Day 22: Welcome to Copper Country

I left Marquette behind me, hoping that today would be one filled with celebration. It was the 4th and America was turning the big 236. The day wound up being even more than I had imagined. As I approached the port city of L'Anse, the last city before the Keweenaw Peninsula peaks out to Michigan's most northern points, I stopped to pay my respects to the Snowshoe Priest, a statute of Bishop Baraga or as locals told me later today, Spider Jesus.

I arrived to Houghton at noon. This town is best known for being a metropolis a century ago and now for being home of Michigan Tech. Signs all over this part of the state say, "Welcome to Copper Country," a reflection of the regions mineral rich past. I didn't have anything planned for the day besides meeting up with a friend from law school, who was reared in the city.

As we left Andy's house, we drove out to his camp - what locals call their summer homes. We drove 20 miles outside of the Houghton-Hancock region and up the Peninsula. After seeing the view of his summer home, we traveled to Gay, Michigan, and their beloved Fourth of July parade. This included contest of "who can blow the biggest bubble"; "who can through raw fish the farthest" and "stopping in to look inside the Gay Bar."

We proceeded north and east as we wrapped around the shores of Lake Superior past Eagle Harbor and eventually 10 miles from the tip. Here we jumped off the cliffs into the frigid-feeling waters. I thought there's nothing like a handful of men-turning back time to when they were boys, a freighter at the horizon, and wild raspberries and blueberries to nimble on. Splash! "How is it?" someone asked. I just stuck my thumb up from sea and proceeded back for the 20 foot climb to the top.

My head was singing Ray Lamontagne's Old Before Your Time. 'Now the wren has gone to roost, the sky is turnin' gold. Like the sky my soul is also turnin'. Turning from the past, at last, and all I left behind. Could it be that I am finally learnin?'

We drove back down the Peninsula's western coast to Eagle River, where we were treated to sunset, Barbeque, and music at Fitzgeralds, known to the locals at Fitzs. Despite the rain, we were able to see fireworks at midnight as we rung in another Fourth of July celebration.