Day 13: Wednesday, June 23nd
BIG DAY today. Betsy's 60th Birthday. That means I am now officially married to an old lady. How did this happen??!!
I got up around 5:00 and had my coffee on the beach in the company of a Veery and Winter Wren. The predawn horizon was an orangey pink and the temp a cool 56 with just a light breeze blowing. Very quiet here this time of the morning.
Just about sunrise Pam emerged from her room. She looked surprised to see me. She said she had come out "to offer a Tai-Chi prayer to the sunrise", or something like that. I watched as Pam went through her moves.
Later, Betsy had her coffee on the beach as well and soaked in the calm. At some point Pam re-emerged from her room and started singing Happy Birthday to her (I had clued Pam in the day before). Then Pam gave Betsy some advise about retirement and " youthing". Pam is a bit of a kook, but certainly an interesting and lovable one! I consider Betsy and I lucky we happened to be at the same place at the same time as she was. I am sure Pam would say this was all pre-ordained. ;)
We spent part of the morning packing up and loading the car. It was time to head south and find some more interesting places. We had originally planned to spend the night at Union Bay Campground in the Porkies but I was champing at the bit to get some webwork done after 3 days of no internet access. So, we decided on an overnight in Houghton where we could have a nice Birthday dinner and stay at a hotel with WiFi.
When we said our good-byes to Pam she had several suggestions for places to see in Houghton.
Lodging: The Super 8. This is not what Betsy and I would normally choose but Pam said it was right on the River and good place to stay.
The Library: Also right on the river. Pam thought it was really cool how when you used the computer stations you were only feet away from water.
Pam also suggested an organic farm to the south of Houghton as worth a visit.
At 9:45 we said good-bye to the Shoreline and hoped for a return in the not-to-distant future. We retraced our steps and were soon on our way south to Houghton.
Click on the photos below for a larger image.
This is what 60 looks like. I am a lucky guy.
We took a few of the side roads on the way back south and passed some of the old copper mining sites.
This is all that remains of Clifton.
All over the Keweenaw there are signs similar to this one. A nice touch and it reinforces the woodsy remoteness of the area.
We drove though Calumet and at the time realized how much of the Historic Area we had missed. There were many huge old stone structures which were either "as is" or being restored.
Now THAT is a big snow plow! Just what you need when you get 200+ inches of snow a year.
The lift bridge at Houghton. We crossed this going both north and south.
We got to Houghton around noon and went to the Super 8 to check out place. It looked great - right on the river and also the Greenway which ran along the river north to downtown.
But, as luck would have it, their Internet service was down and they had no idea when it would be back up. Rats!
So we drove back up towards town and stopped at the Best Western. It is a hideous looking structure which probably won some kind of award for unique architecture. Betsy went in to inquire about rates and internet. They said the internet was working for them and rates were $90 a night. No thanks.
So, it was back up through town and to the Downtowner Motel which is the first place you pass when you enter town but you have to be leaving town to get to it. Huh...? Yep, it's true.
Betsy again went in and then came back out - Mission Accomplished! 70 bucks a night with internet. Not cheap, but better than 90. And, the location would be noisy, but we would have our own balcony and picnic area.
After petting the three enormous cats who were lounging in the small, disorganized and cluttered office and talking to the rather excentric and wizened old crone of an owner, we got stuff hauled up to the room.
To quote Betsy's journal: "We settled in and Mike got to computing - I to relaxing." Around 2:30 we walked across the street to the Jolly Buddha Cafe to look for some reading material. We had tried the place when coming north but it was closed. They had a pretty good collection of used books as well as old videos, posters, East Indian paraphernalia and to round it all off a head shop, complete with hookahs was tucked away in the back up a narrow flight of steps.
Betsy found a copy of Mitchener's "The Novel". I bought nothing but it was interesting looking around. After we left the Jolly Buddha I went back to "computing" and Betsy went on an exploration of downtown Houghton - all three blocks of it. When she came back she said she had found a good place for dinner - a brew pub called "The Library". How appropriate!
We got cleaned up and semi dressed up and decided to walk to the place. It had been raining/drizzling all day and we could not find the umbrella so we decided just to take a chance. We strolled down the waterfront Greenway enjoying the views of the river and the funky backsides of the downtown buildings. Shortly we came to the Library - the real one, not the brewery. Remembering Pam's enthusiastic recommendation we decided to take a look-see. Glad we did. It was one of the nicest libraries either of us had ever been in.
© Portage Lake District Library ~ 58 Huron Street Houghton, MI 49931 ~ (906) 482-4570
Construction of the Portage Lake District Library started in July of 2005 on the site of an old warehouse. It opened the Summer of 2006 and replaced the original library which was built in 1909, using a $15,000 grant from Andrew Carnegie.
Unfortunately the weather was not like the photo above and as soon as we started to exit the library it began to pour. We ducked back inside for a bit and then when it lightened up, walked the remaining 3 blocks to The Library Brewpub.
Betsy ordered the sampler to make sure she wouldn't miss anything.
We went whole hog and I ordered the mussels appetizer and bread to sop up all the buttery juice. Yummy!
Betsy had the crab and lobster ravioli.
I had shrimp and scallop enchiladas. Both of our dishes were so rich we could not finish them. Unusual for us.
Ahhh... a Grasshopper dessert!
Earlier in the evening on a supposed trip to the restroom I had alerted the waitress it was Betsy's Birthday and had asked her only to wish her a Happy one. Well, at the end of the meal she was offered a choice of one of two drinks - on the house. BONUS!
Last shot of the day. When Betsy saw this photo she laughed and said "I look crocked!". Duh...
We had both over indulged and when we got back to the room we collapsed in a tangled heap. What fun.