Upper Peninsula Vacation to Mackinac Island, Soo Locks and more...

I will never forget my first vacation to the Upper Peninsula. In 1981, my folks decided to take my brother (Chris) and me to Mackinac Island, the Soo Locks, and Tahquamenon Falls. It was the most enjoyable vacation I can remember!

Our first stop was at the viewing area, on the St. Ignace side, for the Mackinac Bridge. I had never seen Lake Michigan so blue, and the bridge was magnificent.

As we got into Mackinaw City, Chris and I spotted Fort Michilimackinac.

So that was our second stop. It was very interesting to see the inside of a fort, and watch the re-enactment of the battle

We stoped down by the Mackinaw Marina to admire the yatchs before we headed out to Mackinac island.(Hummm... Maybe some day)

Our third stop was Mackinaw Island. There are several ways to see the Island, you can rent a bike, a horse, or take a horse drawn carriage. No motorized vehicles allowed!

We decided to take a horse drawn carriage tour around the Island (the safest choice for Dad & Mom ;-) so we could see all the natural beauty the island had to offer.

Even though I remember so much of this tour, the one place that stands out in my mind is the Arch Rock.

After a long day of sight seeing, we decided to find a hotel in Mackinaw City. We soon found out that we really should have done this ahead of time. After what felt like hours, we got lucky and found a one room cabin with two beds. After a night’s sleep (with Dad snoring all night) we were off to tour the Soo Locks. What a wonderful experiences it was. The boat we were on seemed so big until we entered the locks. What an incredible man made structure.

We stayed in Sault-Saint Marie for the night in a cute little hotel with a outdoor pool. Chris and I were hungry so we all decided to go walking around to see what we could find to eat. We kept seeing all these people carrying pizza boxes, so we stopped and asked where they got it. It was the cutest little pizza shop, where they made their own crust in front of a big glass window so you could watch. The pizza was wonderful… I sure wish I could remember the name of it. Ok, so off to Tahquamenon Falls. This was my favorite place of all. We started at the Upper Falls, and then went to the Lower Falls. We had so much fun playing in the river and under the falls. I recently went back a few years ago with Jim and we again had a wonderful time. I think we may have stopped at one other falls, but for some reason I do not remember which one it was. (Humm, maybe because it was like 24 yrs ago).

Anyway off we went heading to my Grandma’s house. (She lived in Marinette, Wisconsin). We came across Cut River Bridge. My folks decided to stop, and were we glad they did. It is such a kool place. This bridge sits a whopping 746 feet above sea level and 159 feet above Lake Michigan. There were paths so you could walk under the bridge down to the Cut River.

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