Time As Seen By The Thickness Of Their Stalks.

View From Lighthouse Of Lake Superior

View From The Lighthouse

View From The Back Of The Lighthouse

Guess Who?

Another Lighthouse View

Lake Superior From The Lighthouse Property

Winding Staircase Inside The Lighthouse

View From The Lighthouse Window

Story Is The Lighthouse Is Haunted By The Child Who Made These Footprints With Fresh Paint!

A Picture Of The Old Foghouse In Winter

Lighthouse Keepers House.  They Are Considering Making This Into An AirBnB!

View Of A Tree

The Police Dive Team On A Training Dive In Lake Superior

View Of Downtown Marquette

Lots Of Cars, But Beautiful Architecture

Love These Old Buildings

City Hall

Old Vierling Restaurant

 

Firebell Along The Boardwalk

A Later Picture Of The Bell With A Rainbow Captured From Our Seat In A Restaurant.  I Love This Picture!

A Sticker I Saw And Liked

We Saw This Young Couple Walking To A Local Dance.  Cute As Can Be!!  I Had To Get Their Picture!  OMG!  I Just Smile Every Time I Come Across This One.

The U.P. Is A Biking Mecca And Marquette Shows Its Loyalty.  These Are Everywhere With A Different Piece Of U.P. Culture Sculpted Into The Wheel Of Each One.  This Depicts Snowshoeing.

Of Course We Found The Ice Cream At Jilbert Dairy.  We Visited This Mainstay Since 1937, A Few Times During Our Visit

She Was Saying…Are You Back Again?

Ken Keeps Saying How Nice It Is That Lake Superior Is Fresh Water…Then We Found This Bumper Sticker

Town Of Little Lake.  The Store On Left And Browns Bar In The Middle

Negaunee Water Tower

Ski Jump Between Negaunee and Ishpeming.  When I Was There, The Old Wooden Rickety One In The Middle Was The Only One There…Abandoned. Ken, Amazingly, Saw The Same One When He Worked In The U.P. In The 70s…Around The Same Time I Lived There!

The Iron Ore Ship Coming In

Getting Closer.  They Move Pretty Quick.  You Can See How Massive It Is When Looking At The Kayaker And Pleasure Boat Next To It

Ken Running Down To See It Pull Into Dock.  You Can See The Rail Bins On Top Of The Pier Full Of Iron Ore Waiting To Be Moved To Its New Destination.

Ship Pulling Up To Dock.  They Get So Close.  You Can See The Chutes To Deliver The Ore From Dock To Ship.

Views From Our Run At Presque Isle

Presque Isle

Presque Isle.  The Water Is Still So Clear.

People, People, People.  No Social Distancing Happening There!

Presque Isle

Presque Isle

Presque Isle

I Love A Good Trail.  Presque Isle Trail

Presque Isle

Deer Watching Us At Presque Isle