Escanaba...What's the scoop? (Marquette, Menominee: travel, income, work)

[Hanne]

As we continue to search for our new hometown, Escanaba has come onto our radar. A lot of what I've read sounds promising. What's it like to live there? Weather? Outdoor activities abundant? What the topography/scenery like? How does live there compare to life in Marquette, (which along with L'Anse and Ontonagon really caught our eye). And anything else you can think of, please tell!

We just returned from a trip which stretched from St. Ignace to Munising, to L'Anse/Baraga to Houghton, to Copper Harbor and Ontonagon. Loved it all, and returned home completely gorked out on pasties. Escanaba just didn't get the once-over this time, and I really wish we'd had the time.

Love da UP!

Hanne, donning the kitchen lab coat and attempting to make pasties in southern Ohio today

[pollywannacracker]

Escanaba is very pretty, but I always liked Marquette better. they are close to the same size but Marquette has Northern Michigan university and the upper part of the U.P. is gorgeous.

[MidniteBreeze]

Escanaba is a little easier to escape from in the winter

But more seriously...I get the impression that there's a little more money in Escanaba and more of a WI influence, where Marquette (while a little bigger in population) is more isolated and in closer proximity to the wilderness (there's a huge roadless area around Big Bay) and you also have Pictured Rocks nearby, which is spectacular. Don't get me wrong, both are beautiful...but I would say the Superior shore has an edge over Michigan's as far as "raw" or "rugged" beauty goes. I don't know for sure, but I would guess the weather would be a little milder in Escanaba...but of course "mild" is relative when talking about the U.P.

Good luck!

[Hanne]

I loved Marquette, scenery and all. It really has about everything we're looking for.....but I'm not sure about all that snow. That's why I wanted to look into Escanaba to see how it compares. It sounds like it averages 40 in. of snow vs. Marquette's 100+ in. of snow. That's a huge difference if that's true.

So would you guys say that it's more developed down Escanaba way? Maybe a lot less federal lands? I'm not sure what you mean....there's not so much in terms of wilderness around Escanaba? More farming or ??? From the topo. maps I've come up with it looks like the area is much flatter/less rugged. Perhaps looking more like the area around Seney?

Oh, and Midnightbreeze, what do you mean by the WI influence? Culturally different (how?) or ???

Thanks! The experimental pasties are almost ready to hit the oven. Very time consuming......I have a whole new appreciation for all the pastie-makers we bought from last week. Lawry's , Bessie's in St. Ignace, Muldoon's in Munising, etc......drool.

[Southernkomfort27]

I lived in the U.P. for around 9 years, and attended the community college in Escanaba, then commuted to Marquette to go to NMU. Escanaba is flatter, and seemed more spread out to me. The 2 main streets are Ludington (I think) which is the main street downtown and is very long, and Lincoln Ave, which is U.S. 2 and that's where Shopko and other stores are. I think the scenery around Marquette is beautiful. Escanaba is in the "banana belt" and gets less snow than Marquette. I don't think there is much difference in temperature though; it just depends on the direction of the wind. If I were to choose between the two, I'd pick Marquette.

FYI, I use the pasty recipie form the U.P travel guide. It's authentic, and delicious!

[us2indaup]

Personally, I'd choose Escanaba simply because of there being less snow. It's as beautiful in it's own way as Marquette is, with Bay DeNoc and the Lake Michigan shoreline, and although it's less "rugged" it's still the U.P. so it's still wild and isolated. Plus the U.P. State Fair is held in Escanaba every August - the only Fair in the U.P. worth attending.
Marquette probably has more of a "night life" as it were, with NMU being there, and it has the Superior Dome (also known as the Yooper Dome), a YMCA, a full service airport at K I Sawyer (although it's 10 miles out of town), and even a small artsy-fartsy clique. But Escanaba has much more of a midwest feel, they don't have that chip-on-the-shoulder Yooper attitude as much (in spite of the Jeff Daniels movie taking place there). Believe me, that Yooper attitude can wear pretty thin!
About the Wisconsin influence, Esky is only a couple hours away from Green Bay, and the closer you get to Wisconsin, the more amenities you'll find available. As for myself, if I were to move but stay in the U.P. I would seriously consider Menominee county.

