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Manistique is a cool little UP town, right on Lake Michigan. Not far from Marquette or Escanaba either. You gotta be ready for winter though.
My mother in law has a place in one of the little towns just a bit east, so we always go to Manistique for groceries and theres a few cool restaurants and bars, but I've never stayed there. You might be ok with the bugs because you're closer to the lake, but where I stay the bugs run shit. You don't want to be outside in the summer once the sun starts to set. It's seriously the biggest drawback about that place, more than the winter in my opinion.
cheers JB, i appreciate the info. i have no experience with the UP so it helps.
that particular domicile and land are seriously tempting, but i'm really looking for a place to live, and as incredible as that cabin and land are, there are a number of limiting factors--hah, for one, it sounds like the 2-mile-long "sandy two track" that leads to the main road, is probably impassable at points throughout the winter.
i've been half joking with a few friends who i grew up with in and around Detroit, about going halves on it, so we can get the fuck out of dodge regularly, and go and shoot guns and all that kind of fun stuff...
Unless you've got a serious plow, you're not getting in and out on that two track in the winter. Winter is gnarly there, and I looked on the map and you're far enough out of town that I think you're in the thick of the bugs come summer. As awesome as the UP is, I'd keep your eyes open for something else. From Detroit, you're looking at least a 6 hour drive up to Manistique too, so take that into consideration.
My wife is actually trying to get her mom to sell her place up there because the weather is so hard on homes, you really gotta be there to maintain it, and right now it's just a vacation spot. We were up there in July and there was people rebuilding the foundation because it was crumbling, and I think the house is only like 10-15 years old. She's also got this barn that's going to cave in any second. My mother in law is too old to take care of it, and we're all too busy to make that drive all the time to get shit done, so we're really wishing she sells it and finds a place closer. The UP is awesome and I'm really glad that I've gotten to experience a lot of it, but Michigan has loads of other cool places that aren't as gnarly when it comes to the elements. Keep your eyes open.
Check up and down the Huron side. It seems to be less developed than the Michigan side and more affordable. My wife and I just spent last weekend up in Port Austin, which is at the tip of the Thumb. Never been before and we can't wait to go back. Super small tour, so it's not like flooded with tourists like a lot of the towns on Lake Michigan. Almost everything was walkable, but not a ton to do. We chilled on the beach and walked to bars and restaurants. It's surrounded by farm land, and theres no big freeways leading up to it, and from Detroit it would probably still be under 3 hours. My cousin has a place in AuGres which is just on the other side of the Saginaw bay on Lake Huron, and she said it really affordable there. You could also find a place anywhere in the middle, but in my opinion unless you're a serious hunter or farmer, there's no reason you'd want to live in the middle of nowhere. There are cool places sprinkled throughout, but I wouldn't leave my place in the burbs for a mid Michigan town.
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