Upper Penninsula, Michigan

Whitefish Point Lighthouse

Before I continue, I wanted to take a moment to thank our visitors and fans for stopping by..I truely enjoy the company. Thank you!

Our vacation to the U.P. was a very action-packed four day excursion. After we visited the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum, we traveled into the forest to the Tahquamenon Falls State Park. There we hiked the trails to the upper and lower falls.

(excerpt from brochure)

The Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. It has a drop of nearly 50 feet and is more than 200 feet across. A maximum flow of more than 50,000 gallons of water per second has been recorded cascading over its precipice.
The Tahquamenon rises from springs north of McMillan and drains an area of more than 820 square miles. From its source, it meanders 94 miles before emptying into Whitefish Bay. The amber color of the water is not rust nor is it muddiness. It is caused by tannin 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 the extensive amounts of foam which has been the trademark of the Tahquamenon since the days of the voyageurs.

I have to admit that I cannot pronounce the name of these falls, but due to the tint of the water, they have been given the nickname "tea falls". The hike was beautiful, the mosquitos could carry you away, but overall we all enjoyed our time.





My husband and I invited my parents to travel with us on this trip, so we didn't make it to as many lighthouses as we had hoped. For being a short trip we really had it packed full of activities.


We headed back to the "Mainland" that night only to find that Madonna was at the Traverse City Film Festival and every hotel within a hundred mile radius was booked. It looked very grim for us finding shelter for the night. My husband and I felt like Mary and Joseph- weery and desperate for somewhere to lay our heads. We checked every hotel and motel at numerous exits, picking up other room seekers at every stop. Finally, after hours of knocking on doors we found a small mom and pop motel (under 20 rooms) that had two room vacant. The small convoy we'd been traveling with continued on into the night, I wonder how far it took them to find rooms? Could you imagine four um.. full-sized adults and a toddler trying to sleep in our jeep? Oh I really don't care to imagine.
More to come.....