The Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a rugged and beautiful place, where copper and iron reserves once sparked a tremendous industrial boom. Now that the mineral deposits are largely depleted and the jobs mostly gone, nature has reclaimed much of the land and the population has fallen. What remains is an explorer’s paradise, a quiet land pockmarked by industrial ruins, artifacts waiting to be discovered, and local people with lots of interesting stories.
Sault Ste. Marie is pronounced Soo Saint Marie. It and its Canadian twin city form a dot on the map that you may or may not have seen. So why did we spend an afternoon there? The same reason a lot of people do: the ships passing through the Soo Locks.
