Hey Guys!
This post continues our time exploring all 5 Great Lakes.
Read Day 1 here, Day 2 here & Day 3 here.…Click here to see links to all of my posts
As I mentioned in my last post, we were staying in Bayfield, WI at the Le Chateau.
The Le Chateau is an old historic mansion that has been converted into a bed and breakfast.
So, we decided to start our morning with a delicious breakfast at the main house called the Rittenhouse.
It is recommended that you make reservations for breakfast, lunch and dinner so, before we left on our trip, I emailed them and made reservations for breakfast.
After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.
Tip: The breakfast is included with your stay but if you eat lunch or dinner here, there’s an additional cost for that.
I decided on the special of the day which was an omelet and I chose the bacon as my side. The hubby ordered the pancakes topped with fresh strawberries and served with pure Wisconsin maple syrup.
They also brought out fresh homemade blueberry muffins.
The food was so good!
Read reviews here
After breakfast, we took a few pictures of the outside of the house.
The Rittenhouse Inn was built in 1890 by former Civil War General Allen C. Fuller.
The house has 12 guest rooms and a restaurant.
After taking our pictures, we drove back to the Le Chateau to pack up our things and head to our next destination.
Read reviews for the Inn here
We had several stops on our itinerary that we had to mark off our list due to the time it was going to take to drive to our next hotel.
We had the Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park & a few places in Marquette, MI but our drive from Bayfield, WI to Manistique, MI was going to take 5 hrs without stops so we had to mark them off the list.
On our drive to Manistique, we passed a few things of interest. One being this cool mural on the side of building in Ashland, WI.
We also passed this beautiful, historic church in Ashland called, St Agnes Roman Catholic Church.
The church was built in the 1888.
Later, we passed this cool looking McDonald’s in Ironwood, MI.
We passed the Trinity Lutheran church in Covington, MI. The church was built in 1908.
Tip: Covington is known for it’s waterfalls like Agate and Canyon Falls
If you keep up with my blog, you know that I love photographing old churches!
This church traces its roots back to 1900, when Finish Lutheran settlers established the original congregation.
In 1950, the church was renamed Bethany Evangelical Lutheran Church, which continues to serve as active congregation to this day.
Next, we passed the US Ski & Snowboard Hall of Fame in Ishpeming, MI.
Ishpeming is widely recognized as the birthplace of organized skiing in the United States.
The museum’s mission is to honor and celebrate American athletes, pioneers and visionaries in skiing and snowboarding by preserving their legacies and showcasing historic memorabilia.
The museum was established in 1954 and the current building that you see here today was opened in 1991.
Visitors can explore artifacts ranging from a 4,000 year old ski replica to early snow gear, military equipment, and displays of Olympic and pioneer achievements.
Driving alongside Lake Superior
Around 2 pm, we were getting hungry and the only place we could find was a McDonalds…..yuck.
I do not like eating fast food but sometimes it’s the only option!
After driving for 5 hours, we finally arrived to our first stop of the day, Kitch-iti-kipi located in Palms Book State Park.
After getting parked, we headed to find Kitch-iti-kipi.
The park had a really nice gift shop that also served food.
We spotted a sign that pointed us to Kitch-iti-kipi.
There were informational signs along the very short paved trail.
I’m sure you are wondering what in the world is Kitch-iti-kipi.
Well, here it is.
It is Michigan’s largest natural freshwater spring.
It measures 200 ft across and has a depth of about 40 ft.
The spring constantly discharges more than 10,000 gallons of crystal clear water per minute from fissures in the underlying limestone.
The water temperature holds steady at around 45 degrees fahrenheit year round.
When visiting Kitch-iti-kipi, also known as The Big Spring, you can board a self-propelled observation raft that will take you across the spring and back.
The water is so clear that you could see all the way to the bottom!
You will see a variety of fish swimming in the spring such as lake trout, brown trout, brook trout and the occasional yellow perch.
After waiting several minutes, we finally boarded the wooden raft.
The raft glides across the spring via a cable system.
It also features a glass bottom window for viewing the underwater world where you. can see ancient tree trunks, limestone coated branches, swirling sand and fish.
In the 1920’s, local merchant John L. Bellaire discovered the spring, then overgrown and used as a logging dump. In an attempt to preserve the spring, he negotiated the sale of 90 acres of land with the spring to the State of Michigan for just $10 under the stipulation that it remain a public park.
