Heading north out of Newberry
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DAY
6 — Thursday, August 13, 2009
Newberry to Paradise
LUNCH STOP: Tahquamenon Falls (Upper Falls)
ROUTE: Hwy 123 north to Paradise (After arriving in Paradise we rode to the mouth of the Tahquamenon River for fishing, and back to Paradise.)
TOTAL MILES: 53 (42 to Paradise + 11 riding around)
Today was our shortest riding distance of the trip. Our route was simple: Take Hwy 123 north to Tahquamenon Falls and then on to Paradise (Michigan). Other than for photos, we made two stops. One was at the North Star Brick Oven Bakery, which was essentially located out in "nowhere." The other was Upper Tahquamenon Falls, where we viewed these magnificent falls, met some interesting folks, and lunched with Bill's wife Pam and her younger sister Nancy visiting from Ohio.
We arose at the usual time, had breakfast at Zeller's restaurant, and hit the road at 9:30. Riding conditions were superb — blue skies and sunny, temperatures going to the high 80s, ten mph tailwind, light traffic, but picking up slightly as we got closer to the Falls. There was scenic viewing the entire way, which we rode side-by-side much of the time.
This also was our most prolific photography day — resulting in more pictures than the first three days combined. Following are some of those we took on the road between Newberry and Tahquamenon Falls.
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Heading north out of Newberry
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Some lowlands
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Lowlands, marsh panorama
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On Hwy 123 about 13 miles north of Newberry is a house with an adjacent building that's a bread bakery that uses a wood-burning brick oven. It's called the North Star Brick Oven Bakery. We stopped, met the proprietor Paul Behm. Bill bought a loaf of garlic focaccia for giving to Pam (when we were to meet her for lunch).
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Entering North Star Brick Oven
Bakery
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Proprietor Paul Behm shows his
artisan breads
We couldn't resist sampling the focaccia. The loaf was just beginning to go stale, but was tasty nonetheless. This bread, combined with some Genoa salami, a hunk of cheddar cheese, and a bottle of beer, would have made a perfect peasant lunch.
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Digging into the garlic focaccia
We then proceeded on to Upper Tahquamenon Falls. On the way, Bill took this unique photo.
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Bill's occasional view of John's
mirror
We were scheduled to meet Pam and her sister Nancy at the brewpub (at the Falls) at 1:00 for lunch. However, Bill and I arrived early — at 12:15. So we parked and locked the bikes and took a stroll to the falls. Here are some of the photos taken while at the Upper Falls.
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Tahquamenon Moose makes his supervisory
rounds
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At the Upper Falls of Tahquamenon
River
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Then we went back to the parking area and relaxed and waited.
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Tahquamenon wolf keeps wary eye
on tourists
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Relaxing, waiting for the ladies
to arrive
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In front of the brewpub restaurant
at Tahquamenon Upper Falls
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The lovely Lang sisters —
Bill's wife Pam (right), Pam's sister Nancy (left).
They were in Paradise visiting a special quilting fabric store.
(No, we have no idea why there's a quilting fabric store in Paradise, Michigan,
but apparently it's well-known among quilters as it attracts quite a few.)
While riding down Hwy 123 to Paradise, Pam and Nancy took these photos of us.
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On the Road to Paradise
(hey, that sounds like a great title for a movie)
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By the time we reached Paradise (a little town on Lake Superior's Whitefish Bay) it was 3:00 o'clock. The temperature was almost 90 F — probably the hottest day in the U.P. this summer. The motel that we had reservations at told us they had no air conditioning and if we wanted to go elsewhere that would be okay. So we peddled a quarter mile down the road and checked out two other places, which had A/C. One had a front lobby with an odor similar to a gas station restroom. The other — the Paradise Inn — looked and smelled okay. So we registered there.
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The only motel we stayed at that
didn't use a room key —
good accomodations, reasonable price
Paradise is a small town with a number of lodging facilities, including both traditional "mom & pop motels" and also one or two chains. It has several small restaurants, a couple taverns, and some small tourist-oriented stores. It appears that the main "industry" of the town is servicing the tourist trade that visits the Falls and also Whitefish Point to the north.
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One of the several business establishments
in Paradise
After putting our gear into our motel room, we took our fishing rods with us and rode to the mouth of the Tahquamenon River where it empties into Lake Superior — only five miles south of Paradise on Hwy 123. There's a boat launch and facilities for shore fishing. Both of us fished for a while, but caught nothing.
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View of Lake Superior from the
mouth of Tahquamenon River
There was a family there — grandpa, grandma, dad, mom, and little boy — all were fishing. Pretty soon we struck up an interesting conversation with the grandpa about what he does and where they were from. His profession is safety checker of school buses for the State of Michigan.
On the ride back to Paradise, Bill snapped a couple interesting photos.
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Unique sign text — Was it
to attract attention or was it
just the only thing they could find for making a sign?
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Creative chimney
By now it was 7:00 o'clock. We were hungry and, so, decided to eat first before going back to our room. The motel clerk and a couple other folks had recommended a little place called Brown Fisheries. It specializes in fresh-caught Lake Superior whitefish. So we went there for dinner. We were not disappointed.
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No, we didn't intentionally set
up the photo to have the big red arrow
pointing at Bill (fresh & smoked daily)
Bill and I both had two fillets of deep-fried whitefish along with a baked potato and coleslaw. It was excellent.
Across the road from Brown Fisheries is an ice cream stand, called Snowflake Ice Cream. So, for our traditional after-dinner ice cream cone we went there. After finishing off our cones we took the opportunity to sit and relax for a few minutes and chat with folks.
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Relaxing after our ice cream cones
at the Snowflake Ice Cream stand
As we traveled the eastern portion of the U.P. we often ran into dental patients of Bill's. Because of the region's sparse population, it's not uncommon for folks to travel up to 60 or 80 miles to visit their dentist. So, Bill's patient base not only comes from the city of Sault Sainte Marie but also from the entire east end of the U.P. As a result, while enjoying our after-dinner treats Bill discovered that the proprietors of the ice cream stand were dental patients of his, and so took a picture of them.
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Snowflake proprietors, Mike and
Darlene Hobbs — dental patients of Bill's
Eventually we went to our motel room. We showered, put on street cloths, and went across the road to a tavern for our now traditional day-end beer. It was the Yukon Inn. It also happens to be owned by one of Bill's patients, but he wasn't in at the time.