How My Trip to the Upper Peninsula Restored Faith in My Homeland

Unfortunately for myself and many fellow Americans, my spring international travel plans were torn apart by the current pandemic. I also lost my job at a travel agency because, well, no one could or wanted to travel. I was down about not being able to see friends in Spain or pursue a French love interest, and I wasn’t sure about next steps for a job. Fortunately for myself and many fellow Americans, I have friends who empathize with my travel bug. One particular friend happens to be a teacher with summers off.

My friend Megan shared my disappointment for not being able to travel abroad and suggested we make lemonade out of lemons and see some of the U.S. instead. After debating on whether or not it was a good idea to even travel domestically with the current climate, along with strong disapproval from my parents, I decided that, all things considered, my mental health was also important. Plus, now would be the perfect time for me to go on holiday before starting a new job where I probably wouldn’t be able to get time off work at any point soon. So, basically, I justified what I needed to.

We decided on a road trip to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan (also known as the U.P)- an uncharted territory for both parties. We would rent a car, as to not put miles on our own, and take it from Indiana, up through Wisconsin, into the U.P. and back down through Michigan. A perfect oval. Megan showed up to my place with an SUV that was larger than what I had imagined when we first planned the journey. This was due to an upgrade from the original choice not being available. We embraced the enhancement and fondly referred to the GMC Acadia as “The Magic School Bus” throughout our travels. It met all of our needs as excessive Americans with its heated seats, back up camera and impressive stereo system in which we would blast classic Phil Collins tunes, such as “Sussudio”, and I would display my rapping abilities to the song “California Love”.

I knew I had made the right decision to do the road trip after visiting a brewery we decided to check out solely because we liked the name when we saw the sign on the highway. At first glance, the site appeared to be closed, but we thought we’d try our luck anyway. It just so happened that the owner was present that afternoon- but only to do some renovations to the patio. However, since we were just passing through, he was kind enough to offer us a tour of the place. Then when we mentioned we were on vacation, he invited us to have a beer. He generously let us sample the majority of what was on tap, and we also got to meet his son who was learning Serbian. “But why Serbian?” you may ask, just as I did. Well, it was their family’s heritage, and after asking if they could visit, his father told him he could travel to Serbia once he spoke the language. Taking the comment seriously, the son taught himself through a variety of mediums, including attending church. As fellow language learners, we were impressed. He was actually planning on traveling there over the summer but had to put that on hold. I hope he is able to visit soon.

We spent less than 24 hours in Wisconsin, but I believe I tried enough cheese curds to last a lifetime. We even visited a cheese castle. It was magical. Other highlights of Wisconsin included the accents and infrastructure.

Our first stop in the Upper Peninsula was Bessemer. We treated ourselves to an AirBnB with an outdoor hot tub and what we thought was a kitchen. Come to find out, there is quite a large difference between a kitchen and a kitchenette. It did teach us some valuable lessons, though. Lesson one: you can, in fact, cook chicken in a toaster oven. Lesson two: you can cut open an avocado with the tiny knife found on a wine bottle opener. During our stay we visited Porcupine Mountains, where we saw quite a few waterfalls but regrettably no black bears.

As we were making our way east along the U.P., I kept on noticing restaurants and bakeries advertising pasties. For those who are unfamiliar, pasties are basically the U.K.’s version of an empanada. I tried one once before while I was in England, and it reminded me of a pot pie but in handheld form, so of course I had to compare it with the U.S. version. The pasty itself seemed to weigh about five pounds. It consisted of a pastry dough filled with meat, potatoes, carrots, onions and some other vegetables. I learned that most “Uppers” (or people from the U.P.; pronounced “you-per”) eat their pasty with ketchup, but one can also eat it with gravy or just have it plain. I still didn’t understand why they would be popular in Michigan, but luckily for us, we were about to become enlightened during our stay in Munising.

When we pulled into the parking lot at a local beach a man was eyeing our car more than usual. It could have been because we were changing into our bathing suits and hadn’t quite perfected the art of using only a towel for coverage, but it was actually because of the Magic School Bus’s license plate. “Did you drive all the way from Nevada?” He asked. At first we said yes but quickly told the truth about the rental car. The man told us he lived in Michigan half of the year and Colorado for the other. He was vacationing with his family and gave us all sorts of information about the beach: which side had less wind, how to get to the sandbar, which area was more secluded, etc. Perhaps this was more information than we required. He then proceeded to invite us to lay out near his family’s spot along with his son and his son’s girlfriend. Out of social pressure to not appear rude, we followed. We were immediately offered beer as well as vodka. Right on. We were asked by the son if we were “childhood friends or lesbian lovers”. Apparently those were the only two options. All sorts of conversational topics were covered during our encounter with them, including the mystery of the pasty. When Michigan was first being mined, there weren’t enough people to work in them, so they recruited the British. Not only did they bring their mining expertise, they also brought their recipes. Pasties were perfect for the miners because of their high caloric content and ease of consumption. One did not require any utensils to eat them, in fact, both hands weren’t even necessary. And they could cook them over the coals with their shovels. It was the ultimate filling and convenient meal. And while the mining industry disappeared over time in the state of Michigan, the pasty remained. Our random visit to the beach turned into a lovely afternoon, and by the end of our time we had exchanged contact information and received an invitation to visit their campsite in Michigan and/or their place in Colorado.