The park officially opened in 1929 and sees more than 60,000 visitors a year.
It reminded me of the springs in Florida.
After our boat ride, we headed back to our car where we passed this sign that listed Michigan’s state parks.
Read reviews for this park here
We then headed to our hotel where we spotted the historic Manistique Water Tower so we decided to pullover and take some pictures.
The octagonal red brick tower was constructed in 1921 and stands 137 ft tall.
It was originally built as the city’s water tower and pumping station, designed to modernize Manistique’s water supply and improve access for residential, industrial and firefighting needs.
It functioned as a water tower from 1922 to 1966.
It now houses a museum and serves as part of the Schoolcraft County Historical Park.
It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1981.
Sitting beside the tower is an old log cabin.
Read reviews here
After leaving here, we drove 25 mins to the Seul Choix Pointe Lighthouse.
The lighthouse was built in 1895 and stands 77 ft tall.
It’s attached to a two story keeper’s house that was designed by famed lighthouse engineer Orlando M. Poe.
The lighthouse is now equipped with an airport style beacon that emits a white flash every 6 seconds and is visible for 16 nautical miles.
The site is open to the public from Memorial Day through mid October. You can climb 96 steps to the top of the lighthouse, see the fog signal building (now a museum), a boat house exhibit, a gift shop, a theater and even a genealogy library.
Unfortunately, it was closed by the time we arrived.
Read reviews here
The lighthouse sits on the shore of Lake Michigan so we walked down to the lake to check it out.
After leaving here, we headed to our hotel, the Comfort Inn.
There are not many choices for hotels in this small town and since I wanted a hotel where we would have views of every lake, I chose this one.
Our room was very spacious…..it had two queen beds and a decent sized bathroom.
Read reviews here
Sitting right beside the hotel, was a Big Boy restaurant.….you sure don’t see these around anymore!
After getting settled into our room, we headed out to find something to eat.
The town is so cute.
Tip: In 2024, the estimated population in Manistique was about 2,870 people.
We passed this cool looking mural along the way.
We also passed the Mustard Seed Gift Shop….I had read that it was the best gift shop in the area. Unfortunately, it was closed. 🙁
We spotted a restaurant called Tap 21 so decided to try it out.
The place was really crowded.
It was housed in a old, historic building…the bar area was an old soda fountain.
After being seated, we took a few minutes to look over the menu.
There were lots of tempting choices, but in the end, nothing sounded better than a good old pizza!
It was huge and so good!
Read reviews here
After dinner, we decided to go walk off some of the calories we had eaten so we drove over to the Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouse.
Driving through Manistique
The lighthouse is perched at the end of a long concrete breakwater that stretches into Lake Michigan. It was the perfect way to end our night.
There was no one else walking so it was really quiet and peaceful.
Of course, we had to take our pictures in front of Lake Michigan.
The concrete breakwater spans approximately 1.8 miles roundtrip and offers stunning, panoramic views of the lake.
The Manistique East Breakwater Lighthouse was built in 1916 and automated in 1969 and is still an active lighthouse.
It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The sun was starting to set behind the lighthouse and it made for some gorgeous photos!
After our leisure walk to the lighthouse, we headed back to the beach.
Read reviews here
Mu hubby and I attempted one of those cute arm-heart poses.
Let’s just say it looked more like abstract art than anything heart shaped! 😉
As we were walking along the beach, I spotted a sign talking about sawdust and wood chip deposits ….so, I walked over to read it.
It said that sawdust and other wood waste deposits blanket Lake Michigan beaches near Manistique. The history of these deposits can be traced back to the beginning of the 1890s when Manistique and Thompson began to capitalize on the abundant white pine in the region.
Logs as large as 7 feet in diameter were floated in the Manistique River which were sawn into lumber and loaded aboard schooners that sailed to Chicago, New York and France.
There were 5 large lumber mills that operated in the Manistique area.
Part of the legacy of the lumbering industry was the tons of sawdust which now wash onto the shore around the Manistique area. It was estimated that over 5.1 million tons of sawdust were produced in this area between 1863 and 1912.
General milling practices were to dump unwanted sawdust into the Manistique River or transport it out on barges to dump into Lake Michigan.
Walking the beach
After spending more than an hour at the beach, we headed back to our hotel and called it a night.
Thanks for reading!
Stay tuned for Day 5!
Click here to see links to all of my posts