• Wednesday-What'sUP August 26 - 10:03 pm

Last week we featured a photo of our "Eye-in-the-sky," E. Neil Harri, with a nice looking King Salmon that he had hooked while fishing on Lake Michigan. Neil was good enough to send us a couple pictures of the marina that he had set sail from for this fishing expedition. That's Dick's Fairport Marina, located on the tip of the Garden Peninsula in Fairport, MI. There are a number of private marinas right in the area, all of them offer boat dockage for a fee. Dick's also offers ice, restrooms and a fish cleaning station (I wonder if that's where Neil cleaned and filleted that nice looking Salmon?!). Check out the Fairport Marina Rental/Fees page...it's much more than just a marina, you can rent cabins, do some camping, even store your boat or RV for the week or for the winter. Lots going on there on that southern peninsula of the Upper Peninsula! :->

Don't forget to check out Neil Harri Photos for a variety of Aerial DVD's and other gift ideas. One of Neil's Aerial Tours might be a nice reminder of home for your departing college student. You can slip it in their packed bags or send it by mail, for those "homesick for the U.P." times.

After 5 in. of hard rainfall last night and now severe washout in our barn area, this marina is where I would really like to be with our boat heading out to the lake!

Few people make it out to the tip of the Garden Peninsula. When I was last there, you could still see the remnants of a once mighty Lake Michigan fishing fleet. I imagine there are few commercial boats left today, but at one time, many called Fairport home.

This peninsula is also home to Fayette State Park, a great place to visit. I drove to the southern tip of this peninsula and it had a New England, fishing village feel to it.

Richard, on my last trip along US-2 I stopped in at Naubinway to talk with the people doing the commercial fishing.At that time they were loading 2 semis for Bay City and They tell me that the only boats operating on the north shore of Lake Michigan are based there (3 boats). There is other fishing done by the Native Americans out of the lower peninsula. I remember going to visit "fishing villages" all along the Keweenaw while growing up, maybe some others can add to the list of long gone fishing villages.

The tribal dock is the only commercial operation left in Fairport. It is the furthest one in the second picture.
The Garden peninsula sure seems like its in a different state compared to rest of the UP.

I have to agree with you Neil. My honey and I drove down to Fairport before we went to Fayette while we were up in the U.P. in July (sigh.....) and the area definitely had a different feel to it. Not a bad thing......just different!

Thanks so much for the awesome pics!

There is a lot in that area I would like to see. You can really tell the water depths at the docks drop!

Aren't there Native American drawings on stone cliffs on the Garden Peninsula? Seems like they were on private property.......

I love exploring all the out of the way places in the U.P. The geography changes so much from one place to the next. It would probably take an entire lifetime to explore all that the U.P. has to offer. You beat me to my question Jbuck! I think the ancient drawings are at "Burnt Bluff". I tried to drive down there once but I was never sure if I had left the county road and gotten onto somebody's driveway, so I eventually stopped before I reached the waterfront.

Where is the Garden Peninsula; in the U.P.?

Mary says: Click on this link for more info about the Garden Peninsula. There's a map there that you can click on to view larger, too: Garden Peninsula and map.

The Garden Peninsula stretches southward from US 2 in the area between Manistique and Nahma/Isabella (eastward from Rapid River); the peninsula separates Big Bay de Noc from the greater part of Lake Michigan.....about one third of the way between Manistique and Escanaba.