Page 126 - WINE DINE AND TRAVEL EATING IBERIA

Themuseum’sexhibitstracethehistoryofmajorship-
wrecks,ofwhichthebestknownistheEdmundFitzgerald,
whichsank17milesnorthofWhitefishPointinNovember
1975. The museum is operated by the Great Lakes Ship-
wreckHistoricalSociety,whichhelpedfundanexpedition
in 1995 that explored the wreckage of the giant freighter
andsalvageditsbell.Thebellwasunveiledinachurchcer-
emony that honored the 29 crew members who never re-
turned home, to provide some closure to their surviving
family members. The museum shows a film about that ex-
pedition that is quite moving, and a visit to the museum is
well worth the $13 price of admission.
We were now at the very edge of Whitefish Point,
which extends northward toward Ontario to form White-
fishBay,asortofvestibuleforshipsontheirwaytotheSoo
Locks.Bynowthewindandrainweresofiercewecouldn’t
venture to the lakeshore itself, and instead headed south
and inland, away from the lake and toward Tahquamenon
State Park.
This park is home to the Upper and Lower Tahqua-
menonfalls,twooftheU.P.’s300cascadingrapidsandwa-
terfalls.

Upper Tahquamenon is the peninsula’s most magnifi-
cent waterfall, and among the most magnificent nation-
wide. A rolling river 200 feet across cascades 50 feet
straight down in a curtain of caramel-colored foam. The
U.P.’s rivers are distinctive for their russet color, which is
caused by cedar trees leaching tannins into local waters.
Upper Tahquamenon is the best example of this phenom-
enon, as these falls resemble a torrent of frothy Frappuc-
cino.
Lower Tahquamenon Falls are not quite so dramatic,
butarebeautifullysituatedalongaboskystream.Itispos-
sibletorentaboatandpaddletoanislandforabetterview
ofthesefalls, butwepassedontheexperience.Idoubtwe
could have managed in the rain.
WehadhopedtoventureoutontoLakeSuperiorona
sightseeing boat, to take in the colorful cliffs and rock for-
mations that comprise Pictured Rocks National
Lakeshore.Superiorhadotherideas,however,asthewind
churned the lake’s surface so violently that boat conces-
sionaires declined to sail.
The only navigation we dared undertake was aboard
a raft at Kitch-Iti-Kipi spring, one of the U.P.’s secret trea-
sures.Theword“spring”barelycoversthisnaturalwonder,
which consists of a small spring-fed lake ensconced in
Palms Book State Park. The raft is large enough for about

126 WINE DINE & TRAVEL MAGAZINE 2020