Sightseeing on the UP: Tahquamenon Falls, and more!

Memories of that trip in '93 are coming back to me...

The twins were 15 months old and I decided that it would be fun to take a hike through the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to see one of the highest waterfalls in that part of the country. To get there, we left Mackinac City, crossed the Mighty Mac (I remember thinking that as unnerving as it was crossing that bridge on a misty, low 50's late summer day, I couldn't imagine crossing in the winter with the wind howling and the snow flying - plan your visit in July, Bruce!), and drove into some pretty pristine wilderness. At a critical juncture on the trip, the (barely) paved road went straight ahead, but the dirt road to the left was our route. We blew past the turn, but turned back, fearing that we were going the wrong way. A small diner was located at the "intersection" (such as it was); we grabbed cups of coffee and confirmed that the dirt road was indeed the correct route.

After we had traveled about 5 miles, we began to worry that we were lost (again). Not that we could have made a wrong turn, as there were no turns to be made, but all that we could see were 40+ foot evergreens on either side of the dirt road, and not a soul around. Angela congratulated me on having discovered the middle of nowhere. But we pressed on, and eventually reached our destination: The Tom Sawyer riverboat cruise. This was a rickety old boat that we shared with about 25-30 senior citizens and one other young couple. The young couple's great contribution to the trip was that they packed Cranberry Newtons, a new entry in the previously stodgy fig-only Fig Newton line-up. They graciously shared them with Dom and Emmy.

When the boat finished its trip up river, we got out for about a 1/2 mile hike. Angela and I each had a backpack with a kid and lots of parenting stuff, and trekked along a muddy path to reach the top of the falls. There was a log "staircase" built into the side of the sheer wall that led to the bottom of the falls. My main thought was that not all of those seniors were going to make it back up, and that Angela and I would be performing CPR. However, no collapsing oldsters marred the day, and we got to view the falls top and bottom. In truth, the falls weren't worth a long trip, but the long trip was enough fun in its own right to have been worth it.

We then hiked back to the riverboat (another memory of that boat was the gosh-awful PA system; I don't think I understood a single word the guide said!), got to our car, and headed out to St. Catherine's. We didn't have a special plan to go to St. Catherine's per se; it's just that the travel guide showed the prices there versus Niagara Falls, another 10 miles on, and the prices were half those in the Falls. We stopped for dinner along the way in Barrie, Ontario, at a "mall", which defined "rustic" but strained to reach our idea of a "mall". I do remember the people being extraordinarily nice, doting on the twins, and making us feel welcome. I also remember heading south toward Toronto, and approaching SkyDome on the main highway. Little did I know what was to occur there a few short weeks later.

So it was on to a HoJo in St. Catherine's for the evening, and then The Maid of the Mist the next day. Another memory of that trip was how disappointing Niagara Falls, New York was as a city: crappy, touristy, dirty. I remember we went to the supposed visitor's center in a dingy, dirty mall with lots of empty storefronts and a Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. The Canadian side had a beautiful garden, small cafes, and was clean. I generally don't go in for America-bashing, but it applies in this case.

The Maid of the Mist tour got off to an inauspicious start: Dom had fallen asleep and was known to be a real slug when it came to have to carry him. When it came time to don the slickers before boarding the boat, we laid out his slicker on the concrete walkway, placed Dom on top, and wrapped him up as we picked him up. The photo I mentioned in the earlier post was made funnier by the exasperated visage of Angela, who now had to hold two kids, including the normally hard-to-handle (and now also wet) Domenic in addition to Emmy, so that I could take pictures. She managed a smile when I took her picture, but it was through clenched teeth!

That night we left Niagara Falls and headed east through the Finger Lakes region, the first time I had been in this part of the state. We stayed in Elmira, but backtracked to Corning the next morning to check out the Museum of Glass, which was a surprise find - totally unexpected, but a real treat, even with rambunctious 15-month-old twins on our backs. We had to cut short the visit to hit the road and ensure our arrival in Wilkes-Barre for the rehearsal dinner. I also remember getting a bit lost coming off the highway, but we made it. Now every time we pass the Bear Creek Road exit on our way to Philly we are reminded of the wedding and the magnificent journey that preceded it.