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Lake Superior Circle Tour Club  Member
Comments Join today. Send comments and trip details to: Circle Tour Club P.O. Box 16417 Duluth, MN 55816-0417 or E-Mail: CircleTourClub@lakesuperior.com |
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Lake Superior Circle Tour Club Member
Comments Join today. Send comments and trip details to: Circle Tour Club P.O. Box 16417 Duluth, MN 55816-0417 or E-Mail: CircleTourClub@lakesuperior.com |
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August 5, 2005 I got on my motorcycle in Marquette, Michigan, at 9 a.m. August 2, 2005. I headed for my first circle the lake tour toward the Soo. After all the hype I have been hearing about crossing the border, I was relieved it only took me 20 seconds to be on my way into Canada. Two things distracted me from the ride. The first day, I was never sure if I was going to run my bike out of gas before the next gas station. When I stopped to start taking the first of many pictures, I found that my digital camera had no card. The images I have are still wonderfully held in my head. The ride along 17 between Terrace Bay and Thunder Bay was the most memorable. I might as well include the section from Marathon to Terrace Bay … I remember that too because it was raining. How about pulling of the road in Minnesota, into a parking space next to another motorcycle and finding out that the rider is a friend I met on a motorcycle ride through Illinois 5 years ago? The trip around the lake was magical. Best three days of my summer vacation. I’ll be back in 2006. This time, with a camera that works! Dave Pearce, Leesburg, Virginia September 22, 2005 Favorite spot or experience: Beautiful trip. The rocks along the North Shore and the drive from Rossport to Wawa were spectacular. Bob Lohn, Grand Marries, Minnesota September 25, 2005 I circled Lake Superior Sept. 12-25, starting in Duluth and driving in a clockwise direction. The highlights of the trip were the opportunities to actually be on the lake, including sailing to the Apostles’ Basswood Island, the cruise to the Apostles’ Outer Island Lighthouse, the tour of Copper Harbor lighthouse and the cruise to the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Among the lighthouses I visited, my favorite was the beautiful Point Iroquois Lighthouse in Michigan. And the drive through Ontario was breathtaking. Susan Lande, Belle Plaine, Minnesota September 18, 2005 Did the trip in 9 days. Wouldn’t do it in any less. Loved “Lake Superior - The Ultimate Guide.” It was the best guide imaginable. Hubby’s favorite was the Apostle Island Cruise. In Agawa Bay, saw a forest fire being fought by waterplanes scooping up the water. THAT was probably the most interesting thing I’ve ever seen! Paul & Patti Grobar, Marquette, Michigan July 27, 2005 We took 3 weeks to “do” the Lake Superior Circle Tour. We used your magazine extensively and it guided us to many places and sites that we otherwise would have missed and we recommended it to fellow campers along our route. Although Bayfield, Wisconsin, and Grand Marais, Minnesota, were our favorite towns, we especially enjoyed Michigan’s U.P. area! Keep up the good work on your Travel Guide! Dianne & Harry Herder, Flesherton, Ontario September 12. 2005 The boat trip from Munising with Pictured Rocks Boat Tour was awesome. Checking out the various falls, especially in Upper Michigan, Wawa and Thunder Bay, Ontario, were something not to be missed. The scenery from Sault Ste. Marie to Wawa was breathtaking. We met a lot of people to share our experience with. Some had already taken the tour and others seemed very interested in it in the future. Robert J. Gremminger, West Bend, Wisconsin September 10, 2005 Shipwreck Tours, Munising, Michigan, glass bottom boat was awesome, not to be missed. Very nice staff. Stayed at Sunset Beach, excellent. Shipwreck Museum, Whitefish Bay, Michigan - worth the trip. Accommodations/restaurants in and around Paradise are poor. Maybe you have some suggestions? We stayed at Curley’s which is a great location, but old, smelly and noisy. Wawa Motor Inn - newly renovated, stayed in main lodge, this was a great place with great food and a great staff. Beautiful room for the $. Young’s General Store - neat place! Loved the moose out front. In between Wawa and Thunder Bay, not much to be found. We highly recommend the McKenzie Inn near Thunder Bay. A top-notch place to stay. Their bar/grill was great, in the dining room we had a world-class gourmet dinner with excellent service. It’s near the Amethyst mines, which we loved. We had a great time at the Amethyst Mine Panorama. A friendly, helpful staff. Old Fort William was really neat and Kakabeka Falls were beautiful. Grand Portage Lodge and Casino was very nice, newly renovated rooms, nice restaurant with reasonable prices. Stayed our last 2 nights in our absolute favorite place in Grand Marais, Minnesota - Best Western Superior Inn and Suites. We visit there often. Dinner at the Harbor Inn is not to be missed. We had an excellent trip and bought your book before going which was very, very helpful in making our plans. We found your information to be quite accurate and it added to the enjoyment of our trip. Of course, we did many other things, but these are the ones that stand out in my mind. Thanks to your helpful staff for making our trip a memorable one and one we hope to make again soon. Roy & Ellen Townsend, Hayward, Wisconsin September 16. 