Most people mistakenly believe that Michigan,
is surrounded by what is know by Great Lakes.

In reality, there is nothing lake about them,
those are great sweet water seas.

Their real names are as follows,
The Michigan Sea, The Superior Sea, The Huron Sea, and The Erie Sea.

Though I have personally never seen it,
some parts of the seas freeze in winter.

Originally the full name for Michigan,
was Cape Michigan.

A Cape is defined as,
“a large headland extending into a body of water, usually the sea”

There is also a peninsula,
called the Upper Peninsula - often shortened to U.P. by the locals.

And the Cape is bound to United States,
By means of a land named Oh Hi, Yo!

Which is only technically, a state,
but it is really a welcoming point for the people arriving from the seas.

And the Oh Hi, Yo! Landmass,
is where my adventure begun.

Frequently, I would find myself thinking I am going one way,
but realizing, I was going elsewhere.

I thrive on such wonderful events,
with one exception.

Each time I arrive at Bowling Green, Oh Hi, Yo!
I realize that I have moved away from the seas, which is where all the fun if.

Bowling Green is only as fun,
as it sounds.

I cheerfully turned my car around,
knowing that now I am headed the right way on 275.

And grabbed some chips,
while I was at it.

Munching on my chips,
I figured I should drive as far as the roads take me.

As Cape Michigan,
can only take you to more sea.

I ended up In the U.P,
by crossing a large bridge

I discovered a shipwreck museum,
and decided to search for a hotel, in Paradise City.

The hotel I found was magnificent,
they had a model of a great ship in the lobby, and I doodled it into my journal.

Oddly there wants anywhere to go,
but there was a tiny little store, and it was fun to look around.

I spent most of the day enjoying looking at the Superior Sea,
it truly was a superior experience.

Though as I rent down for dinner,
I left the windows open.

And upon my return my room was filled with thousands of large mosquitoes,
so I grabbed a pillow and slept in the tub.

The shipwreck museum was a dream,
but I spent most of the time wondering how it was possible that there were 500 shipwrecks there.

You’d think they’d learn,
after one or two.

I was there a goodie long while,
but I made the mistake of not becoming more interested in bird watching.

There is an entire community of bird watchers up there,
clearly this is something worth the while.

It was on my meandering way towards the more southern seas,
that I discovered the City of Ludington.

I stayed a whole month,
I explored the State Park, camped at the Jack Pine Hike-in sites, and got my first taste of Nordhouse Dunes.

Nordhouse is a small wideness,
positioned on the coast of the Michigan Sea.

I had many great little adventures there,
swam in the lake during the day, and and build little bonfires to roast sausages for dinner.

Never had a problem with mosquitoes,
and wilderness was free to camp in, the optional parking just a few dollars per week.

My second visit to Nordhouse featured a Magnificent Storm,
it was the most terrifying and majestic night of my life.

I was awoken in the middle of the night,
it was great thunder and a proper downpour.

The thunder was all around,
and I was surrounded by metal stakes in the ground.

There was nowhere to go an nowhere to run,
just the bright flashes of the midnight sun.

I’ve put on a song I liked and the thunder grew tame,
and before I knew it the morning came.