Since we were in the Pictured Rocks area, we decided to take advantage and do both a boat and kayak tour. On the boat we learned many fun facts about Lake Superior. For example, if one were to drain the entire lake, it would cover the continental U.S. in five feet of water and South American in two. That’s amazing! I have not taken the time to fact check that information in fear of the disappointment of being lied to. Another fun fact we learned is that it is not a good idea to sit towards the front of the boat on these sorts of tours. While you may get better views, you will also be constantly sprayed with water. The tour guides were gracious enough to give us plastic ponchos after we had already gotten wet. I believe they intentionally forgot. Oh, and one more fun fact: it is difficult to put said ponchos on when the boat is moving full speed ahead and the wind is blowing stronger than what you recalled at the start of the tour. The views were beautiful, though. The water looked turquoise, as if we were in the Caribbean, and we even saw our nation’s bird perched high above in one of the trees along the lake.

The second tour was a reminder to not judge a book by its cover. Immediately upon seeing our tour guides, we were making condescending comments about the “hippie bros” we were about to take us kayaking. Hopefully they didn’t understand Spanish or French. They didn’t seem the most trustworthy with their nonchalant attitudes and lack of proper footwear. However, once we got in the water we ended up receiving our own private tour from one of the guides, as we were lagging just a bit behind the rest of the group, and he wanted to make sure we were doing all right. He was extremely friendly, patient and taught us even more about the area. He told us about the red birds I accidentally almost hit when driving the Magic School Bus around the area that looked like herons. He said they were sandhill cranes, and they apparently mate for life. He had lived all over the States working as a guide for various companies- most recently dealing with sled dogs in Colorado. I asked why they weren’t wearing shoes on the gravel road when we were first bringing the equipment down to the lake. He laughed at the question and said it was a combination of forgetfulness and conditioning their feet. The guides unloaded the kayaks every morning and loaded them every evening and would either leave their shoes at the trucks or down by the lake. I have a lot more respect for them now. Seeing the rock formations from that angle was amazing, and we only rammed the kayak into said formations a few times. We were told that luckily the rocks didn’t fall too often. Great. On the tour we also learned that tandem kayaking is a way to put a couple’s communication skills to the test. Megan and I passed, of course. When we rode back to our cars in the company’s van, we chatted with the other passengers. They were from another part of Michigan camping for vacation. They were kind and had many recommendations about what to do in the area. They wished us a great rest of our vacation, and we were ready for a well-deserved night’s sleep.

One of our final stops to rest our heads before returning to Indiana turned out to be a hotel attached to a casino. Megan claims she didn’t know when she booked it, but I think she wanted to try and get rich on our holiday. Since we were there, I suggested we register with the casino as new members to see if they give out any free play money. Because it was our first time visiting and we were from out of the state, we received a whopping thirteen dollars in play money. I normally have Lady Luck on my side when I visit casinos, so I was able to turn that into ten dollars of real money at a slot machine. Hey, it would at least buy us some coffees and passage through a few tolls. Oh, and a new pick-up line I heard due to the pandemic (because no longer can we see a person’s entire face when out in public): “I never forget a pretty eyebrow line.”

We were fortunate enough to have pleasant weather during the majority of our trip. It didn’t get too humid, and we always had sun. The last day was a bit on the overcast side, but we were still able to get some beach time in, and the average weather was made up by the above average blueberries and cherries I purchased at a local Farmers Market. I was able to add to my rock collection as well, which included one that I had been told looked like a flying bird, a shark tooth and also a velociraptor claw.This time we changed from our swimsuits into our other clothes in front of a Catholic church with the Lord as our witness. I’m sure it was nothing He hadn’t already seen before.

I have to admit that since I started traveling abroad I may have become a bit of a “travel snob”, always preferring international locations. For me, stepping outside of the borders meant more excitement and more experiences to grow from. This road trip reminded me that you can have a lot of fun in your own country and learn about yourself and others if you open up to the opportunity. I experienced true hospitality during my travels and discovered that I don’t need the exoticness of another country to meet many great people. If you’re craving adventure now, try having a look in your own backyard.