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U. P. Motorcycle Week Surprises along the way
Garden Peninsula One day while staying in Munising, I decided to take a ride down Forest Highway 13. Once I reached Highway US-2 and rode east my first surprise of my ride came as I was riding by the Garden Peninsula. I could see that Highway 183 which extends down the peninsula to Fayette State Park was being blacktopped. I don't know about you, but being able to ride newly laid blacktop gets me excited and at my age when opportunity presents itself, you roll!
So with a quick turn, I pulled into Foxy's Den to top off the tank and get some information about the road construction. I was in luck, the road was all but completed. Once I got past the first the piece of construction, it was smooth sailing all the way down to Fayette State Park. The turns were posted at 45mph, but my bike tires seemed to hug the newly laid blacktop as if they were glued to it. No cars, no traffic and wide open country on each side of the road. It was a ride one rarely gets to take these days. I enjoyed it so much I didn't stop to take another photograph. After the new blacktop ended I decided to continue on all the way to the bottom of the Garden Peninsula.
The last 10 miles down to Fairport took me past houses and through some woods and I had to slow it down quite a bit. In fact on the way back, I had a huge buck in full gallop hop the road in front of me in two bounds. Just a note about Fairport. It's a hard working fishing town and not a tourist area, so the roar of bikes coming into town may not be a welcome site.
Curtis, Michigan Curtis is a small town that sits on one of nicest inland lakes in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. When I was looking over the map of the U.P for someplace to ride, Curtis looked like a place I really should know more about. Having had some communications with the owners of the Chamberlin's Ole Forest Inn, I decided I would make a stop and say hello.
As I pulled into Curtis, I was surprised to find out how busy things were. It immediately had the feel of a busy tourist town. As usual I had forgotten to write down directions, but found plenty of signs along the road pointing the way to Chamberlin's Ole Forest Inn. I guess it shouldn't surprise me by this time, but I am still amazed to find motorcycles parked in front of places. Motorcycling is a growing sport and you'll find motorcycles cruising the country now from Florida to Alaska. Chamberlin's Ole Forest Inn is not located in a place where you just happen to be riding by and decide to pull in. You pretty much have to want to find it and there are some good reasons to want to find the Inn. I parked my bike next the the two already there, snapped a quick photo and went inside to say hello. After getting me a cold beer, I walked out on the patio and instantly fell in love with the place. What a great view of a beautiful lake. Truth is, I had been to Curtis before, but didn't remember the lake looking this good. The patio furniture looked mighty comfortable so I just sat down in one chair after another until I found a good old rocking chair that seemed to fit me quite nicely. There I sat enjoying the warm summer day and view. Later talking to the owners, I told them I'd be back, only next time I'd be bring my wife. The Chamberlin's Ole Forest Inn is a destination. It has a lot to offer and could easily be used as a hub from which to ride to many great locations in Upper Michigan and I suggest anyone looking for a place to do just that, visit their website. Continued.... Page 1 of 5
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