# My U.P. Vacation **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 9, 2001, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820 "2001-07-09T13:26:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/1 "2001-07-09T13:26:04Z")
My summer vacation: Just thought I’d share my trip to the U.P. with y’all. **Wednesday** : Drove up to South Manistique Lake in the U.P. of Michigan. Beautiful day, but none too warm. Crisp wind coming off the lake kept the skeeters away and us out of the water. Stayed with another couple we are friends with who were renting a cottage for the week. Visited the thriving burg of Curtis, maybe a half-mile long at its most, along the northern edge of the lake. Stopped by a motorsports dealer on our walk around and tried to figure out how I could justify buying the little Suzuki 80 Jr. they had there. I haven’t ridden a dirt bike in over [sub]20[/sub] years, but when I sat on that little thing, all I could think was “I am Moto-Cross Queen!” Everyone’s got to dream, right? 😃 The nights up there are quiet in a way I’d forgotten about. No hum of high-voltage power lines, no sirens, barking dogs, or surface street sounds. Plus, it smells good out. Ferns, pine trees and water. Heaven. **Thursday** : Again, it felt like September, not July. Headed out to Tahquamenon Falls, Upper and Lower. River was beautifully warm, but the wind was coooooooold. No swimming for me! Drove up to Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. Man, whadda wind. Makes you understand how the _Edmund Fitzgerald_ went down. BIG whitecaps on Gitchigumee (Lake Superior) and the sand was whipping against us. We didn’t stay long. Dinner at Chamberlin’s Inn - a beautiful bed-n-breakfast overlooking Manistique Lake (14,000 acre lake), set high on a bluff. Incredible view from it’s 10-foot wide veranda. Had planked whitefish. Yum. **Friday** : Got up, went running. Hubby and friends took the boat out to fish, so I sat on the porch to read and get some rays. It was finally decent enough outside to sit without a coat and the house blocked some of the wind. Due to my rather _inept_ application of sunscreen, I now have a pink racing stripe from my breastbone to below my bellybutton where I somehow missed getting the lotion. You’d think covering my tummy with lotion would be a simple task. :rolleyes: In the afternoon, the temp dropped (big surprise) and the wind picked up. While hubby went to look for a trout stream, we went for a speedboat ride up and down the lake. Lake was very choppy, but that made it even more fun. Got some air a couple times! Faster! Faster! **Saturday** : Alas, time to head home. Drove to Manistique for an art show. Picked up frozen pasties (had to get them in St. Ignace; **Lehtos** was sold out of their frozen ones), a whole smoked whitefish, and then got 20-lbs of black sweet cherries in Kalkaska for cordial and jam. They are so sweet, their aftertaste is almost floral. Divine. Felt good to sleep in my own bed again. **Sunday** : Hoffmaster State Park. Freakin’ cold water - Lake Michigan has not cooperated and warmed up to 75° as I requested. Water temp was probably between 55-60°. Brrrr! Beach was hot. **U.S. Navy Blue Angels** were performing at the Muskegon Air Show and we got to see a little of their show from the beach. Even with SPF 30 on, I still managed to get a little pink. :sigh: Durned Irish blood! Anyway, hope everyone had a great 4th of July! ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/2 "2001-07-09T13:34:49Z")
hehe Sounds like you had a great time, makes me want to do some camping…though perhaps not somewhere I’d have to pack a winter coat in \*July!/i] Silly girl 😃 Welcome back. ---
**Author:** ![GrizzRich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7ba0ec/32.png) [@GrizzRich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrizzRich)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/3 "2001-07-09T13:35:57Z")
What?! Didn’t get to “Da Yoopers” tourist trap in Ispeming? tsk tsk tsk tsk ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/4 "2001-07-09T14:40:16Z")
Hmmm… you managed to get SUNBURNT in the UP in early July?!? I’m not buyin’ it. I think you’re just a yooper wannabe, and got that sunburn down in troll country. 'taint enough sun in da UP to make a sunburn… ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/5 "2001-07-09T16:01:45Z")
**think** , yah, well, lodging was basically free, so what can I say. However, I think we brought most of that cold with us since it’s supposed to be in the 80’s this week. Of course. _After_ we leave! **Athena** , aw, you’re just jealous cause you’re stuck on Colorado (it is Colorado, right?). I’ll eat a pasty tonight thinking of you! 😃 **Grizz** , no Ishpeming. We did drive by the **Mystery Spot** though! ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/6 "2001-07-09T17:15:41Z")
**BunnyGirl** > [@](#): > > Picked up frozen pasties… Wow, those must make your nipples really hard. Seriously, though, sounds like you had a great time. I’m glad you were able to get away for a long weekend. My weekend consisted of considering the purchase of a 4WD double-cab Tacoma (the temptation is strong, very strong) and going to see a live band, Cold Shott and the Hurricane Horns (they’re from Michigan originally), at the Rhythm Room. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/7 "2001-07-09T18:26:27Z")
> [@](#): > > Wow, those must make your nipples really hard. Oh ho! We have a smarty-pants do we? I’ll have you know that there is no pasty too cold for this Michigan woman. I scoff at cold pasties! Let them do their worst, cold hangy-fringe be darned! However, for the _serious_ answer, I’ll have you know that U.P. pasties are delicious meat pies brought to the region by Cornish miners in the late 1800’s. There. There’s your history lesson for the day! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/8 "2001-07-09T18:44:05Z")
