Michigan's Upper Peninsula Travel Blog

I hope everyone had a good Memorial Day weekend! The weather was really nice around here with lots of sun and reasonable temperatures. During the middle of last week we had our first 80+ degree day, which is extremely rare for the time of year. It officially reached 83 degrees but the kicker is it was only in the 40s the day before! One day your’re wearing a sweatshirt, the next day your’re breaking out the shorts.

With Memorial Day weekend being the “official” start of the summer travel season, most of the area attractions are now up and running. Please make sure to visit the Attractions webpage to see what the Munising area has to offer. From boat cruises to shipwreck tours and casino fun, we have something for everyone.

Grand Island bus tour stop

One attraction that isn’t very well known is the Grand Island Interpretive Bus Tour, operated by ALTRAN bus service. After taking a short ferry ride to Grand Island, you’ll hop on a bus for a 2 1/2-3 hour narrated tour of this unique island. The tour includes scenic overlooks, beautiful beaches, inland lakes, historical buildings and nature walks in a peaceful setting. The tour features 9 site stops so you can truly experience Grand Island’s beauty! The bus tour runs from June 15th thru October 5th. They are also handicap accessible and non-smoking. Plan now to make a visit to Grand Island and take the tour!

For the most part, it looks like winter is finally over. The weather has been comfortable for the last several days and yesterday we had our first major thunderstorm of the season, complete with hail. Tomorrow looks to be a different story, though, with highs predicted only to be in the 40s with a chance of snow! I don’t think (or hope) there will be any accumulation. My snowblower is in hibernation for the year!

In review, the 2008-2009 winter was a great one compared to years past. We had snow on the ground before deer season (Nov. 15th) and it lasted well into April. A majority of the snow fell during the early part of season and was pretty much done by March. It was colder than normal which contributed to Lake Superior being 95% froze over. When the lake freezes over, it puts a stop to our lake-effect snow. Also, many of the major snow storms stayed south of the U.P.  and prevented a record snowfall. Listed below is the total snowfall amount for the city of Munising. For the areas outside of town, and to the east of Munising, they received well over 300 inches of snow for the year! Unless we get a freak May storm, this should be it.

City of Munising
2008-2009: 230.9″
last year: 161.1″
National Weather Service data

With the beautiful sunshine today, I took a drive to the scenic overlook just off M28 on the west side of town. Below is what I saw. You’ll notice we’re still waiting for the leaves to appear.

(Click to enlarge) Grand Island on the left, Sand Point on the right and Pictured Rocks straight ahead.

Wildflowers are starting to appear in the woods.

Happy Mother’s Day!