2005 Just finished a 5-day motorcycle tour of Lake Superior. Started from Columbia City, Indiana, stops in Naubinway, Copper Harbor, Duluth, Nipigon and St. Ignace. 2,080 blissful, zen-like miles on a vintage 1980 Honda 750 K. Not a lot of time for seeing specific sights, the intention was to circumnavigate Mother Superior to gain perspective into its size, beauty and energy and to sense where I wanted to spend more time on a return trip. Highly recommend the Harbor House at the top of Copper Harbor and the Nipigon Cafe at Nipigon and the galley in St. Ignace for outstanding food and spirits. For a place to sleep: Belle Vista Hotel in Copper Harbor; Northland Hotel in Nipigon and some wonderful yellow-colored hotel in St. Ignace on the main street, the name escapes me. A guy named Phil is the innkeeper. Particularly memorable was my hour-long conversation with John Stavropoulos, the owner of Nipigon Cafe. He and his wife have owned and run the cafe for 32 years. This is a must-stop. Food the old-fashioned way: everything from scratch and all prepared and served in an almost understated environment of cleanliness. I would call the Nipigon Cafe a classic. Be sure to have your french fries with the offered brown gravy … not good for heart, but positively good for your soul … hell, it’s your vacation … live a little! Would encourage anyone under any means of transportation to experience the adventure of going around Lake Superior. You will be a more fulfilled person for making the trip. Joe H. Roe, Columbia City, Indiana September 29, 2005 We completed our trip around Lake Superior the last two weeks of September 2005 - our first time. We fully enjoyed the trip, but it was too short to see all there was to see, so we will do the trip again. We enjoyed the Canadian side of the trip most of all because we never had been that far up into Canada before. We have been up the North Shore many times as far as Thunder Bay and the South Shore as far as the locks. The Canadian portion was by far the most beautiful and rugged part of the trip. Many sights to see and the colors were just starting to change so we had some fall colors to view. The road was good, Hwy. 17. As far as views that were breathtaking, there is no one view that was not something to see. The Canadian Provincial campgrounds are the best I have seen. The park attendants were very friendly and helpful. Especially enjoyed Pancake Bay Provincial Park and the surrounding sites. The Algoma Central Railroad trip to Agawa Canyon park was a little too long for us, but the sites were great. Somewhere between Lake Superior Provincial Park and Pancake Bay, we had to stop and get a tire fixed on our car tote trailer. As anyone who has traveled up there knows, the towns are fairly far apart. Well, we were told by one of the park attendants that there was a place down the road about 30 miles that could fix it for me. So off we went, very slow so as not to blow the tire out, and found the place and was told they could fix it but it would take a couple of hours because their tire machine was broken so they would have to go back about 45 miles to their other station to fix the tire. We unloaded the car that was on the trailer and did some touring while we waited for them to fix the tire. As it turned out, the tire needed to be replaced and they did not have a tire that size but at one of their other places they knew they had a tire that would work, so I agreed and off they went and so did we. Everyone we met in Canada, including the folks who fixed my tire were the most gracious and friendly we have ever met. We did so many things on this trip it would be hard to tell you everything. We spent most of our time in Canada but did enjoy the Pictured Rocks Tour in Michigan. It was our anniversary that day so it was a beautiful end to our day because we took the evening cruise. A sight to see. All we can say is that we will probably do it again and see the things we missed and enjoy again some of the things we saw this time. Probably we would do the trip in reverse next time, which would be counterclockwise. Evelyn A. Windus, Duluth, Minnesota September 22, 2005 We were very impressed with the lack of litter along the roadways in Canada, unlike here in the States. All the people we met were very helpful and friendly. The owner of the Northland Motel in Nipigon even gave us towels to dry our motorcycles and let us use his dryer to dry our clothes from a wet ride from Thunder Bay to Nipigon. The roads were in very good shape and have plenty of passing lanes. Our favorite spot was Agawa Bay. Only complaint: there are not enough scenic overlooks along the route. Willie Herz & Troy Dorschner, Appleton, Wisconsin July 10-22, 2005 Some of our favorite spots were: Apostle Islands, Keweenaw area, Fort Wilkenson, Copper Harbor, Pictured Rocks. Dave, June, Heather & Jonathan Van Sickle, Chaska, Minnesota July 10-22, 2005 Some of our favorite spots were: Apostle Islands, Keweenaw area; Fort Wilkenson, Copper Harbor, Pictured Rocks. Tim, Lyn, Erin & Mark Boese, Grand Forks, North Dakota September 13, 2005 Favorite spots: Bayfield and Copper Harbor. The best hamburger we’ve ever had was at Gronk’s Bar & Grill in Superior, Wisconsin. Dee & Kevin Ketelsen, Bryant, Iowa |
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