Friday, June 20, 2014

Happy Birthday, Greg!!

Woke to rain, so rolled over a few times.  Then had a good breakfast of ham and egg tortillas, blueberries and coffee.

First stop Calumet Visitor Center which had a nice exhibit about the history of the area, including lots about copper mining.  From 1840’s  to 1946 this was big business with miners working 10 hour shifts.  Many miners came from Ireland, Cornwall, Scandanavia and other parts of Europe. It was a dangerous job and some worked only long enough to establish farms or other businesses, but there were families who worked the mines for generations.  The winters were harsh – as this anonymous poem in a local paper describes.

  It’s winter in Michigan

And the gentle breezes blow,

Seventy miles and hour

And thirty-five below

Oh, how I love Michigan

When the snow’s up to your butt.

You take a breath of winter air

And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful,

So I guess I’ll hang around.

I could never leave Michigan

‘Cause I’m frozen to the ground.

But, I digress…. 

 In 1913 there was a mining strike.  The Union put on a Christmas party in Italian Hall to help the miners who had little.  Someone turned in a Fire alarm and over 70 people, mostly children who had been waiting to see Santa, were killed in the mad stampede. There was no fire.

Monument at Italian Hall site.

In 1860 Michigan was producing 95% of the nation’s copper, but by 1900 production in Montana and the west overtook Michigan.  Mines here were underground and production costs were too high, so the boom turned to bust. There is still a lot of copper here, but it isn't economically feasible to mine it.

We stopped at a shop called Copper World which had some interesting pieces and drove by the Italian Hall monument.  Still raining.

Passed this snowfall record sign for Keweenaw County.  That’s a lot of snow!! Though they had a lot last year, it wasn’t a record.  But the cold was.

The rain finally let up as we meandered up to the tip of the Keweenaw to Copper Harbor which had a nice lighthouse.  We drove up to an overlook on Brockway Mountain,

then headed down the west side of the peninsula.  With a little trepidation we look for Misery Bay Road, and then Agate Beach where we collected pretty rocks.  Saw several deer in the area and a pair of sandhill cranes.

 

Apple blossoms

 The Jampot, a bakery run by 6 Brothers of the Society of St. John, who have a monastery nearby was next on the agenda.  Had to laugh because it is a tiny place basically in the middle of nowhere and there was a huge Sysco Foods delivery truck there.  Bryan says they are everywhere and we can vouch for that, as this isn’t the first we’ve seen out in “the boonies”.  The Monk we spoke with said they go through lots of flour and sugar.  They had many varieties of fruitcakes and lots of jams and jellies.  We bought some Apricot/Raspberry Jam and a chocolate brownie – birthday brownie?

Greg liked their parking sign.

Thimbleberry plants near the Jampot.  They look like red raspberries when ripe, but are tart.  Lots of jams and jellies made with them.

Jacob's Falls

Eagle River Falls

Passed Jacob’s Falls, Eagle River Falls and landed in Houghton.  After googling restaurants for a birthday dinner,  we found a Finnish one that sounded interesting, but it was closed.  We ended up at  Joey’s Seafood and Grill which was very busy - we considered a good sign.  Had crab/artichoke dip and fish and chips from fresh perch, which was tasty.  

Went to Walmart and the skies clouded up and temperature dropped to 49 by 7 PM.  No northern lights again tonight.

Lift Bridge in Houghton

Greg was serenaded by Brett and Dave and talked with Mom and Matt.   This Walmart is obviously a highschool hangout and it was somewhat entertaining to watch the kids driving in and out, changing vehicles, etc.