trip to Watersmeet

Beware, this is an unforgivably long post. 

The second week in March, Dave had to go to the UP to attend some training for work. I didn't really feel like staying home alone the whole week and there was nothing pressing going on here, so we all went. It was a long drive--Watersmeet sits at the very southwestern edge of the UP, only 8 miles away from Wisconsin. It is so far over that it is in central time. The drive took us about 7 hours.

 An ice breaker on the docks in Mackinac City

 Mackinac Bridge! As usual, there was lots of excitement, mainly from me.

 ice under the bridge-the Straits were totally iced over. Mackinac Island was a white-ish/green-ish bump in the ice.

 the downside of the bridge, and St. Ignace beyond.

 Hank enjoying a movie and a snack on the bridge.

 We bought The Incredibles for the boys to enjoy on our trip. Jed LOVED it and barely noticed the bridge.

 Heading into the tolls after crossing the bridge. Welcome to the U P!

Last time we came to the UP, we went to Escanaba, which is on the southern side, so we drove around Lake Michigan. This time around, we could have gone the same way, but we like to see new country, so we chose to go to Watersmeet by way of Marquette, which took us along the shore of Lake Superior. Now we have seen all 5 Great Lakes!

 A few various views of Lake Superior on the road. They are crummy because we were trying to make good time and it was toooooo cold to get out of the car.

We finally arrived at our hotel about 4 in the afternoon. It was 5 to us, and the boys were hungry, so we hurried to get things unloaded and then find somewhere to have dinner. Watersmeet is tinier than we had thought, so the only restaurant was at the casino/hotel where we were staying. We decided to explore a bit because we also needed to get a few breakfast groceries--I had mistakenly assumed there would be a breakfast at the hotel, but since it was a tribal casino, there wasn't--and hopefully find a grocery store and a restaurant. So, we drove to Land 'O Lakes, WI, which was almost as tiny as Watersmeet. We did manage to find a small grocery store and an interesting bar/grill, where Jed was fascinated by all the arcade games and we provided lots of entertainment to the locals enjoying their happy hour.

We returned to our hotel suite and the boys enjoyed bathtime and then we went to bed.

 The boys LOVED that huge jacuzzi tub. I would have loved to get in, but I never got the chance!

 Tuesday, we mostly just hung out at the hotel. Jed took a bath in the jacuzzi in the morning before Dave went to work, I took the boys to the pool in the morning, then we came back to the room and they took a bath in the jacuzzi to get the chlorine off, then Hank took a nap. Then we picked Dave up from work and went swimming again!

I did a bit of research about the area and discovered that there was a childrens' museum in nearby Eagle River, WI, which was about 35 miles away. I took the boys there on Wednesday. It was SO MUCH FUN! I feel like "museum" is totally the wrong word for this place--everything was hands-on and kid-friendly and meant to be played with. The boys loved this place and so did I.

 Right when we walked in, Jed found this cool display of cars and trucks. The bodies of the cars were wooden and there were detachable, interchangeable wheels, spoilers, bumpers, etc. Jed would have been completely happy to play there the entire time.

 Behind the cars was this log cabin. Inside was a little log bed, a tiny cast-iron stove, a bunch of darling pewter dishes, and the table, benches and cradle you can see. There was also a funny stuffed bear rug and stuffed moose head hanging on the walls. Hank loved all the little animals in the pen out front--he carried around a squirrel for quite a while.

 Hank and I had so much fun at this cabin! I loved the little "garden"--you could pick carrots, onions and asparagus. Around the back was an apple tree with apples you could pick and sort into red and green bins, and around the other side was a little corn patch, where you could harvest the ears of corn. There was also a great display of native birds--you could push them and hear their song, and they were shown in the correct "layers" of the trees where they actually live. So, so fun.

 Jed played with the cars the whole time Hank and I were exploring the cabin. I tried to get him to come play with us but he was so content, and I figured he should play with what he wanted to play with. It isn't often he gets an entire day to do only the things he wants, and that was exactly what I had "planned" for that day, so I didn't push things. Eventually he decided to go and explore the construction room with Hank and I.

 The boys had so much fun pushing the buttons on the Christmas village/trains. Also in this room were a barn with a ton of animals, a fantastic medieval castle you could rebuild, complete with knights, horses, princesses, dragons, and all sorts of fairy-folk, a set of wooden train tracks, LOTS of building blocks, and a really great tool bench with all sorts of play tools. Again, we could have spent all day in here. 

 When we got done in the construction room, we wandered next door, where there was a HUGE tree that would read you stories when you climbed inside and a little playhouse.

