BudgetTravel

Day 3. Houghton to Manistique
On the mine tour we learned about pasties: meat-pocket snacks that miners warmed over their candles. Pasties are still fairly popular around the U.P., though I have a hunch that it's nostalgia rather than tastiness that keeps them on restaurant menus. Either way, I haven't worked up the courage to try one yet. In a fit of coffee-fueled brashness and journalistic duty, I order a pasty for breakfast at Suomi, a diner with logging gear on the walls. Check pasties off the list: I can now officially say that I'm not a fan of the miner's meat pocket. But the cinnamon toast at Suomi is perfect, and the service is friendly.

Agate Beach, near Copper Harbor (Amanda Friedman) APRIL 2007 ISSUE • Table of Contents: April 2007 • Secret Hotels of California Wine Country • River Cruising in Eastern Europe • My Brooklyn Is Better Than Yours • The Cool List: Best New Thrills • Web Smart: Booking Cruises Online • Road Trip: Michigan's Upper Peninsula • 40 Best

We hightail it east with the idea of spending the night in Munising, home of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. But the vibe is all wrong in Munising, which sits in the shadow of a working paper mill, so we take a sharp turn south and head for the Garden Peninsula. The drive is beautiful: We leave the wooded coastline of Lake Superior and cross acres of farmland dotted with cows and the occasional barn. By the time we arrive in Fayette, the sun is shining.

Fayette Ghost Town is a former smelting-factory village that is now preserved in its entirety as a museum inside Fayette State Park. The ghost town is in a gorgeous spot: midway down the Garden Peninsula, on a perfect little grassy knoll next to a cove of dramatic limestone cliffs. We wander nearly alone through a rickety old butcher shop and homes with meticulously restored bedrooms. It's like we've been allowed to lollygag through the set of The Village.

Our next stop is Indian Lake State Park, home of the 40-foot-deep Big Springs, which is also known as Kitch-iti-Kipi. We board a raft--free with the car permit fee--and float over the crystal-clear waters while gazing at the enormous trout and swirling sands way down at the bottom. Once again, we get to enjoy a popular attraction completely by ourselves, and what may otherwise have seemed cramped and touristy feels magical.

Providence leads us to the '50s-style Star Motel, where our mint-green bathroom is so perfectly retro, I'm driven to take a picture. The Star has been run since 1975 by the precise and personable Dorothy McNamara, who knows Manistique well and provides guests with gift certificates to local restaurants.

In downtown Manistique, home to one of the more impressive Paul Bunyan statues, we stop in for a drink at a good-looking bar called Marley's. Beers are $1.25 each. In a back room, a pool table and a jukebox sit unused, as if waiting for us. We play a few games, put on an oddball mix of songs--Patsy Cline, U2, Ray Charles, Whitesnake--and make a night of it.

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