[Coldjensens]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

I do not remember the name but there is a beautiful beach just East of Munising.

Sorry, wrong direction (actually I wrote the wrong city. It is just east of Marquette. Way west of munising.

Yes I think several of the beaches there have singing sand.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

We sent one of our people to help on the new dorms at NMU. They were dismayed, they were being banished to the frozen tunrda. "I am being sent to siberia." Fast forward one year - "this is the most awesome place i have ever been, I want to stay here forever, please do not make me come back to the LP.

It is one of the best towns in Michigan. Small eclectic and cozy, it also offers all the amnesties of a college town. Cool summers and lots of awesome snow in winter.

A few super awesome things nearby:

Canyon Falls trail (Michigans grand Canyon - cliff jumping here too if you are crazy.

Pictured rocks (out of Munising). Take the all day Kayalk tour.

Paradise Point Park. (Little known state park n the water near Christmas - you need 4x4 or an ATV or dirt bike to get there most of the time).

I do not remember the name but there is a beautiful beach just East of Munising.

The iron mine tour was memorable. One of the neatest things we have done. Exploring the little mining towns in the mountains was awesome too.


Visit the dune East of Munising (a lot east like an hour or more drive). Leave yourself at least half a day there it is hard to pull yourself away.

There are a ton of cliff jumping places all over near Munising. The location depends on your courage/stupidity. The was is very cold but also very clear. Sometimes you can see the bottom 80 feet down and it looks like you can reach out and grab that pretty rock (or sunken ship). .


I encouraged all of my kids to consider NMU but none did. too far away from home. Then, after graduating, they all seem to be moving thousands of miles away.

Thanks! Great info, we're only there about a day and a half and then head back before the Mac bridge gets shut down on Monday.

[Giesela]

Waiting to hear what you thought!?!?!?

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Giesela

Waiting to hear what you thought!?!?!?

It was fantastic. Well worth the 6.5 hour drive.

We did Sugarloaf Mountain but didn't time it right and totally missed the sunset. (trail was longer than I thought). And had to come back down in pitch black using our cell phone flashlights.

Checked out Northern Michigan University for our daughter. Nice campus and a lot of new buildings and renovations going on. Long drive for a kid with no car though.... :P

My 2 girls did the required jump off the cliffs at Black Rocks. Lake Superior was actually a balmy 58 that day. Incredible views up and down the coast from out there.

Really loved seeing all the newish bike trails. Every other car had kayaks and/or mountain bikes on them.

Walked to downtown and ate out at Delft Bistro (?). Nice spot, good food. A ton of pedestrians out and about.

We were all surprised to hear that Marquette has a Target (my wife and girls love that store).

Went to Pictured Rocks and we took the boat tour for the first time. Absolutely incredible can't believe we hadn't done it before.

Went to Tahquemenon Falls. Water was really high from all the rain so playing in the lower falls was a bit too treacherous for us (but not for a lot of other people).

Forgot that my Dad had said once that in the UP, if you see a gas station, get gas no matter what. Also, there's absolutely no cell service in much of the UP, not even for your mapping apps. Make sure you have a pretty good idea where you're headed between towns because I think one area it was about 50 miles with no gas stations and no cell towers. At Taq Falls they even have a warning to take paper maps and not to rely on cell phones for hiking.

All in all a good 2 days up there.

[Coldjensens]

Northern lights were visible recently and extremely pretty (friend sent pictures). Could you see them from Sugarloaf?

An entirely new dorm complex is just being completed. Part of it is open I think. All of it will be open for next year if not already.

No need for a car really. Marquette has everything and they can borrow a bike or snowmobile or ride with a friend for local trips. To go home - fly. Or ride with friends. They can certainly get close enough for you to pick them up at a friend's house.

Cell service and gasoline are not really as bad as they are made out to be. Yes there are areas with neither, but you are usually no too far from one or both. Cell service comes and goes as you traverse the peninsula, but it is there more often than not except in the really remote areas. Weather blocks it out at times though.

Did you hike between upper and lower Taq falls? That is one of my favorite trails for a short hike. Canyon Falls trail is better though IMO.

Glad you enjoyed it. If you daughter(s) go to NMU please come back and start a new thread and tell us how it goes. I really like NMU, just could not convince my kids to go there. They were more interested in someplace warmer not someplace colder. But they were born in California so what can we expect. I even tried singing the glad garbage bag commercial to them, but to no avail.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Northern lights were visible recently and extremely pretty (friend sent pictures). Could you see them from Sugarloaf?

An entirely new dorm complex is just being completed. Part of it is open I think. All of it will be open for next year if not already.

No need for a car really. Marquette has everything and they can borrow a bike or snowmobile or ride with a friend for local trips. To go home - fly. Or ride with friends. They can certainly get close enough for you to pick them up at a friend's house.

Cell service and gasoline are not really as bad as they are made out to be. Yes there are areas with neither, but you are usually no too far from one or both. Cell service comes and goes as you traverse the peninsula, but it is there more often than not except in the really remote areas. Weather blocks it out at times though.

Did you hike between upper and lower Taq falls? That is one of my favorite trails for a short hike. Canyon Falls trail is better though IMO.

Glad you enjoyed it. If you daughter(s) go to NMU please come back and start a new thread and tell us how it goes. I really like NMU, just could not convince my kids to go there. They were more interested in someplace warmer not someplace colder. But they were born in California so what can we expect. I even tried singing the glad garbage bag commercial to them, but to no avail.

