Article on driving Michigan's U.P.

It's nice to see Michigan's Upper Peninsula get some more love from the national media. The only downside? Where's the love from Michigan's media in the lower peninsula? We have such a treasure north of the Mackinac Bridge that (in my humble opinion) does not get touted enough. Anyway, back to the aforementioned article on the U.P. It's written from the perspective of a native Detroiter whose last visit was as a child and is now returning to look for nature and antiques. At least, that's what I took from the article.

It's a brief foray into the wonders (both the natural and those built by man) of the U.P. In fact, I would say that my biggest complaint about the article is that it is too brief. It only mentions traveling from the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on up to Copper Harbor and all in between. My second biggest complaint is that there seems to be a preset notion in the writer's mind that comes through in his writing. It's like he expects to find that the U.P. is some backwards locale with a garage sale economy.

However, with that said, my favorite quote from the article might have been meant as a jab, but I take it as a complement -

the U.P. is an out-of-the-way, out-of-the-past American preserve.

I like the fact that the U.P. has not yet (and hopefully never will) become part of the homogenized, cookie cutter, chunk of America that has Wal-Marted it's way across small towns rendering them nearly identical to the one you previously passed through.

The U.P. and it's residents are unique and I would never change that.

With all that said, if you want to read the article - click here.