Ironwood, Michigan, United StatesSaturday - Rodeway Inn - 160 E Cloverland Drive, Ironwood, MI, US
So I was up before 7 am but didn't leave the motel until 9ish.
I guess I had a leisurely breakfast and took awhile to pack up plus a shower and some laundry. I had done some organizing last night but not much more this morning. I still have the sleeping bags in the front and the food in back under the cover with all the other things in between. I have given some thought to reorganizing but I don't really want to do in a hotel parking lot.
I set off for the Shipwreck Museum. The GPS said something like 15 miles. I hadn't realized I was so close. Somewhere I saw that they have accommodation somewhere in Whitefish, but I doubt there would have been anything available last night. The last 11 miles seemed to take forever. Finally the GPS said I was there and I saw a parking lot and a lighthouse and some bright, white buildings. To my surprise - since I had put in Whitefish Point, I was at the Museum. I hadn't seen any signs - I guess Michigan is not big on signs of any kind - road signs with route numbers, commerical signs...etc. I was happy though because now I didn't have to look further. I did arrive before the 10 am opening time, so I went for a walk on the beach and then on a sanctuary bird walk trail (Seney National Wildlife Refuge - Trail to the Point). I have to admit that I have not noticed much wildlife here in Michigan...besides a few ducks, hearing the loons and some other birds. I did see a chipmunk one day, a few cows in the fields and a horse or two. So on my walk to the sanctuary I noticed that I saw no plovers, not even any gulls - nothing.
Later today I did see a couple of gulls flying over the beach. It does seem weird. The other thing that I realized this afternoon after leaving the vacation land of the Upper Peninsula to driving in more sort of farmland in the western part of UP, I didn't see any more cows, or sheep, goats, horses - no farm animals. There are lots of dogs around though. There is one next door to me in the Rodeway.
So after my beach walks on the wonderful sand with rounded pebbles of various sizes - all beautiful - I went into the first of the buildings - the Shipwreck Museum proper. It was here that the Edmund Fitzgerald went down with all its crew - here at Whitefish Point - and they were playing Garnett Rogers rendition of the song that I am familiar with - Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald - when I first went in. I also visited the lifeboat house, the lighthouse master's house and crew quarters, the US Navy Radio Building that had exhibits on diving recovery of the wrecks and the story of the single survivor of the wreck of the Daniel Morrell. The video with his interview is very sobering. The exhibit mentions that he suffered greatly from the effects of his experience - both physically and mentally - but , when he got better, he decided to share his story. I went into the fudge and gift shop and came out with nothing. The Museum was quite well done and I enjoyed it. There were some of the buildings that were not open - I suspect Covid-related.
And I did appreciate the location - I had a chance to walk on the beach and through the trees, smell the fresh air and gaze at the crystal clear water. That is another impression of Michigan - that beautifully clear water!
On the way from the Museum, I stopped in the town of Paradise to look for mozzarella in the grocery store, but only found some gatorade. As I was putting them in my cooler bag, I noticed a food truck opening up for the day. I meant to take a photo but didn't - I think it was TJs Fresh Fish. In any case, he advertised Jessie's favorite smoked whitefish dip so I tried it. I thought it was great but there wasn't much for 7 dollars - about as much as what is in those little tuna fish cans. It came with plaiin saltine crackers. I really liked it though. They probably won't have so much fish across the midwest. From Paradise, I took another road that cut between the one north to Whitefish Point and Rt 28 to Munising. This road was also marked as scenic and was very similar to rt 58 that Kara and I thought was pretty but not really scenic. My other image of Michigan besides immaculate lawns is pointy trees. This road had lots of pointy trees. Sooner or later I made it to Munising and stopped for gas and money from the ATM. I was also hoping for pasties but I missed what opportunities there were, passed them by and didn't turn back. I should have.
From Munising, I debated how far to go. One part of me thought it would be great to camp by some little lake as Kara and I had done earlier in the trip and the other part of me was skeptical that there would be any vacancies and I would just waste time looking.
...as well as the feeling that it was time to move on. There were some other recommended spots in Michigan but they were farther north on roads that led there and back....so I sort of aimed for the town of Ironwood close to the Wisconsin border. I did try to see what was around - campgrounds, hotels....I would slow down a little and then pass by. Once they were behind me, they were gone forever.
I did make one stop on the Lake Superior shore at a rest stop to snack on some of Kara's mixed nuts that she left me. (Lake Superior Roadside Park MI) I saw bunches of people in the water down the sandy cliff of sorts. A man came by and asked if I had been in the water and when I said no, he said there were probably black flies down there - that was why no one was sitting on the beach itself. It was a short stop.
The weather today was very blustery and the car got knocked around the road a bit. At times dark clouds threatened rain but aside from a few drops on the windshield, there was no real rain. Fear of rain, however, was another deterrent to finding a campsite. The last section was a straight hour and a half on rt 2 maybe, or was it 41? After a detour around Marquette MI, I moved from 28 to rt 41. I can hear the people nextt door to me talking - but not what they are saying.
On arriving in Ironwood, I passed by several motels, then pulled in to a Americana by Wyndham which was fully booked. The receptionist said I could try some down the road.
I tried Hopper and found two - both more expensive than I really wanted, but I settled for the cheaper one - a Rodeway Inn. Across the street is a Family Dollar or something similar. The area seems rather rundown, as does the Rodeway Inn. The room is OK - large, fairly bright, clean but the outside is shabby for sure - grass poking up in the parking lot, holes in the concrete. It could be a consequence of Covid as Kara and I found in the Grand Rapids motel we stayed at.
I am down the hall on the first floor - closer to the side door - and since my packing by function means that I have to bring in everything to get the bits I need, I drag in a lot of stuff so I asked if I could use the side door. The receptionist was OK with that even though the door only opens from the inside, he said I could prop it open while I was bringing stuff in. That was nice of him. He took forever to check me in - even though I suspect Hopper gave him all my information. He forgot to tell me about breakfast, or wifi. When I asked about breakfast, he said there was coffee, some cereal, toast, nothing fancy. I could have predicted that. I have settled in since arriving at 6:30 or so. I ate my hummus and pita chips with a tomato, drank some of this morning's coffee and had 3 dates for dessert.
I will try to upload my lumix photos and then probably go to sleep extra early tonight.
2025-05-22