She loved the sense of adventure about the area, and we really only saw a fraction of it because we were only there Friday (the day of the campus tour) and part of Saturday. She has a friend who has already started there as a freshman with a track/cross country scholarship who is begging her to come there (another girl, not a boy lol ). My daughter also runs track/cross country and is faster than the other girl so who knows she may also get a scholarship.

And she's the kind of kid who spontaneously snapchats her friends and they run off to chase the sunsets. Marquette seems like an endless adventure of places to post pictures to Instagram for a college kid.

The main thing about not having a car is when she wants to come home for a weekend. That's 26 hours in the car (two round trips). Flying is OK but it's expensive from Grand Rapids because you have to fly through Detroit.

Maybe's it was our cell provider (Verizon) but our phones seemed to have "x" signal way more than any bars when we were on the road. Obviously in Marquette and Munising we had service, but the in betweens.... Like much of 123 we had so signal. Same with M-28.

And yes that new dorm complex called the Woods was massive, like Michigan State University dorm massive. They're in process of building the cafeteria onto it that will be able to hold 5000 or 6000 students? My daughter was perfectly fine with the dorm where her friend was living, Van Antwerp. The new-ish Jamrich Hall was pretty nice. Honestly my expectations for the campus were medium to low but I was very impressed. They were also adding onto the student center when we were there which will have a new Barnes & Noble built into it. Something like that.

If she goes it won't be until next Fall but we'll know some time this Fall if she gets accepted and chooses to go there. I'll keep y'all posted!

I found pictures of the Woods and some of the campus:

[IMG]http://www.walbridge.com/assets/NMU-...6-1024x576.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]https://miron-construction.com/wp-co...mrichHall1.jpg[/IMG]

[IMG]http://mediad.publicbroadcasting.net...ity_center.jpg[/IMG]

No to Northern Lights, and no to doing the trail between lower and upper falls. If we had more time for sure.

[SpaceGhost79]

When I attended NMU from '97 to '02, back before the internet/social media as we know it today, NMU had
posting boards in the University Center and on the Dean of Students Office website where you could post if you were looking for a ride or offering a ride (DSO has a Carpool Network message board now). These days I know there's Facebook groups and stuff, too. You could almost always find someone going somewhere either to or near where you wanted to go on a weekend and hitch a ride for gas money. I would offer rides when I would travel back home to Ann Arbor and almost always had one or two students travel with me to split gas money and their parents would meet us at an exit along my drive.

As for cell service, it can be hit or miss. I think AT&T is the best provider up north. For the most part you should get coverage on the main highways, but occasionally you will hit a "dead zone" for cell coverage. I used to travel a lot from Marquette to northern Wisconsin and there was always a spot near Republic that I would lose cell service for 5-10 miles.

NMU has really changed since my days there. Great to see everything on camps getting a modern makeover. Long overdue. Loved my time there as both a student and employee.

And yes, the Upper Peninsula is an endless outdoors adventure no matter the season! One of the true joys of living there is taking advantage of those outdoor opportunities. Used to get out walking my dogs in the woods or beach two or three times a day. Some of the best years of my life. I live in Florida now, but it' s just not the same. Miss the U.P. every single day, still got a house in MQT we rent out, and hope to one day move back there.

Originally Posted by magellan

The main thing about not having a car is when she wants to come home for a weekend. That's 26 hours in the car (two round trips). Flying is OK but it's expensive from Grand Rapids because you have to fly through Detroit.

Maybe's it was our cell provider (Verizon) but our phones seemed to have "x" signal way more than any bars when we were on the road. Obviously in Marquette and Munising we had service, but the in betweens.... Like much of 123 we had so signal. Same with M-28.

[Coldjensens]

Delta has daily flights to DTW and American has flights to Chicago. I do not know the cost, but people who live or work in Marquette that I know use the flights frequently. I am sure it is not cheap but for once or twice a year it might be manageable. Besides, you are going to want to go visit her. It is so beautiful around there and even in the winter it is spectacular to see. I have always wanted to see the ice caves, but I guess that is a bit dangerous.

[SpaceGhost79]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Delta has daily flights to DTW and American has flights to Chicago. I do not know the cost, but people who live or work in Marquette that I know use the flights frequently. I am sure it is not cheap but for once or twice a year it might be manageable. Besides, you are going to want to go visit her. It is so beautiful around there and even in the winter it is spectacular to see. I have always wanted to see the ice caves, but I guess that is a bit dangerous.

I've only been to the Eben Ice Caves, but I've never found it dangerous. Maybe in spring when it's starting to melt as the ice could break off at any time, but in dead winter never a worry. Strap on your snowshoes, it's like a 30 minute walk through the woods if I remember correctly. Yes, ice is slippery, lol, but use caution or prepare to fall on your behind a few times and you'll be fine.

I think there's an ice fest at Pictured Rocks during winter with a bunch of ice climbers each February, too, that offers courses and the opportunity to try it out.

[magellan]

Originally Posted by Coldjensens

Delta has daily flights to DTW and American has flights to Chicago. I do not know the cost, but people who live or work in Marquette that I know use the flights frequently. I am sure it is not cheap but for once or twice a year it might be manageable. Besides, you are going to want to go visit her. It is so beautiful around there and even in the winter it is spectacular to see. I have always wanted to see the ice caves, but I guess that is a bit dangerous.

Our tour guide at Northern mentioned the ice caves twice! Must be a hot destination. (har har)

I definitely want to go visit if she goes there and I'm definitely taking my mountain bike for some of those visits.