Great Lakes Grooving: Day 8 Keweenaw Peninsula and Marquette

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Sunday 14 July

We were leaving Ontonagon today so we concentrated on packing once we were up. It didn't take long and then we walked to the other place to eat in Ontonagon - Syl's Cafe. This is a diner with a Finnish influence and their main breakfast is giant omelettes. It was really popular and we all had a hearty breakfast.

Then it was back to tidy up and empty the bins before we set off for Marquette, our next stop along Lake Superior.

We took a bit of a detour up the Keweenaw Peninsula, which is a former copper mining area. We had planned a stop off at Houghton which is the home of Michigan Tech and, as we found out, the birthplace of commercial ice hockey! We parked up and had a walk around, with Paul being pleased to spot the Keweenaw Brewing Company as we had been enjoying their beers so far!

It was a nice little town and you could see why it would be popular with students.

Then it was back on the road to Marquette. We called at a Walmart on the way into the town and stocked up on more bug spray and antihistamines and some Benadryl. No more would it be Bugs 1 Family 0 - we were prepared. Like Bear Grylls, we were going to Improvise, Adapt and most of all, Overcome!

Then it was on to Dairy Queen so Paul could have a Moolatte and Evan could get a Cotton Candy Blizzard. We also got a Royal Cheesecake and Brownie Blizzard. We love Dairy Queen!

Then it was on to our next AirBnB, Dragonfly Dunes. This place looked adorably quirky in the listing and didn't disappoint. It was a wooden cabin with lots of wood and on display and quirky decor. There were also squirrel/bird feeders on the window.

It was pretty spacious, with 2 bathrooms and 3 bedrooms and we really enjoyed all the little touches.

There was also a "tweeting" clock which had a different bird sound for each hour. Fortunately the night time birds were very quiet and didn't disturb us.

It did have a "shared bathroom" which was a bit odd. The upstairs bathroom has a sauna and the hosts also have another property nearby and those guests are allowed to use this bathroom. It had outside access as well and we were advised to lock the door from the inside when we were using it. It was a bit strange and I locked it from the inside at night as I didn't want people coming into the property. In the end, nobody else used it but it was odd. The sauna was also extremely small and would have been very claustrophobic, so we didn't bother.

There was a beach nearby, so we headed to possibly have a swim. Our host had warned us that the steps had been destroyed in a storm so you had to climb down a sandbank to get there but that was fine and not too steep.

We did have a quick and fairly bracing swim in Lake Superior which was very cold but enjoyable, especially as it was so hot. We got out and began to dry ourselves off to get dressed when suddenly everything changed . . .

Yes, the bugs were back. This time they were stable flies which look at bit like houseflies and which bite. It was like a scene from a horror film with us screaming and flapping around and then running for the car while covered in the damn things. There was a desperate scramble up the sand and a race to the car, all the while feeling the evil creatures chomping at us. We had taken a lot of them into the car with us so there was more flapping and attempted squishings, then we set off and opened the windows to hopefully blow the little gits out.

So that's why there were some people walking on the beach but nobody was sitting down!

Fortunately it was only a couple of minutes drive back to the cabin and we could get changed out of our swimming stuff. What an experience!

Our hosts had recommended a Mexican place in Marquette, the Border Grill, so we headed there for our tea and it was really nice.

Back at the cabin, we liberally applied bug spray and lit some anti-bug torches that we found and sat outside with a beer. It was lovely - and far fewer bugs than at the beach.

Then it was time for showers and chilling inside before bed. There was a TV at this cabin but it only seemed to pick up one channel, so we gave up after a while!