Michigan's Upper Peninsula Travel Blog

We’re into the second week of the firearm deer season and the number of deer taken seems to be better this year. With our mild winter and early spring, last year, it was less harsh on the deer herd. The local TV station and area newspapers have displayed some really nice bucks taken by U.P. hunters. The deer should be even more active this week as the temperature and future forecast has become a lot colder. We’re still waiting for our first big snowfall of the year but this week looks pretty good for that. The future weather forecast is showing snow showers for the rest of the week and temperatures below freezing. This is good for all the winter enthusiasts and reality for those that don’t like winter!

If you’ve been super busy and still haven’t bought or made plans for your Thanksgiving dinner, head to the Brownstone Inn (in AuTrain) for a delicious dinner. The Brownstone Inn will be serving a “grandma-style” fixed menu dinner from Noon to 6pm on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 25th. Volunteers, from a local charity, will serve the dinner and the proceeds will go to their cause. Call (906) 892-8332 to make reservations as they are highly recommended.

We hope you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving. Please be safe on the roads as they’ll probably be slippery here in the U.P. and just maybe the Lions can pull out a Thanksgiving Miracle against the Patriots!

The unofficial Yooper holiday of the opener for the firearm deer season kicked off this morning and what a great morning it was. The weather was perfect as the temperatures were near or below freezing and some areas had a light dusting of snow. The forecast is looking nice for the rest of the week with much of the same and no major warm-ups.

You may be asking yourself, “Why is this a Yooper holiday?” Although not a federally recognized holiday, for generations, Yoopers and non-Yoopers have been venturing in to the Upper Peninsula wilderness in search of the mighty buck. On the opener and for the rest of the 16-day hunting season, you’ll find businesses closed and families keeping their children home from school as they head to “camp.” Besides the actual hunting, spending time with family and friends at camp is a great experience. You typically eat, drink and laugh a lot while you’re at camp and worry about sleep when you get back home.

As for the actual hunting, there’s something about sitting in the woods for several hours and blending in with nature. It sounds dull but it’s actually pretty cool. Watching the wild animals interact with each other and hoping to see the monster buck will keep you on your toes.

Good luck to all the hunters and check out this website: www.deer.fw.msu.edu to keep up-to-date on the hunting season.

Walkway leading to the Veteran's Memorial in Munising

Today is Veteran’s Day and I’d like to take a moment to thank all the veterans and active duty for putting their lives on the line so we can continue to enjoy our daily freedoms. Also, I offer eternal thankfulness to those that made the ultimate sacrifice to protect our nation’s values. Without your sacrifice, our many freedoms would have been stripped from us. On a personal note, I’d like to thank my relatives who served this country as well as my brother who’s currently deployed to Iraq.

Locally, if you’d like to take some time to pay your respects, Munising has a beautiful Veteran’s Memorial located next to Bayshore Park. The Memorial pays tribute to all those that have served this great country and features some of the names of those who have served locally.

Thank you veterans!

A couple weeks ago, famous rock musician, and Michigan native, Kid Rock and his film crew visited the Munising area to film video clips for his upcoming music video, “Born Free.” Well, yesterday the music video was officially released on MTV! Most of the music video features shots from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore including Miners Beach, Miners Castle and Sand Point. I think they did a great job of capturing the area’s beauty and we’re very fortunate to have all of this in our backyard.

Here’s the video:

Another cold air blast has hit the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. This time around we’re getting strong north winds which is causing some lake-effect snow bands to develop. The big winner yesterday was Newberry, MI as they received 2 inches of snow. Still not enough to fire up those snowmobiles or get out the snowshoes but it’s definitely on people’s minds. The future forecast is showing temperatures rising slightly over the weekend and into next week so winter hasn’t set in quite, yet. The good thing about this cold weather, though, is it will definitely be a help to the hunters looking to bag the big buck. With the firearm deer season just around the corner (November 15th to be exact), the deer seem to become more active with colder temperatures and hunters will tend to see more deer moving around during the day.

EVENT:
This Saturday, November 6th is the annual Fall Bazaar at the Sacred Heart Church in Munising. The event will run from 10am-1pm. Click for directions.