Rick Anderson has given us another great bird's eye view (or maybe even higher!) of the twin cities of Hancock and Houghton. With Ripley on the right, continuing into Hancock, then over the bridge and into Houghton, Rick takes us on a midwinter mini-tour. Maybe not as colorful as a summer or fall photo of the area but fascinating none-the-less. Is that a skier I see on Mont Ripley?

Don't forget Heikinpäivä activities start tomorrow in Hancock!

awesome picture

"bird's eye view"...

Girl scout cookie time!!!!

Nice picture. Is that from the top of the quincy mine shaft? We are getting 6 to 8 inches of the white stuff down in the loper and people are starting to complain....unbelievable. I think its a blessing the beatiful white fluffy snow covers the ground. Some people just dont get it. I wish it would snow 6 to 8 inches every day.

I want everyone to know that Rick Anderson of Skypixs will be exhibiting his photography work in Houghton at The Studio Gallery on Sheldon in March 2004. This is next to Marie's Deli, where Wilcox Photography Shop used to be.

It is snowing hard here in Cadillac too. It sure is pretty!

Mt Bohemia- I haven't seen anything on Pasty Cam about it this winter. Is the Mt Bohemis ski area active this winter?

Does anyone know how to prononce Heikinpaiva? Can't wait to see the Polar Bear pictures.

Great pic! I go to this site every morning. Whats the two stacks just befor the bridge.

Former michigander

This would be a good "wall paper" candidate

To pronounce Heikinpaiva...

Hay (like a hay bale)

kin (as in your kin folk)

pie (apple, blueberry)

va (as in Valencia oranges)

Hope this helps! Remember that the emphasis for Finnish words is on the first syllable.

Heikinpäivä is pronounced "hay' kin pie vah". Put the stress
on the first syllable. I'll be taking lots of photos again of the
Polar Bear dive which starts at 3 pm. at the Ramada. Many
thanks to the MTU Aquanauts for opening the hole and
protecting all of the "crazy" divers. Last year it was 9
degrees out there. I about froze and I was only on the dock
dressed in many layers. I can't imagine how that cold water
must have felt.

I'm searching for the name of some cabins I used to go to about 20 years ago. They were just west of the bar in Gay Michigan and were on the lake/canal (Portage Lake). There were about 6 cabins and the owners home, it had changed ownership while I went there, annually for about 4 years. Had a sauna and a small beach area. Canoe and boat rentals, very quaint place. A dock in the beach area where one evening we went out on the dock when a freighter was passing by (so quietly, you would only know it was there by it lights) and were so close, seems we could almost touch the freighter. I've searched for cabins up north. Seems it was called the Keewanaw Waterway Resort, but I wonder if they are still in business. Anybody know about this place?

And, if you want to sound like a real Finlander, you won't stress the "p" in "pai" all that hard. It sounds more like "buy".

Enjoy the festivities!

http://www.mtbohemia.com/home.html

The two stacks would be the old Quincy Smelter.

Thanks, Dawn in Kzoo! That was very instructive.

Is that Atlantic Mine in the upper left corner?

The Ripley Smelter shows up nicely. Any news on
what the plans are for this EXCELLENT historic
spot? I explored it with a pal back in 1980 and we
nearly go electrocuted by live hanging wires, but
we got inside and saw some awesome old steam
engines.

http://www.at
thecreation.com/

The Finnish "a" with 2 dots over it "ä", is pronounced like the "a" in apple. Heikinpäivä is more like hay-kin-bæ-ee-væ. Now ask a Finn how to pronounce the word for night "yö". For a 2-letter word, it's one heck of a mouthfull! Enjoy all the winter festivities coming up:)

with all this talk about pasty.com being in newsweek, i seem to remember the site being mentioned in time(or maybe it was newsweek)several years ago. does anyone remember that?

Good Picture Rick from your neigbor in Largo Florida...Dean and Pat L.

My Newsweek came yesterday and I searched stem to stern for the pic of Kenny and Grace. Anyone know why? Jean thanks for the thoughts. The cat tried to eat your Mom last night.

Pete WI,

The picture and article are on page 80 of the January 19, 2004 issue, in the TipSheet section. It's entitled:

Oops, how could I forget, there's also a cut-out picture of a delicious U.P. Pasty!!

I am interested in knowing if Dollar Bay is in the picture. I often heard my dad talk about Ripley which was close to Dollar Bay. He came from a large family there.Maybe someone out there remembers the Martin family, they had 5 boys Rudy, Roy, Ray, Ralph and Robert and two Girls Sigrid and Inga. All of them ended up in Detroit except Inga who stayed in Dollar Bay and married a Sy Clements.

