Marquette, Michigan

     I'm tired. We started our day by driving through downtown Marquette.  It is a really pretty town with some well maintained, big, old homes. In the late 19th century, during the height of iron mining, Marquette was nationally known as a summer haven. Great Lakes Steamships brought visitors who filled the city's hotels and resorts.  Downtown Marquette still has many of these beautiful old buildings.  I especially liked a whole series of homes that had fancy scalloped siding on the gables - just perfectly preserved.
   In looking for things to do in Michigan, I read about an overlook called Sugarloaf Mountain just outside Marquette.  It is 470 feet above Lake Superior with a 350* view.  There were two routes to the top  - Easy and Difficult.  Ha.  For an old lady with a bad knee there was no "easy" way up.  The path was actually pretty smooth for the first third - gravel with a gentle up slope.  Then the path became steeper, rougher sections interspersed with flights of stairs.  The final section was stairs, stairs, and.... more stairs.  But I made it.  Wow, the view was just spectacular and I have a picture to prove I was there.
     We sat for a while and chatted with folks who were also enjoying the view.  Folks with toddlers strapped to their backs, a guy recovering from a triple bypass, a a little kid who kept running away from his grandparents.  Yikes - we were high and this kid is just running around.
    After we staggered back to the car - going past a group of 20ish folks at the half-way point who wondered if they should keep going because they were tired.  I looked for a place for lunch and found a nearby spot called Jean Kay's Pasties which turned out to be one of the "don't miss" sites in Upper Michigan.  We had a traditional pastie which was a wonderful mix of beef, potato and onion baked into a flaky crust.  Delicious.
     After lunch we drove around Presque Isle Park which is on a peninsula in Lake Superior.  Lots of pretty beaches and overlooks.  We could see the ore docks with train cars unloading ore.  Our drive back took us along the Marquette lakefront where lots of new condos have been built.  The city has really taken advantage of this scenic area with many small parks and beaches.
    We spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the sunshine and icing my knee.  It is just perfect weather for spending the day outdoors.