Escanaba, Michigan

After leaving St. Ignace, our travels took us through the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We loved driving along US-2 and watching the waves crash on the shore of Lake Michigan as we made our way to Escanaba, Michigan.

We didn’t have time to spend the night, but we made the most of our day of sightseeing in Escanaba. Last year we visited the Sand Point Lighthouse, but due to the time of year we went, it wasn’t open for tours. Joe and I decided to swing through town and head to the lighthouse to see if it was open. I was beyond excited that it was!

The original lighthouse was destroyed by a fire in 1886, so the lighthouse was rebuilt to continue guiding mariners into the harbor of Little Bay de Noc. The 44 ft. tall brick beacon has an attached keepers quarters and houses a fourth order Fresnel lens. Abandoned in 1985, the Delta County Historical Society obtained it in 1986 and has since restored it to it’s original glory. It is currently open from Memorial Day to Oct. 1 for tours. Fun Fact: It was constructed with the tower facing the land instead of the water! How cool is that?

It was warm, sunny, and only a bit breezy, so we knew we’d have a great view from the top of the lighthouse. We paid the entrance fee, which is $3 for adults or $5 for a family. This fee also covers the admission to the Delta County Historical Society Museum next door. It was well worth it! For $5 our family enjoyed climbing the lighthouse and had the absolute best history lesson!

Judy was the lighthouse guide the day we arrived, and she was amazing! She was very friendly and gave us a lot of information about the lighthouse. We were super excited, so we made our way to the steps to give the lighthouse a climb. Sand Point was unique! When you first enter the lighthouse, you climb a flight of stairs to the main floor of the keepers quarters. You can either go view the main floor or go up another flight, that takes you to the second floor of the keepers quarters. Then there is another flight of stairs that takes you to the top of the lighthouse where you enter the lantern room. We decided to go to the top first and visit the different floors on the way back down. I was impressed with the set up of the lighthouse, because the keeper would only need to climb the top flight of stairs to refill the lantern at night instead of having to climb the full set of steps. Work smarter, not harder! 😉

Here’s a video of the lighthouse climb:

The view of Little Bay de Noc and the surrounding area did not disappoint. It was amazing! It was also amazing to see a replica of the original fourth order Fresnel lens in the tower!

On our way back down, we stopped at the second floor to take a look around. We loved seeing the different bedrooms set up the way they may have previously looked hundreds of years ago.

We made our way down to the first floor. I was floored! There’s a reason the Sand Point Lighthouse is on the National Register of Historic Places and is a Michigan Historic Site! It is absolutely amazing! There is an area dedicated to the history of the lighthouse and keepers, but the living room and kitchen are set up so authentically that it feels like you’re taking a step back in time. I absolutely loved the old stove and irons!

After we toured the living quarters, we wandered to the boathouse to learn about the CGC Escanaba. The Coast Guard Cutter Escanaba was sent to guard the waters of Greenland during WWII. The CGC Escanaba was not designed for war, and unfortunately was destroyed by a German torpedo. Only 2 of the 105 crew survived.

The next place on our list of things to see was the Delta County Historical Society Museum. We were so delighted to find this hidden gem! It is filled with the most amazing memorabilia! We have paid quite a bit more to see museums that did not hold a candle to this one! We saw the original fourth order Fresnel lens that was housed in the lighthouse. There was an antique bicycle, dollhouse, gun/sword collection, and a Bible from 1889 with a Catholic sick call set! Antique dentist and doctor furniture with their implements were on display with a barber’s chair & equipment. There were even fig flavored Ex-Lax! 😄

There’s also a collection of wedding gowns from the 1800-1900’s. We found a collection of old telephones, too. I started to feel pretty old since we had one of them in our home when I was a kid! There were Native American artifacts, logging equipment, old musical instruments, and a camera collection.

There were so many fascinating things to see! It’s rare to find a place where none of us want to leave, but we needed to be on our way. We easily could have spent a few more hours there looking at everything!

We reluctantly left, but there was one more boathouse we needed to investigate!

This is where we learned more about the fire in 1886, and the suspicious death of Mary Terry. The first lighthouse keeper, John Terry, died before the lighthouse opened. His widow, Mary Terry, stayed on as lighthouse keeper and remained there until her suspicious death in 1886.

After this extensive history lesson, we needed to grab a bite to eat. We like to eat healthy, and we love the history of pastys that the local miners used to eat, so we decided to take a quick drive. There are many pasty restaurants in the U.P., but my favorite is The Pasty Oven in Quinnesec. The crust is delicious and the filling is scrumptious! Filled with a mixture of beef and pork, it also has potatoes, onions, and rutabagas. You can opt to have them without the rutabaga, but we love them! They also have a selection of specialty pastys, and the spinach & cheese one is fantastic! If you’re interested in my favorite comfort food, you can check them out here: https://pastys.com/

I sat down with Opal for a quick chat about the Pasty Oven and you can see that convo and the full Escanaba YouTube Vlog here including the complete tour of the Sand Point Lighthouse and Delta County Historical Society Museum:

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