Although many view Michigan's Upper Peninsula as paradise, there is even a town on the U.P. named Paradise, but that doesn't guarantee an easy living up north.Even during the best of times, many denizens of the Upper Peninsula, as well as northern Wisconsin, hold more than one job and supplement their modest incomes by planting Christmas trees, selling firewood, or food items from their homes.
For instance, I had dinner at a Pizza Hut in Sault Ste. Marie, a town of about 15,000 people. The next morning I took a close look at the room attendant at the motel I where I stayed--she was the same woman who was my waitress the night before.
There isn't much industry on the U.P, its peninsular status on the northern end of the nation gives it a "Tyranny of Distance," a term used to describe the export limitations of Australia.
But it's quiet and mostly devoid of people. Which is why people like myself travel to the Upper Peninsula.
Next: U.P. humor
Earlier posts:
Pasties
Logging
Munising Falls
Eagle River Falls
Canyon Falls
Agate Falls
Little Girls Point
Gogebic Range
Bishop Baraga and St. Mary's Pro-Cathedral
Farming
More Pictured Rocks
Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore
Munising Bay
Seney, Hemingway, and Post-traumatic Stress Syndrome
Hickey Creek
Ishpeming and Iron Mining
Calumet, Michigan's St. Anne's Church
Keweenaw Waterway Bridge
The Keweenaw Waterway
Keweenaw National Historical Park, Quincy, Part One
Keweenaw National Historical Park, Calumet
Calumet, Michigan's St. John the Baptist Church
Little Gippers Preschool, Calumet, Michigan
A brief history of copper mining
Calumet, Michigan's St. Paul the Apostle Church
Finland, Finland, Finland
Escanaba's Sand Point Lighthouse
Manistique East Breakwater Light
Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse
Wawatam Lighthouse
Whitefish Point Light
The Munising Front Range Light
Grand Island East Harbor Lighthouse
Copper Harbor Lighthouse
Eagle Harbor Lighthouse
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As UP native (Yooper) from Sault Ste. Marie, I can attest to your observation that it is hard to make a living there. Forty years ago, I moved downstate (down below to Yoopers) to attend college and have lived there ever since. However, we have a home in the UP where we retreat to every summer for the people, weather and the absolute beauty. You can read about life there at www.saultboatwatcher.com.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting and writing about our beloved UP. Come back and enjoy more!