Day trip to the Upper Peninsula

On Tuesday April 15 Sheriff Tom Kern very kindly took the team on a drive from Caro all the way to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, whose inhabitants refer to themselves as ‘da Yoopers’.

The day began at 0800 when Tom picked us all up in his very large automobile, after which we traveled north along the Interstate 75, past the towns of Grayling and Gaylord, and then stopped at Sea Shell City, which is a huge warehouse full of products from the ocean. Katrinna bought a lot of things. There was snow outside and we played with it.

We went over the Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Bridge, which is a toll suspension bridge spanning the Straits of Mackinac to connect the Upper and Lower peninsulas of Michigan. The bridge was huge and there was much ice floating in the water.

Once in the Upper Peninsula we drove right up to the Canadian Border in Sault Ste. Marie. There we saw Lake Superior State University and Soo Locks, as well as the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge, which spans the St. Marys River between the United States and serves as the northern terminus of Interstate 75. The Soo Locks, which are apparently the busiest in the world, allow ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes. By happy coincidence a boat was moving through the locks at the exact moment we went to see them.

We stopped at a souvenir shop (where Katrinna bought more things), and then ate lunch at the Antlers Restaurant, which has the largest collection of taxidermified animals I have ever seen, including a polar bear, a whole family of lions, a huge anaconda, a large collection of native animals and trophies, and a two-headed calf that lived for only 45 minutes. Lunch was appropriately meaty steaks. They did a good cheese spread with beer in it too.

On our way out of Sault Ste. Marie we saw a statue of Rotarian Herbert J. Taylor who created The Four Way Test, a code of ethics adopted by Rotary 11 years later:

Of the things we think, say or do
Is it the TRUTH?
Is it FAIR to all concerned?
Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS?
Will it be BENEFICIAL to all concerned?

On the way home we stopped for pasties and photos at the Mackinac Bridge near Colonial Michilimackinac, a reconstructed French fur trading village and military outpost that was later occupied by British military and traders. Richard had the opportunity to see some very large old pines when we visited Hartwick Pines State Park. We arrived back in Caro at about 2200.

Thank you Tom for a fabulous day!