# Pure Michigan



## GeorgiaXplant (Mar 30, 2015)

Anybody ever notice that the Pure Michigan commercials hardly ever mention the UP except for Mackinac Island? Sometimes there will be a quick shot of the lighthouse at Whitefish Bay.

It's like the UP and Yoopers either don't exist or are merely red-headed stepchildren.


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## Josiah (Mar 30, 2015)

What must it have been like before they built the Mackinac Bridge? I can imagine 19th century Michigan governors who never set foot on the UP. When did they start mail delivery?


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## GeorgiaXplant (Mar 30, 2015)

People either went around by way of Wisconsin or took the ferry before the bridge was opened in 1957, so that's the way the mail was delivered, too. Michigan governors and others who could afford to spend summers away from the city were often among the summer residents. Henry Ford had a plant there, along with a fancy summer home/hunting camp. Ernest Hemingway and Edna Ferber were also fans of the UP.

My own hometown used to be a "big" city by UP standards. When my mother was growing up there were nearly 30,000 residents. When I was in school there were about 15,000. Now there might be 5,000 and emptying out quickly. Heck, there are so few people left that the town even removed one of the traffic lights. Probably the ones left are either too young/too old to leave or waiting for the mines to reopen. As if.


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## Ameriscot (Mar 30, 2015)

GeorgiaXplant said:


> People either went around by way of Wisconsin or took the ferry before the bridge was opened in 1957, so that's the way the mail was delivered, too. Michigan governors and others who could afford to spend summers away from the city were often among the summer residents. Henry Ford had a plant there, along with a fancy summer home/hunting camp. Ernest Hemingway and Edna Ferber were also fans of the UP.
> 
> My own hometown used to be a "big" city by UP standards. When my mother was growing up there were nearly 30,000 residents. When I was in school there were about 15,000. Now there might be 5,000 and emptying out quickly. Heck, there are so few people left that the town even removed one of the traffic lights. Probably the ones left are either too young/too old to leave or waiting for the mines to reopen. As if.



I moved to St. Ignace with my ex in 1973.  You picked up the phone and ask the operator for the number.  But I think it went to regular phone in 74. When I lived there I think the population was 3,000.  If so, it's lost some of its population.


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## Louis (Apr 11, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> I moved to St. Ignace with my ex in 1973.  You picked up the phone and ask the operator for the number.  But I think it went to regular phone in 74. When I lived there I think the population was 3,000.  If so, it's lost some of its population.


I did a 400 mile bicycle tour in the UP back in 2010. In St. Ignace I remember a sign saying: 
                                                                                                                             "St. Ignace...a drinking town with a fishing problem".


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## Ameriscot (Apr 11, 2015)

Louis said:


> I did a 400 mile bicycle tour in the UP back in 2010. In St. Ignace I remember a sign saying:
> "St. Ignace...a drinking town with a fishing problem".


That sounds right!  Everybody worked in summer when tourists were there and drank all winter.  Lots of alcoholics there.


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## Louis (Apr 11, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> That sounds right!  Everybody worked in summer when tourists were there and drank all winter.  Lots of alcoholics there.


Ha. I really love the UP and the Yoopers, so laid back and peaceful; wouldn't mind living there someday.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 11, 2015)

Louis said:


> Ha. I really love the UP and the Yoopers, so laid back and peaceful; wouldn't mind living there someday.



I haven't visited the UP since 1980.  Not a fan of snow and long winters.


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## jujube (Apr 11, 2015)

Loved to visit the UP when we lived in the Detroit area.  So beautiful.  But, yes, the UP _is_ considered sort of the redheaded stepchild, at least back then.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 11, 2015)

jujube said:


> Loved to visit the UP when we lived in the Detroit area.  So beautiful.  But, yes, the UP _is_ considered sort of the redheaded stepchild, at least back then.



While we lived in the UP my dad used to say that the term hillbillies did not originate in the south, it originated in the UP.  LOL.


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## Louis (Apr 11, 2015)

This may sound selfish, but since I retired and no longer commute in bad weather, I enjoy winter's fury.


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## Ameriscot (Apr 11, 2015)

Louis said:


> This may sound selfish, but since I retired and no longer commute in bad weather, I enjoy winter's fury.



My brother who lives in RI loves winter.  But he loves winter activities like snowmobiling and ice fishing.  Not me.  We have begun spending our winters in Thailand.  We don't get a lot of snow here in Scotland but it does get cold, windy and rainy and it's very dark in winter.

Your bicycle trip sounded good.  400 miles!  I love to bicycle but so far only do long day trips.  I'd like to do about a week of cycling and am looking at which cross country path to do.


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## Louis (Apr 13, 2015)

Ameriscot said:


> My brother who lives in RI loves winter.  But he loves winter activities like snowmobiling and ice fishing.  Not me.  We have begun spending our winters in Thailand.  We don't get a lot of snow here in Scotland but it does get cold, windy and rainy and it's very dark in winter.
> 
> Your bicycle trip sounded good.  400 miles!  I love to bicycle but so far only do long day trips.  I'd like to do about a week of cycling and am looking at which cross country path to do.



I was a serious cyclist for 30 years or so but as my late wife's illnesses worsened I became less and less active. I don't mean to sound like I'm blaming her for my slacking off, not at all; that's just how things worked out. I'm hoping to find the motivation to get back on my bike(s) now that the weather is finally breaking.


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## maplebeez (May 5, 2015)

Love those commercials, and Tim Allen's narration.  When my daily aches & pains make me feel too old & cranky to travel , glimpses of Pure Michigan always
remind me of previous family trips to Manistee, Frankenmuth, St Ignace, Mackinaw Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Traverse City & the amazing Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor, I'm ready to pack my bags!


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## Ameriscot (May 5, 2015)

maplebeez said:


> Love those commercials, and Tim Allen's narration.  When my daily aches & pains make me feel too old & cranky to travel , glimpses of Pure Michigan always
> remind me of previous family trips to Manistee, Frankenmuth, St Ignace, Mackinaw Island, Sleeping Bear Dunes, Traverse City & the amazing Cherry Republic in Glen Arbor, I'm ready to pack my bags!



I didn't visit Sleeping Bear Dunes and Glen Arbor until 2007, and I lived in Michigan for a total of 32 years up until 1990.  Went back again in 2012 but took my sister with us this time. Gorgeous!


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