Page 122 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL EATING IBERIA

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula is endearingly called U.P., Our introduction to the Upper Peninsula, which
pronounced Yoo-Pee, by locals, who refer to themselves stretches 320 miles from Wisconsin on the west to Sault
whimsicallyasYoopers.Itissparselypopulatedcompared Ste. Marie on the east, was by crossing the Mackinac
with Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, as only 3 percent of the Bridge,whichspansthethree-mileStraitsofMackinacthat
state’s population live here. Copper and iron mining drove separatetheUpperandLowerPeninsulas.
theeconomyforthefirsthalfofthe20thcentury,butthose Make no mistake, Mackinac is pronounced “Macki-
veins are mostly played out. The U.P. is laced with rivers, naw” after an original Indian word, a pronunciation that
streams and wetlands, making it an outdoorsman’s par- crept into the spelling of Mackinaw City on the south side
adiseandawellspringofnaturalscenery.Andbecauseitis ofthestraits.
hemmedbyLakeSuperioronthenorthandLakeMichigan
The straits link Lakes Lakes Michigan and Huron so
onthesouth,agorgeousshorelineisneverfaraway.

122 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020