Every summer, I head up to the Upper Peninsula for a week or so and always hope to make it up to Houghton and Hancock in the Keweenaw Peninsula.
Pulling into Houghton on the last trip, the locals told us that the Ambassador was the place to go for lunch. We enjoyed delicious food and a great view of the bridge and water below. The building, circa 1895, has been remodeled and expanded over the years but still maintains its original charm.
The Ambassador Restaurant’s most distinctive features are the hand-painted murals that line the interior walls, depicting bearded, merry-making gnomes. A mysterious artist by the name of Rohrbeck (possibly Franz Edward Rohrbeck, a German-born and Wisconsin-based mural artist) was commissioned by Joseph Bosch of the Keweenaw’s former Bosch Brewing Company to paint the oil-on-canvas works of art over a hundred years ago. The brewery closed in 1978 and the murals that had been in storage since Prohibition were moved to the Ambassador in the late 1940’s.
The Ambassador is known for its Mexican-inspired tostada pizza and has garnered a loyal following. Try the thin-crust pie topped with pizza sauce, hot sauce, lettuce, tomato, and two types of cheese.
We also stopped into the Daily Mining Gazette a few doors down and were given a tour. I enjoyed leafing through the old bound volume copies of the paper from the early 1900’s. The Mining Gazette was founded in 1859, and is still widely distributed across the U.P.
The Keweenaw Brewing Company was our next stop. It’s a large funky decorated place with many great beers. We were surprised to find that most of their beers were only $4, much less than most breweries.
Michigan Tech University is located in Houghton. With over 7,000 students, it gives the city a vibrant, artsy feel.
Houghton has shown up on lists of “100 best small towns in America.” It is known for its outdoor recreation, bringing enthusiasts from far and wide for hockey, skiing, snowmobiling, hiking, kayaking, camping and mountain biking.
Houghton has two summer festivals, Bridgefest and Strawberry Fest. However, the largest event is the Winter Carnival. Thousands of visitors come to see the intricate snow sculptures built by members of the college fraternities and sororities.
As part of Winter Carnival in 2006, the city of Houghton and the university, broke three world records: the largest snowball, the largest snowball fight, and the largest number of people making snow angels in one place.
Traveling to Hancock requires a trip across the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Portage Lake (which looks more like a river on a map), divides Hancock from Houghton and allows for larger ship traffic through the middle of the Keweenaw Peninsula.
The original wooden bridge was replaced in 1901 by the Portage Canal Swing Bridge. The bridge was damaged when a ship collided with it in 1905 and again in 1920. The bridge was replaced, at a cost of about $13 million, in 1959.
We crossed the bridge on foot to Hancock and found that the downtown area was much quieter than Houghton.
Hancock was named after John Hancock, who signed the Declaration of Independence. The Quincy Mining Company was founded in Hancock in 1859 and put Hancock on the map. It continued as a major employer until it closed in 1945.
You can still tour the mine, and this is a big attraction. The tour begins high above Hancock, with a ride down the steep hill on a cog rail tram. When you depart the tram, an underground guide takes you on a tractor-pulled wagon, nearly one-half mile straight into the side of the hill. Tour costs are $15 for the tram ride and outer area, or $35 for the tram ride and underground mine tour.
Many of Hancock’s gorgeous mansions are high above the city on tiered streets with a great view of the bridge and Portage Lake below.
Walking through the downtown area, you notice that many of the original businesses have been replaced with new art galleries and restaurants. The circa 1910 Orpheum Theatre has been restored and offers great music on a regular basis.
If you are looking for a great area to visit, Houghton and Hancock are hard to beat!
