Sculptures, Black Rocks and a Waterfall

From Munising we headed to Houghton but first we made a few stops along the way. 

                              

Our first stop was Lakenenland, a sculpture park located in Chocolay Township, Michigan. The park was founded in 2003, when artist Tom Lakenen moved his collection of scrap iron sculptures from his yard to a plot of land near the Lake Superior coast. The 37-acre park features over 100 metal art creations in the creator's "junkyard art" style.

It is free. There is parking, picnic benches and portable restrooms. You have the option to drive through it or walk. We chose to walk. 

What we did not expect was how political the sculptures were going to be and Tom, you are a man after my own heart.

His disclaimer was especially heartfelt. Once again Tom, I am with you. 

It took us almost an hour to walk through it and it was absolutely worth the stop. 

Next we headed over to Marquette. Marquette is the largest city in the Upper Peninsula, located along the southern shore of Lake Superior. Northwest of Marquette is Presque Isle Park, a 323-acre public park and on the far side of Presque Isle sits a large rocky outcropping called the Black Rocks. That was our destination. 

The black rocks are a 1.7-billion-year-old metamorphosed peridotite and a popular spot for cliff jumping. 

They developed a rock skipping obsession. The rocks were all so pretty!

There were more than a few people rock hunting.. mostly for agate.

This person was very into it.

There were so many people cliff jumping.. it was fun to just sit and watch them.

Eventually we made it back to our car and then made our way towards a lunch spot. We went to Slabz which just happened to be inside a Ramada. So odd but the food was very good. 

Next stop, Canyon Falls. 

It was a half mile hike.

and just a little underwhelming. 

We arrived in Houghton late afternoon and snuck in a quick swim in the hotel pool as well as some jacuzzi time before heading out for dinner. Downtown Houghton was a nice walkable area.. and we had dinner at The Library. 

The book lover in me had high expectation for this place.. the decor was great but unfortunately the food was just alright. 

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