Pioneer Days Negaunee Michigan

It's Pioneer Days in Negaunee, Michigan this week July 3-10. Festivities include an Olde Town Festival held on July 3rd with music, lots of food and drinks, and games for the kids. Wednesday was the kids bike parade down Iron St. in Negaunee with a Kids Day after the parade at the Negaunee Ice Arena, offering games, food, and raffles. Other festivities for Wednesday included several high school reunions, a car cruise and sock hop, wine and cheese tasting, and the farmer's market at Jackson Mine Park. Thursday the festivities continue with more high school reunions, a cookout at Super One in Negaunee, and live music in the evening at both the Eagles and Elks clubs. The Pioneer princess pageant is also held Thursday as well as Social Night beginning 8 pm in downtown Negaunee. Friday brings a huge band concert at the Vista Theater along with live music once again in the evening at the Eagles and Elks clubs. Saturday is the big Pioneer Days parade at 11:30 am, Pioneer Days community picnic at Teal Lake, a firefighters tournament at Teal Lake, and fireworks over Teal Lake at dusk.
Ongoing activities include a softball tournament Monday through Friday with championships on Saturday, and Carp River Gardens is open all week as well.
Today I had the pleasure of watching the kid's parade and eating lunch afterward at the Midtown Bakery. The turnout for the kid's parade was good, with a lot more paraders than spectators! The kids seemed to have a blast riding their bikes and scooters, the younger set in wagons or decorated strollers. Lunch at the Midtown Bakery afterward was good. I had a turkey pesto panini sandwich that came with a pasta side and dill pickle. It was very good and I would definitely order one again. We browsed a couple of the antique stores on Iron Street and if you have not visited them yet and like antiques I would highly recommend them to you. I believe there are four wonderful antique stores all in a very small area, all loaded with lots of great treasures. After our lunch we drove to Carp River Gardens. I have been to the gardens several times in the past and it always takes my breath away as it is so beautiful. The greenery, waterfalls, and flowers can make you feel as one with nature, and the smell of flowers and fresh air exhilirates you. Calming and exhilirating all in one. It's located at a private residence and I think it's wonderful that they share its beauty each year with so many people. You can see a few photos I took today, but the pictures far from capture how beautiful it is. If you take a tour of the gardens, be prepared to sit a spell on one of the many benches, chairs, or on the swing and just take in sights, sounds, and smells.
If you haven't been to Negaunee yet this week for Pioneer Days, you might want to check it out for a good time!

4th of July Weekend

4th of July was a wonderful! We had a backyard barbeque yesterday evening with some family members and later watched the fireworks from my backyard. We had the firepit burning and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores, plus feasted on chips and home made guacamole and salsa and other snacks. We hid balloons that contained coins in the backyard for the six kids that attended the party and they had a blast doing those little popits on the sidewalk in front of the house. By the time the fireworks were over we were all very tired but happy. It was a great night!
I went to the Marquette parade yesterday as my grandson and son in law were in the parade. I watched it with my daughter and granddaughter in the sun at temps reaching over 90 degrees. On Friday I went to a festival in downtown Ishpeming that had a lot of sidewalk vendors selling everything from carnival type toys, hand made crafts, wood carved items, beautiful framed photos, and lots of hot dogs, nachos, and cold water and pop. The kids enjoyed snow cones and ice cream bars and had a blast in the big bounce tent, blow up slide, and on the pony rides. They won some trinkets doing the fishing game and basketball game. Another nice time had by all.
Today was a quiet day, spending the morning cleaning up a bit after last nights backyard barbeque, then later took a ride to Munising and spent ample amount of time walking along the beach of Lake Superior on the way there. Once in Munising we found a little roadside park and found a spot high on a hill overlooking the water. I sat and read a book for about an hour, enjoying it immensely as I barely have time to read and it felt so wonderful to do so, there in the semi-shade with the view of lake superior, the water a green/blue today, the air so fresh, and no bugs biting me. And although I can hear the distant popping of fireworks in neighboring cities, I chose to forego fireworks tonight and get an early rest so I can wake up refreshed and get some work done tomorrow.
All in all it was a nice 4th of July holiday, the best part spending time with family and friends. Here's a few photos of my 4th of July weekend. He loved the festival and truly enjoyed the ponies!

It was a very hot day for a parade with temps reaching well into the 90s!

After the parade, she cooled off by spraying herself with water and loving every moment of it. So many smiles and giggles as she sent the soft spray of cool water into her face.

All dressed up in patriotic red, white, and blue to be in the parade!

One of my favorite evenings this weekend was spent watching the sunset at black rocks in Marquette at Presque Isle. It's so beautiful there on a warm, calm, summer night.