Today, my dad and I arrived in Houghton, Michigan. This is the small city where my father attended college at Michigan Technological University. Houghton is located in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, far away from the ruins known as Detroit, in the lower peninsula. Houghton has been a stop since we began these yearly trips out to the midwest some fifteen years ago. It is a college town, which gives it a good feel, and the people are as nice as can be (Minnesota and the UP of Michigan could have a great competition for 'niceness').
You can tell my dad feels very at home when we come here every year. He is normally a friendly guy, but doesn't always show it to strangers. That all changes when we come up here. Everyone seems to act like they know one another in the streets around here. If you pass someone on the sidewalk or in any public place, it is viewed as "customary" to ask "How you doin'?" Even the most raggedy looking people (including goths, biker chicks/guys, etc.) appreciate the gesture and respond back with a smile on their face. Houghton is definitely a place that has grown on me. While age has taught me to appreciate the little things more, in general, this town has definitely grown on me with time. A place that seemed unimpressive at first now strikes me as charmingly unique and pleasant.
Unlike much of the midwest, the Upper Peninsula is dominated during the summer time by green, grassy, rolling hills, with short pine trees. Small, two lane highways cut through the forests and lead to small, well-kept town and villages. The people, many of them of Finnish descent, have a generosity of none other I have ever met, and make the location an even cooler place to visit. The location we are staying at right now (Hancock) is located across the canal that slices through the Upper Peninsula of the state. The lift bridge, located a mere 100 feet from my hotel room, is the one and only entrance to the Keewenaw, the most extreme northern part of Michigan's UP. This part of the country is simply a small swath of land, like a finger, with Lake Superior to the west, north, and east. Truly beautiful.
My dad and I are looking forward to eating at the famous, "Suomi Bakery" tomorrow morning. When my dad had the money during his college years, he would eat at this location along the main road through downtown Houghton, for breakfast. I usually get the Finnish French Toast, while he settles for a Finnish dish called the "Panugaku". My meal is simply really good French toast. His is simply difficult to explain.
Most people go on vacation to "relax" and that is exactly what we'll be doing for the most part here. Houghton and Hancock are both great towns to walk around in. You can go for jaunts either on the water or in town. We also go once or twice each time up here to a park called "McLain State Park"...in this park are a sand beach on Lake Superior, and a large grassy area, bordered by a cliff looking out, over the lake. As is everything up here, it's all very green. It's always a fun place to get to know new people and hang out.
I am probably going to be taking lots of pictures. The more I use my camera, the more convinced I am that it was the best $120 I ever spent. It takes great pictures, and really does help me hold onto far away memories while I am at home. I can't wait for when I am sitting in my bedroom a few months from now, and I am able to look back at pictures from here and other places I go on this vacation, letting the past flood my mind. I could never be a photographer for a living, but I certainly love taking pictures to preserve the good times.
I hear the weather back home is nice, but luckily, it's been pretty good out here too...that might be changing as of late tomorrow, but hey, there's always hope that the weatherman is wrong (in a favorable sense for once).
No comments:
Post a Comment