In Which We Go Up North

Michigan is an interesting state. The Lower Peninsula is shaped rather like a mitten, so if you ever see inhabitants of the state holding up their hand and pointing to a spot, they may be indicating where they were born or lived. Mitt Romney has been know to do this. On the other side of the magnificent Mackinac Bridge (pronounced Mackinaw) is the Upper Penninsula, the land of Youpers. Escanaba in Da Moonlight, anyone? Maybe I will give you more of a history/geography lesson one day. I'm sure you would like to hear the story of how I, a neophyte driver at the time, drove across the Upper Peninsula and, as we neared the bridge,started looking for a place to exchange drivers, suddenly finding myself driving across the bridge, the third longest suspension bridge in the world.

This trip was to spend a few days with a friend in Cheboygan at his cottage on Lake Huron, at the northernmost tip of the Lower Peninsula. (I'll also have to give you a lesson on why vacation homes are always described as cottages, even though in many cases they are grander than our main residence.) I also have to write on the rather vague "up north", as in "I went camping up north" or "We went hunting up north". If you Google "up north", most of the early references are to Michigan. I was looking forward to all kinds of photo ops. Here's one I took right after we got there looking down his winding "driveway"—

and not long afterwards it started to rain and the beautiful leaves and ferns and mosses were flattened. We did get a walk down to the beach before it rained and we could see the bridge in the distance and a few tankers making their way down towards the Detroit river. 

The weather was not a problem. There was a lovely stove and couches to stretch out on and we all had plenty to read. Each day there was an expedition: down to the Cheboygan Opera House, buying white fish at the Big Stone Bay Fishery, searching for esoteric information at the Public Library (they had it) and the enormous lunch at Mulligans. Then it was nap time.

For me, most of the joy of taking a trip is seeing my own surroundings through different eyes when I return. Our friend has just retired after forty four years working at the university. We certainly hope he invites us again.