 Hank immediately found the washer and dryer and was totally in love. Jed wasn't as thrilled, so he wandered away to play elsewhere. When Hank got done with the washer and dryer, we went to find Jed and found him fishing!

 I am not sure how they did it, but the fish in this little pond were weighted in such a way that they actually looked like they were swimming a bit. Jed loved catching fish, especially when he caught a really rubbery one that he totally fell in love with. Hank was terrifying with the fishing poles--he would yank them all around and I was sure he was going to poke someone's eye out or hit himself in the head with the magnet and weight on the end of the line.

 Jed with his favorite rubbery fish

 Since Hank was scaring me so badly, I convinced him to go on a walk around the museum while Jed stayed to fish. We were delighted to find this little "grocery store." Hank really liked this pretend artisan cheese, which he thought was a ball, and we played with all the veggies for quite a while.

Around 11:30, things got really busy. Apparently there is a pre-school located inside the museum, and it let out around then. There were TONS of kids and moms and it was a little overwhelming for all of us. I decided it was a great time to take a break and go to the car to eat our lunch. We all felt better after getting some food in our tummies and having a little bit of quiet time and were ready to head back inside. Things were so much quieter when we went back in--it was basically just us and one other family--and we were ready to explore some more.

I wish I could describe this place better. Behind the cabin was a big platform. A little "stream" went all around the platform, and emptied into the fishing pond on the back. The top of the platform was divided in half--one half had a mini snowmobile and the other half was a fire look-out tower. There were steps that led under the platform, which led to a display that let you look at a river from the fish's point of view. Under the look-out tower was a camping "cave." To get off the top of the platform, you could either go down the steps near the fish pond or down a slide out of the fire tower. 

 After a few minutes sliding, we all decided to go "camping" for a little while.

 I LOVE this awesome camping area. The campfire was so cool--it had a special switch that would only light with "matches", and if you wanted to turn it off, you had to press the little water bucket to put it out.

 There was a tent to sleep in...

 and a huge set of buttons you could push to listen to the night sounds--wolves, coyotes, mosquitoes, a babbling brook, a waterfall, an owl, crickets, wind in the trees, and several camping songs. We had so much fun in here.

 There was even a marshmallow to roast!

After we went "camping" we were all pretty tired--we had been there for about 6 hours, after all--so we went back to the story room and snuggled up with this ENORMOUS bear. The boys picked book after book and we just read together for a while.

 After the boys each picked out a toy from the gift shop (believe me, it was much harder to restrain myself than them), we headed back to pick Dave up. The boys both fell asleep before we had been in the car a whole 5 minutes. Jed managed to stay awake long enough to tell me "that was SO fun! We need to come back here again and again!"

The boys were refreshed by their nap in the car, so after we picked Dave up, they convinced him to take them swimming. I decided not to get in since I had washed my hair that morning. I know, I know.

 Hank loves wearing his swim shorts--I think he feels more manly that way.

 This is the way we rode the elevator every single time. Hank loves to push the buttons but the only one he could reach was the one that rang the alarm, so we had to pin his arms to his side.

 Wahoo! The pool all to ourselves!

 Jed has gotten a lot more confident in the pool and loves to swim in the "deep water" again. We still spent plenty of time on the stairs for Hank's sake, but there was also lots of back-and-forthing. I am so proud of him!

 Thursday we dropped Dave off at his training and then went to the forest's visitors' center. I forgot to take the camera and it is a huge shame--it was one of the BEST visitors' centers I have ever been to. There were beautiful murals of the forest in summer and fall, many really nice animal mounts with little swatches of their fur you could actually touch, a great little "library" with fun children's books to read, a movie theater with a LONG list of movies you could choose from, a fun sandbox with animal track "stamps" you could press into the sand and make tracks with, and lots more. We stayed there all morning. The boys had a great time. When we got back to the hotel, the boys convinced me to take them swimming again, and then we had lunch and all took a nap. Dave got home early from his training and we headed back to Eagle River to explore the little shops and eat dinner.

Friday morning we left as early as we could (which wasn't very early at all), stopped at the Target in Marquette for a few things, and basically drove all day. It was a long drive--the weather alternated between raining and snowing almost the whole way home.

 We drove through Christmas, MI, which boasts this ENORMOUS Santa and lots of gigantic Christmas ornaments strung on trees throughout town.

And we drove by my favorite house in Alpena. It's totally gorgeous, and I always wish I could walk up and knock on the door and ask for the grand tour. Driving by this house always means that we only have 45 minutes left until we're HOME! And that's the best part about any long trip.