Keweenaw peninsula

View from campsite

 We drove from the Apostle Islands to Houghton, MI on Friday the 19th.  It was a nice drive as we reminisced about old times skiing, camping and honeymooning in the U.P..  It was also relatively short compared to our travel days the last month so it was stress free. 

We stayed at the City of Houghton RV Park and had a site right on Portage Lake.  It was great to have a nice view again.  There was a riverfront walk that goes for miles along the shore so we also had a great place to go on long walks. 

Old Calumet fire station

Lake Superior near Eagle River

Saturday we drove up the peninsula through Eagle River and Eagle Harbor, up Brockway Mountain Drive to Copper Harbor.  It was as beautiful a drive as ever, one of our favorite on the planet.  All the history of mining boom towns but now quiet, peaceful and beautiful.  We ate dinner at the Keweenaw Mountain Lodge and were delighted to find the lodge was as nice as ever.

Eagle Harbor

Copper Harbor from Brockway
Mountain Drive

On Sunday we decided we were tired of driving and decided to just walk.  We walked a couple miles along the waterfront and then walked back through old town Houghton.  We enjoyed reading all the signs highlighting historic buildings and activities from the mid-1800s to mid-1900s.  There are lots of really nice buildings dating back to the 1800s still well maintained and in use.  It was great to see.  We stumbled upon a real learning experience as we discovered "The Birthplace of Professional Hockey".  It turns out the first paid hockey team was in Houghton.  They started the first professional league and won the first "World Championship" of hockey all 13 years before the NHL started forming.  It was short lived but still cool stuff to learn if you are a hockey nut like me.

Calumet Theater

When we went through Calumet on Saturday the Calumet Theater was not open so we drove back up during the week to get a tour.  This is a great piece of mining boom times history.  Too grand a story to tell here so I'll just say "go see it" and the area.  I'll wrap up this post with the statement, if you love history and beautiful scenery then spend some time in the Keweenaw Peninsula and take it all it.  Stop at the visitor center in Calumet to get information on all the great things to see.

Pasty watch - we loved the pasties at Connie's Kitchen in Calumet but they were edged out by Kangas in Hancock due to the buttery crust.  Shout out to Ann Marie for the tip.

I can never decide what pictures to include.  Here are a few more.

Courthouse (1889) still in use in
Houghton

Why do I always have to take a
picture of the snow meter? Looks like
a new record low last year.
54 year avg snowfall is 240 inches!