Ray Martin;
Dollar Bay will be another couple of miles to the lower left of the picture. You can see bits and pieces of M26 on the Hancock side which runs east and west on this side of the canal. M26 will take you between Hancock, Ripley, Dollar Bay, Mason, and so on.
Sorry I don't know any of the Martin family from Dollay Bay. Maybe someone else can help?

Sara -- Gay is the wrong place--it is on Keweenaw Bay NE of Houghton/Hancock and partway up the coast toward LacLaBelle. You are probably thinking of Schmitt's Corner Bar which is on the corner of the Canal and Liminga Roads west of Houghton. The "resort" was formerly named "The Blue Top Cabins" and is on the shore of the Keweenaw Waterway. That property is now owned by an MTU prof, most of the cabins have been demolished and A-frames built in their stead. They are mostly rented out to MTU students.

Nice picture there Rick. Anyone know what type of airplane Rick is flying these days? Greg DuMonthier

Sarah, JAD, I remember the Blue Top Cabins from the late 50's in much the same way as you do. As a kid in the sauna I remember being afraid the hot rocks would "explode" when you threw water on them. Also remember the freighters and especially the S.S. South American as they would go through the Portage canal. Lotsa fun jumping in the wake as it came ashore. Wasn't there a woods just to the west that was full of bears?

JM,

The magazine which featured Pasty Central a couple of years ago was Midwest Living. We still have people call us and say, "I was in the dentist office and found your article in Midwest Living..."

You'd be surprised how many times newcomers call and say, "I'd like to try some of your pastries, and by the way, somebody misspelled it in the magazine."

We have a lot of fun with this.

Oh, I should mention, I am submitting this post from a room in the Ramada Inn in Hancock, which you see on the Lift Bridge Cam, and which is now empowered with wireless Internet service in their rooms. The Ramada is a long-time supporter of Pasty.NET/Pasty Central.

Off subject of today's picture, but the Blue Top Cabins were owned by Helmer and Lempi Kuru who were my Great Uncle and Aunt. Would stop by for a visit as a kid and listen to Helmer's stories of bears, skunks, and the fish that were always biting "just last week" no mater what time of the summer we'd visit. It was located between the world famous Schmitt's Corner Bar and Oskar.

Wow...that's the one...sorry to see it's no longer for the general public. What wonderful memories. And aways down the road that Schmidts corners was on was an old town (ghost mining town) with a restaurant with excellent pie.

Ray Martin, I am originally from Dollar Bay.I remember the Clements Family. I went to school with their children. They lived in a great big colonial house on the street by the lake. My sister lives across the street from it now.It is a rental property and in poor shape.Such a shame. As a teenager I used to babysit there for some Tech families. Incidentally Inga was quite a good Bread baker.People used to buy from her. What years did your Dad's family live there? I am nearly 65 and don't recall the rest of the Martin family?

TRY THIS LINK TO SKYPIXS WINTER SCENES!
http://www.skypixs.com/WINTER_PICS/index.htm

I've come up to snowmobile this area every year for the past 4 or 5 years. We always stay at the Best Western right accross from what I now know is the Quincy smelter. Been admiring this facility wondering exactly what its history holds each time I'm there. I also love to visit the 2 locomotives resting piecefully on the other side of the buildings.

Heikki Lunta has been dancing in our neighborhood all day! 9 1/2 inches of snow! Absolutely beautiful.

To troll with connections in Taylor,

It just may be Atlantic Mine but I haven't been there for some time, not sure. Do you have family there?

PSmitSC BOHEMIA is active and awesome!!!!!!!! Fresh powder everyday. Looking forward to the weekend.

Sarah in MI:

Could that be the still-open restaurant overlooking the stamp mill in Beacon Hill?

I think that's a referral of Mr D's in Freda.

Hi Fran from GA. I remember that big house from when I was a kid and Sy and Inga lived there with all the kids. It was great fun. I never realized that Inga was such a good bread maker. Being from Detroit I was much more connected to Sigrid and her family. I am now 71 years old and the Martin family lived there probably till 1925. I believe I med your sister last year when my wife and I passed through there. And she said the same thing about the house as you. The renters let it go and it looks bad. The one thing I recalled from my visit was the big sign in the park commemorating the WWII veterans. Two of my cousins were on it. Well thanks for writing . Take care Ray Martin

Yep..that's it...the Freda Mine area.