Oh No, A SKUNK!!
I last left you with a tease about a treat that is popular in the Upper Peninsula (UP). What is this little delicacy? It’s called a ‘pasty or pastie‘ and is not pronounced like the white lumpy school paste that came with a stick. It is pronounced like the word ‘past’ with a long /e/ sound at the end.
Follow this link for a YouTube video on the history of pasties. It’s actually considered the ‘national dish’ of Cornwall, United Kingdom. It became popular in Michigan’s UP when the Cornish Miners migrated there and can be found in many places and forms to include breakfast and dessert varieties. Of course we had to give it a try. I’m definitely a fan of the modern version rather than the original meat, potato, onion original.
With pasties filling our tummies, it was time to walk all those carbohydrates off. Our first stop in Michigan was in Iron County. We stayed near the Iron River in a county park called Klint Safford Memorial RV Park. It had a great trail next to it called the Apple Blossom Hiking Trail. We took off on the several mile long trail with our furry crew member in tow.
But much to our surprise, a mile or two into our journey, we realized we were coming upon a very smelly situation. Just a few feet in front of us a white and black striped stink bomb was enjoying a stroll of its own. It didn’t see us and we made sure our furry friend didn’t see it either. And alas, we managed to turn around and head back to our campsite without altercation.
After such a stressful hike and pasties nicely digested, it was time to think of dinner plans. We found this gem of a pizza place located in town called Riverside Pizzeria. It was so good that we ended up making two visits while there. It started out as a bar in 1946 and the owners, brothers-in-law, quickly added food. It is still second generation family owned. If you ever find yourself in this neck of the woods, they are worth your consideration. Be forewarned, they only accept cash so come prepared.
I wouldn’t want to give you the impression that all we did in Iron City was eat delicious food. I mean there was laundry to get caught up on in between all the feasting. Our next destination will take us over the scary Mackinac suspension bridge that crosses the Straits of Mackinac. It connects the Upper and Lower Peninsulas of Michigan. It is here we will observe the solar eclipse of 2017 and check our last great lake off the list, Lake Huron.
{HUGS} from the Crew