I’ve lived in the UP since '83 (not living there anymore, though) and I just went to the Da Yoopers Tourist Trap a couple of months. Is it just me or is that a seriously creepy place? ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/9 "2001-07-09T19:07:55Z")
**slortar** , I’ve not been to the Tourist Trap, but I have been going to the UP almost as long as I’ve been alive [sub]33 years\*\*, and you can find some serious _Deliverance_-type folks up there. ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/10 "2001-07-09T20:04:11Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by BunnyGirl \* \*\* **Athena** , aw, you’re just jealous cause you’re stuck on Colorado (it is Colorado, right?). I’ll eat a pasty tonight thinking of you! 😃 [QUOTE] ouch… that hurt… low blow, mentioning pasties. It _is_ Colorado, and even if I’m planning on making my super-yummy Warm Scallop Salad with Tomato-Bacon Concasse tonight, a pasty sounds even better. I take issue with the Deliverance type folk. They’s good peepul up there. Creepy? Da Yoopers Tourist Trap is creepy? Cheesy, kitsch-y, etc. but creeeepy? Personally, I think the Lower Peninsula is Creepy. Ishpeming is just a little… different, I’d say. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/11 "2001-07-09T20:31:12Z")
Oh, I’m not talking about the store in front. I’m talking about the…displays…in back. _shudder_ I lied. Apparently I’ve been blotting out a few memories. I moved up to the UP in late '80. God. That means 12 years of full residence plus 4 years intermittent. No wonder I’m scarred. There are small colonies of Deliverance type peoples in the UP, but not nearly as many as in the Lower Peninsula. They make up for it by being more inbred, though. ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/12 "2001-07-09T20:39:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*Hmmm… you managed to get SUNBURNT in the UP in early July?!? I’m not buyin’ it. I think you’re just a yooper wannabe, and got that sunburn down in troll country. 'taint enough sun in da UP to make a sunburn… \*\* I’m with you, Athena. You’ll also note that there was no life-and-death struggle with a giant U.P. mosquito in her story. BG - You were within about 15 miles of my house, about a half-hour or so before you got to Kalkaska. ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/13 "2001-07-09T20:46:05Z")
What! And you didn’t invite us over for dinner?! What kind of troll hospitality is that? 😃 Actually, the Giant Killer Skeeter was **blown away** by the freakin’ 35 mph winds we seemed to have every day. **Athena** , if I ever get off my butt and make pasties this month (I really have been planning to do so!), I’ll figure out a way to send you a frozen one via FedEx. Just to ease the homesickness, ya know! ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/14 "2001-07-09T20:52:44Z")
\ PREVIEW PREVIEW PREVIEW. Us yoopers ain’t that smart, y’know… Mmmm… Homemade pasties from BunnyGirl. Yeahyeahyeahyeah! 'course, I’ll be up der the first two weeks of August. You shoulda come up then, BunnyGirl! We coulda had a minidopefest! ---
**Author:** ![Milossarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Milossarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Milossarian)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2001, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/15 "2001-07-09T22:59:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*What! And you didn’t invite us over for dinner?! What kind of troll hospitality is that? \*\* Hey, my ramen noodles are your ramen noodles, babe. ---
**Author:** ![Strainger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strainger/32/244_2.png) [@Strainger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strainger)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2001, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/16 "2001-07-10T17:02:22Z")
Thanks for the lesson, **BunnyGirl**. I had thought that you made a typo on “past **r** ies.” However, my smart-assedness still stands. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![BunnyGirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@BunnyGirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BunnyGirl)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2001, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-u-p-vacation/71820/17 "2001-07-11T14:35:57Z")
Heard a good joke from my Dad last night: Q. Did you know they have 3 seasons in the U.P? A. Yeah, winter, July and hunting. 😃