Things I Don't Miss, Part III

Target

One of the things that concerned me about moving here is the fact that the closest Target store is 100 miles away. Last weekend we made the drive to Marquette and dutifully stopped at Target. I was disappointed. Maybe it's because the Marquette Target is sort of junky. Maybe it's because the Wal-Mart here in Houghton is especially nice. Maybe it's because Wal-Mart has the best prices as well as the best selection of groceries in town (except the best ethinc food and chocolate are at Jim's Food Mart). Maybe it's because I got a super-spiffy Jim Beam baseball cap at Wal-Mart.

Whatever the case, I'm not missing Target. Heresy, I know, but it's the truth.

Look Both Ways

(view to my left)


(view to my right)

Another amazing place visited today: Agate Beach. While I wasn't the only person on the beach I might as well have been. I walked maybe a mile south and found and found a spot to rest. There was no one within a mile.

Things I Don't Miss, Part II

Local News

There is very little local news here. There is a local paper, The Mining Gazette, that publishes a handful of local stories each day. The closest TV station is is Marquette, 100 miles away. As a result I consume much less local news than when I lived in Minneapolis. And I don't miss it at all.

House Research

Yesterday I was down in the archives for a meeting and I decided to do some research on my new house. Here's what I found out:

202 Harris - present residents, the Richard Kahn family

Thomas J. and Fannie L. Prince had this house built around 1900. Thomas was the publisher of the newspaper "The Portage Lake Herald" whose first issue hit the stands on May 6, 1884. He was later the foreman at the "Copper Journal" newspaper. Originally, the turret, now located over the front porch, was an open porch like the one below. Mr. Prince was an original organizer of the Northern Michigan Building and Loan Association in 1889. The Princes owned this home until 1937.

Present resident, Richard Kahn, is the great-grandson of Jacob Gartner, founder of Gartner's Department Store.

Then today I did some more digging and found the photo above. The Kahns actually have a painting made from this photo so I knew of its existence and wasn't too surprised when it turned up. That's our house, smack in the middle of the picture. Apparently the Ringling Brothers Circus was in town; back then the region was a regular stop for traveling entertainment as the mines were thriving and the population was well over 100,000.

Here's the description of the photo from the catalog record:

Camels in parade before 1900, corner of Reservation and Quincy St., Hancock [A photo of several camels in a parade. The street is made of dirt, a number of houses are in the background, and a large crowd has gathered for the parade.]

(Text above taken from East Hancock Revisited: History of a Neighborhood Circa 1880 - 1920, by Eleanor A. Alexander. Photo from the Keweenaw Digital Archives, negative 05740.)

Things I Don't Miss, Part I

Airplanes

Last night we heard a weird loud noise outside; it was an airplane, the first one we've heard since we moved here. They used to rattle our windows every few minutes. I always thought I liked the sound but hearing one last night made me realize I don't miss it at all.

Breakwater

Today we made the 100-mile trip to Marquette. It's the biggest city in the U.P. (20,000 people!) and feels completely different from Houghton. Much more "civilized," for better or worse.

The highlight of the trip was walking out the the lighthouse at the end of the Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater. It's a rocky, treacherous walk, especially with a six-year-old. Everyone loved it.

Now we have to figure out what 4th of July parades to hit tomorrow.

More Houghton Water

Here's another nice shot of the Houghton/Hancock waterfront. This one is taken from the Portage Lift Bridge. The boat at left is the cruise ship pictured in the previous post.

Cruise Ship

Big news in town today was the arrival of this cruise ship bound for Canada. We made a special trip down to the water at lunchtime to take a look.

Hail To The King

Another great parade sighting: the King of Meats.

Old Neighborhood Is Abuzz

It's nice to see my neighbors (well, technically I guess they are my former neighbors) in the news for something fun. Today's Star Tribune has a piece, including a video, about David Nicholson's beekeeping exploits. David and Betsy taught us a lot about bees and shared their "Backyard Bee Barf" with us. They still can't make me like honey, though. Even our friend Elena makes an appearance in the article as the initially skeptical neighbor who eventually comes around. Good work everyone.

Chicken Bath Day

Today Chris gave the chickens a bath. I was actually surprised how well they tolerated the water and the shampoo.

Now they smell exquisite.

More pictures of chicken bathing can be found here.

Soccer Geek

So I'm a big soccer geek and today was a special day, the Champions League final. I'm a Manchester United fan so I was thrilled for the first nine minutes. But then Barcelona scored and United fell apart. The rest of the game was pretty grim. I have to say the result was fair, and Messi totally upstaged Ronaldo.

The next two months I'll be without my satellite TV, but I should get it back just in time for the start of next season. Good timing, yes?