Today was another picture perfect day. We were on the road and crossing the bridge by 9:15am. Our next overnight was Manistique – only 90+ miles away. We would have plenty of time to visit the two attractions in the area I wanted to see – Kitch-iti-kipi Spring and Fayette State Park – before having supper with Ken’s friend Dave who lives near Fayette SP.
The first half of the journey was along the shore of Lake Michigan. Very scenic. If we were interested in swimming, there are several pullouts to park along the beach. But we’re not beach people. We don’t even use the swimming pool at his house.
We did make one stop at the Cut River Bridge. This is a lovely roadside park I can remember stopping at many times.There are steps and trails down to the river 147’ below and along the river to Lake Michigan. We just stuck to the paved trail that leads under the bridge to an overlook.
We got into Manistique late morning, far too early to check in, so continued on to Kitch-iti-kipi Spring, only 10 miles away. “Two hundred feet across, the forty foot deep Kitch-iti-kipi is Michigan’s largest Spring. Over 16,000 gallons a minute gush from fissures in the underlying limestone.” They’ve strung a cable across the spring and there is a raft with an open center that runs along the cable. A neat little attraction.
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| Raft pulling up to the dock | Ken moving the raft |
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| Ken peering into the depths | Trout |
We went back to Manistique for lunch at the Upper Crust Café Bakery & Deli. This was a Yelp suggestion. Very good half sandwich and soup. We sat outside and watched a fishing boat across the river being prepped.
The afternoon was spent at Fayette Historic State Park. This park was built around the company town of Fayette, “once one of the Upper Peninsula’s most productive iron-smelting operations.” The blast furnaces were in production from 1867-1891. “Today, twenty structures, including the furnace complex, business district and employees’ homes, recall the daily life of this industrial community.”
After leaving the park, we headed over to David’s for a visit ending by going over to Sherry’s Port Bar for supper. I had the pan-fried whitefish.
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