6 Important Things to Know About Before Visiting Michigan’s Upper Peninsula

This June and July, we visited Michigan’s Upper Peninsula for the first time.  It was completely different than anywhere else I’d been in the U.S.  So, if you’re thinking of visiting anytime soon below are our big take-aways.

1.  Yoopers live in the North

 

Most grade schoolers from Michigan learn to show people where they live in the state by pointing to a spot on their hand.  It’s remarkably close to the shape of Michigan…unless you remember the Upper Peninsula.  

Apparently, forgetting about the UP is a major point of irritation among those who live in there.  It’s not a small area either.  The UP is 29% of Michigan’s land mass.  It’s nearly twice the size of New Jersey.  Nonetheless, apparently there are maps where the UP seems to have been annexed over to Wisconsin, or even worse…Canada.  

Despite all their angst about being “forgotten” by Michigan, the locals in the UP don’t actually seem to want to call themselves Michiganders.  They prefer Yoopers (i.e., phonetically pronouncing out “UPers”).  

Yoopers are definitely a breed apart from their southern peninsula brethren.  Some of my conversations with them left me reeling.  They’re a pretty stoic bunch.  Perhaps it’s their Finnish heritage.  Or maybe it’s all that time spent out snowmobiling in the cold.  Whatever it is, you’ll definitely know when you meet a Yooper.

 

2.  Pasties – the upper peninsula’s regional dish

 

The first time I saw a sign advertising pasties, I thought, “what the heck?!?”  Did they misspell pastry?  After seeing it a dozen or more times though, I knew it must actually be something, and my curiosity was piqued.   

As it turns out, a pasty is a turnover filled with meat and cubed potatoes.  It’s very similar to an empanada or a handheld pot pie.  I also learned it is NOT pronounced like pastry without the ‘r.’  It sounds more like ‘pah-stee.’  

After passing pasty stores for about 200 miles, we broke down and tried some in Munising.  The place we visited not only boasted the best pasties in the UP, but they offered traditional meat pasties, vegetarian pasties, and dessert pasties.  After trying them, I’m a hug fan, and you will be too if you decide to visit. 

 

 

3.  Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

 

This place was one of the main reasons we wanted to visit the UP.  I’d seen numerous photos of this gorgeous location.  Plus, everyone I’d every talked to from Michigan recommended a visit there.  

I have to confess something though.  I really struggle with saying its name.  It just doesn’t roll of my tongue very easily.  During our time there, I definitely slaughtered the name of this picturesque shoreline at least 20 times.  First, I kept calling it painted rocks.  Then, when I finally got the “pictured rocks” part of the name straight, I kept wanting to call it a seashore instead of a lakeshore.  

No matter, it’s a great place to visit both on land and from the water.  If you want more details on our various adventures while we were there- from hiking, visiting lighthouses, to kayaking in Lake Superior on the 4th of July, click HERE.

4.   The bugs are unreal

 

Ok, I know I already talked about this once when I discussed the Porkies, but it’s worth repeating… the bugs in the UP are insane in June and July!!  

We planned to hike a number of different trails in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, but after several short hikes on our first day there, the bugs made us think twice.  

When we got to 12 Mile Beach, there was actually a sign put up by the park rangers informing tourists that bug spray does not have any effect on the bugs there.  Instead, they recommended visitors cover up all exposed skin with long sleeves and pants.  I don’t know about you, but I don’t tend to bring my winter clothes to the beach in July.  So we got bitten.  A lot.  

Then we headed out to Au Train lighthouse, which was absolutely beautiful.  But, the bugs made it so hard to stand still that half our pictures are at weird canted angles.  We even ended up jogging the entire mile and a half back to where we parked as 12 Mile Beach because that was the only way to get any relief from the black flies. 

 

5.  Wood is plentiful in the upper peninsula

 

Want to build a campfire while you are visiting the UP?  No problem.  Everyone – and I mean everyone – seems to be selling firewood from their yard, driveway, gas station, and even the grocery store.  It’s impossible to drive more than a mile without seeing someone’s handmade sign advertising wood for sale.   There’s no need to purchase wood at the state park or from a local vendor.  There’s more firewood for sale in the UP than you can possibly imagine.

6.  Not all ice cream is recognizable

 

As a family, we are all about ice cream.  I think Keith’s fondest memory of his undergrad years at the University of Vermont was eating cartons of Ben & Jerry’s after track practice.  So it’s not surprising our enthusiasm for the scoops continued into our RV life.  

Once we got to the UP, we tried the local Jilbert ice cream at a roadside stop.  Like most ice cream companies, Jilbert has some flavors that are mainstream (vanilla, chocolate, cookie dough) and some flavors that are pretty to easy to guess based on their names (amaretto cherry, Mackinac Island fudge).  Where the challenge came in was with those flavor names that aren’t so descriptive.  

Here’s the back-and-forth conversation between me and the surly 16 year old girl running the ice cream counter at a local UP ice cream place.  It’s worth noting here that I could not see the ice cream from where I was ordering.  I could just see a dry erase board outside the shack with the names of the 12-15 flavors scrawled across it.

Me:  So, what exactly is Playdough ice cream?

Ice Cream Girl:  It’s like Blue Moon, but with cookie dough in it.

Me:  Ok… This may sound silly to you, but exactly is Blue Moon?  

ICG:  It’s a blue ice cream.

Me:  Well, that tells me what color it is, but what flavor is it?

ICG:  I don’t know.  It’s hard to explain.

Me:  Well, is it more like a fruit flavor? Or vanilla? Or what?

ICG:  It’s like…blue flavor.

Me:  Fine. We’ll take a scoop of Playdough.  

[Finn is 11.  He will eat anything that’s sugary and blue, so this wasn’t a huge compromise.  After tasting it, I think “blue” is a little like cotton candy.  Keith was up at bat next…]

Keith:  What flavor is This Just Got Serious?

ICG:  It’s hard to explain.

Keith:  Well, what’s in it?

ICG:  Caramel and some other stuff.  

Keith:  So is it a caramel ice cream?  Or is it a vanilla ice cream with caramel and stuff in it?

ICG:  It’s really kind of hard to explain.

[Keith ultimately ordered it because he’s NEVER turned down any dessert that had caramel in it.]

But as promised, our conversations with Yoopers would be…different.  And I didn’t feel nearly as bad when the people immediately behind us asked the same type of questions about the Yellow Brick Road ice cream.

I’m confident it was equally hard for Ice Cream Girl to explain that flavor for minimum wage too.