Ten easy steps to three perfect days in Gwinn

Get a room with a view

Sigrid arrived late Sunday night at Sawyer International Airport in Gwinn, Michigan. It required 10 hours and three airports for Sigrid to fly here. About the time it would take to get to Paris.  Probably best to not bring that up.

 Sigrid always plans the best itineraries for our far flung adventures.  She proved to be equally adept at planning a short trip to Big Shag Lake and  Three Perfect Days in Gwinn.

1)  Arrange for the weather to be 70 degrees and sunny during the day, 45 degrees and cool in the night. and make sure it rains only at night.

2) These weather conditions will permit  you to  enjoy spectacular sunrises from your room with a view.

 

3) Your experience will be enhanced by coordinating your visit with the peak fall color change, offering unique photo opportunities.

 4) Hire an experienced captain and crew to be available on demand for private pontoon boat cruises on the lake.

If you can't find an experienced captain, don't worry. Anyone can drive these things.

5) For a cultured evening of musical appreciation, don't miss the Monday night Acoustic Jam at Jack's Hideaway.  Sure it looks like a roadside dive. That's because it is. But when a random group of talented local musicians bring an eclectic mix of instruments just to enjoy themselves and see what happens, you can't go wrong for the cost of a few beers.

 This night Sigrid enjoyed 5 acoustic guitars, 1 electric guitar, 1 bass guitar, two harmonica players, two fiddlers and a mandolin. It was way cooler than it had any right to be.

6) Leave time for quiet contemplation and reading from your private veranda embedded in the north woods canopy.

7) Pack a picnic lunch and enjoy the October sunshine and mild weather for which the UP is famous while relaxing at anchor in a pontoon boat in the middle of the lake with your hired captain and crew.

8 ) Take a photographic safari exploring the Lake Superior shoreline and fall color vistas while enjoying local cuisine.

 

 

Enjoy Yooper smoked fish...

potato sausage and...

 ... cheese curds!

Okay, the last is not really "yooper", but close enough (A special request for Kenosha born loyal Reader Laurie).

 9) Before discharging your pontoon boat captain and crew, take a sunset cruise around the lake.

10) Finish your trip with one of the most spectacular Northern Lights displays in recent memory. Be sure to insist on an aurora borealis that encompasses at least half of the visible sky from directly overhead to at least 180 degrees of the horizon.

A full sky "fish eye" shot of the Oct 2 Northern Lights from professional photographer Shawn Malone:

 Shawn called it "one of the most intense I've ever seen" - which is really saying something considering how long she has been shooting this phenomena in Northern Michigan.

So simply plan to be in the U.P. on clear moonless night when one of these things is happening and your three perfect days in Gwinn will be complete.