Escanaba, Michigan

We had a wonderful day in yesterday in Escanaba. It started with Sunday services at Immanuel Lutheran Church. The pastor, Judy Kincaid, gave an inspiring sermon on the kingdom of God, as explained by
Christ in his parables (Matthew 13). As she said;  the kingdom of God is as close as my next breath, it is as powerful as one man dying for many. After the service we stayed for fellowship hour. The members of the church were very friendly and eager to talk with us about Escanaba. Apparently the winters are not as bad as we had thought, one lady described Escanaba as being the tropics of the upper penninsula- not much snow falls during the winter. The area was once a timber and fishing area. That changed in the 1800s with the mining of iron ore. Escanaba's deep harbor and close proximity to Michigan's mountain ranges made it an ideal location to ship out iron ore. That era ended in the 1950s. Today Escanaba is not doing as well economically and a local resident lamented that their children cannot find jobs, consequently they are moving from the town. Any tourist coming to this town should certainly eat at the Swedish Pantry Restaurant, which is where we went for lunch. What a charming place, the walls are filled with chiming and singing clocks going off at all times. We tried a Swedish sampler plate, complete with Swedish meatballs, potato sausage, and rutabaga. All of it was quite tasty! After lunch we walked around the Sand Point Lighthouse and the historical complex around it. Below is a picture of the harbor located at the mouth of the Escanaba River on Little Bay de Noc.

 The Escanaba River has been was immortalized by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in 1855 in his "Song of Hiawatha". He described the river as the "rushing Esconaba". We drove out to Pioneer Trail Park to walk along its banks. The river can be seen below, in the background is a paper mill belching out its white smoke.