[MidniteBreeze]

Yes, the last poster kind of hit on what I was saying about the WI influence...closer to Green Bay, a little more money in town (my own impression, not based on any income facts or anything...just seemed to be more "nice" restaurants, more stuff to buy--we actually drove over there from MN to buy our RV!), that sort of thing. The economy there seems to be more tied more into Wisconsin's, I think due to WI tourists, snowmobilers, etc. Culturally it does seem more "Wisconsin-ish", i.e., lots of Green Bay Packers fans, not so many Lions fans (but I guess you can't really blame them for that, lol.)

[Hanne]

More Packers fans, eh? In another thread where folks were talking about a group in the news that set out to search for Big Foot in Menominee county, someone commented that he was most likely a Packers fan.

Us2indaup, thanks for the comparison. Next spring or so we'll just have to go to Escanabe for ourselves, and see if it grabs us like Marquette and some of the other places did.

In Marquette, we ate at a place called the Sweetwater Cafe. Great food and a cool mix of people. In the parking lot were a couple of cars filled with critters. Dogs in the car I've seen, but is it common in da UP for folks to drive their cats into town?

Southernkomfort27, do you know where can I find that pasty recipe online?

Thanks to all of you for the info. I love coming here with my MI questions!
Hanne

P.S. The pasties turned out great! We went for an "authentic" recipe, but stopped short of heating them on a shovel.

[Southernkomfort27]

The recipe I used was from the Upper Penninsula Travel and Tourism Association. This book can be accessed at uptravel.com, however it doesn't appear to include the recipe anymore . I'm not even sure where my paper copy is!..There is a recipe that looks to be really close to the one i had. I don't know how to inculde links, but it's at:

www.real-restaurant-recipes.com/pasty-recipe (broken link).

This recipe is the same but I always use 1 cup of carrots, and one cup of rutabaga. My recipe called for lard in the crust. I know, probably not the healthiest, but it makes a good crust. I used beef or venison from a roast for the meat. One more thing, my recipe called for parsley; not sure what that does. Wow, this is making me hungry! If your recipe is good I'd be willing to try it.

[Hanne]

Southernkomfort, here you go.....

Pasties Michigan style

4 cups flour

salt 1 1/4 cups lard, chilled and cut into 1/4 inch bits

10 to 12 tablespoons ice water

2 pounds top round steak trimmed and cut into 1/4 inch cubes

5 medium potatoes, peeled and coarsely chopped

3 medium turnips, scraped and cut into 1/4 inch cubes (I used a big honkin' rutabaga, instead)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion (I used more)

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper (I used more)

In large, chilled bowl combined flour, 2 teaspoons salt and lard. Working quickly, rub flour and fat together with fingertips until it looks like flakes of coarse meal. Pour in 10 tablespoons ice water, toss together and gather dough into a ball. If dough crumbles, add up to 2 tablespoons more water, a teaspoonful at a time, until the particles adhere. Divide dough into 6 equal balls, dust them with flour, wrap in waxed paper and chill 1 hour.

Combine beef, potatoes, onions, turnips, 1 tablespoon salt and pepper and mix well. On lightly floured surface, roll out one ball of dough at a time into a rough circle about 1/4 inch thick. Using a plate or pot lid about 9 inches in diameter as a guide, but the dough into rounds with a pastry wheel or sharp knife. Place about 1 1/2 cups mixture in center of round and spread to make a center strip. Fold one side of the round over that and press edges together snugly at one end. Starting from the sealed end, press the two edges of the round together to encase the filling securely and form a double-thick band of dough about 1/2 inch wide along the seam across the top. With your fingers crimp together. Carefully transfer with large spatula to un-greased baking sheet. Repeat the process with remaining dough and filling. Cut small slashes on tops. Bake in preheated 400 degree oven about 45 minutes or until pasties are golden brown. Make six 9 inch pasties.

This was a first attempt and here is a wierd thing.....I had quite a bit of filling left over so I put it in the freezer for the next go-around. I don't think I rolled the dough out thin enough. Good luck!.....I'm not much of a cook but these turned out really good (Taste wise, they were pretty warped looking but that's the fault of the cook,too).