Here’s my full post from our amazing ladies summer weekend in Marquette, Michigan! This was a quick trip… we headed up on Friday from Grand Rapids (about a 6.5 hour drive) and got there to spend Friday night, Saturday all day, and Sunday before heading back home. So this is our ~2 day itinerary of all the places we visited, ate, and drank at! It was the best weekend. We had amazing weather and we packed as much as we could in, yet it was still so relaxing. It was just such a freaking vibe. The entire weekend. I just love it up there. The scenic views, the fresh air (it seriously smells so good up there), the sunsets, Lake Superior, all of it. I’m obsessed! 😍

When we first got into town, we checked into our hotel. It was pretty booked when we planned this trip (last minute) so we ended up at the Econolodge. Nothing fancy, but totally fine for what we needed! It’s also on the main road into town, so it was easy to get to, and was right across the street from Lake Superior. So our first stop was to head downtown. We got pre-dinner drinks at The Delft Bistro. We sat outside right under the old-timey marquee sign! I had their Hibiscus Mint Margarita, which was delish. After that, we stopped down to the Lower Harbor Ore Dock. It’s a staple of Marquette, formerly used for the loading of iron ore onto lake freighters.

After snapping some photos at the Ore Dock, we put our name in for dinner and went for a quick stroll since it’d be a little bit of a wait. We ended up popping into The Upper Peninsula Supply Co. I picked up a beanie, some stickers, and a card… and even got to meet the famous Bugsy Sailor himself (the unofficial official ambassador of the Upper Peninsula). I love following him on Instagram for peeks into MQT and for all of his amazing sunrise photos/videos. After that, we headed over to dinner at Lagniappe Cajun Creole Eatery. This was my favorite meal of the entire trip… it was just insanely delicious. We all shared an order of Hush Puppies, and I got the Low Country Shrimp and Grits, which was seriously the best shrimp and grits I’ve ever had. Like, bomb. SO good. I’d highly recommend. I also got their hurricane, category 3 because I’m a wimp, but next time I might go category 5, lol.

After dinner, we made our way over to see the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse. This is such a beautiful lighthouse. I’m in love. Another staple of Marquette. We scaled some rocks to head to the backside of the lighthouse to snap a few pictures, but I’m still not crossing this one off my lighthouse list until I can tour the inside… so hopefully soon! But yeah, we made our way to McCarty’s Cove, snapped a few photos, put our feet into Lake Superior (surprisingly warm this night!) and then ended up driving up to Presque Isle park to walk out on Black Rocks. There were a bunch of guys heading out to jump off the cliffs, so we ended up watching them for a little bit and then made our way back to the hotel to relax, watch Friends on TV and call it a day!

The next morning, we woke up and headed out for another packed day! Our first stop was to Contrast Coffee Co. It was great! I got their oat milk honey lavender latte, which was so good. After that, we walked across the street to do a little browsing/shopping at Yooper Shirts. Then we got a table and enjoyed brunch at BODEGA! I had their french toast with Italian bread, with a side of bacon. My friend, Kristin, got one of their signature dishes — the spud plate, and I’ll definitely be trying that next time. It rained all morning long, but it was perfect, because we ended up having great weather for the rest of the day. It worked out beautifully.

So after brunch, we made our way over to Sugarloaf Mountain. This is a must-see in Marquette, whether you’re visiting for the first time or the 50th time. It’s just such an easy hike to the top. It’s about a half mile, with an “easy” route with stairs, etc. It only takes about ~20 minutes to get to the top, and you get an amazing panoramic view of Marquette and Lake Superior. I love this little hike! But we snapped a few pictures at the top, and then spotted this little cove down below… and were like we have to go check that out. So afterwards, we hiked back down the mountain, hopped in the car for a few minutes, and ended up at Wetmore Landing. We pretty much had the whole little cove to ourselves, we walked/swam out to these rocks in Lake Superior, and just enjoyed the sun and views, along with a couple of seagull friends. It was amazing.

After that, we made our way to Presque Isle Park for our big adventure of cliff-jumping off Black Rocks! I’ve been to this spot several times, have always looked over the edge, but I’ve never jumped before. It was a major Michigan bucket-list item for me, that’s for sure. It was pretty busy when we went, but people were good about keeping distance and taking turns jumping off the cliffs. When I got up to the edge, I was like… I literally cannot do this. It doesn’t look that tall from the videos, but it felt SO TALL. Like I was panicked. I had to back off the rock a few times, breathe, lol, needed some major encouragement from my friends, and then they even waited treading water at the bottom for me while I jumped. Like friendship vibes through the roof this weekend, lol. But I jumped — twice! It was amazing, and terrifying, but so worth it. The water was definitely cold, and when I finally bobbed back up for air after jumping, I had a hard time breathing. I think it was part anxiety/part cold water, but like I said having the girls there for me as I swam back to shore was everything. I’m so glad we did this. We all felt so hype afterwards, hahaha!

Saturday night, we headed out for another night on the town! We put our name in for dinner, but it was an hour and a half wait. So we walked over to grab drinks at Zephyr Wine Bar, which was my favorite place to drink. They had a fizzy moscato rosé that was 🤤. We sat on the outdoor patio, which was a cute space too. When our table was ready, we quickly bolted over to Sol Azteca. We had a table right on their outdoor patio, with a few of the Ore Dock. The weather was perfect, golden hour, seriously all the damn vibes this weekend. We had such a good time. I ordered their mangando (?), which is a giant mango boozy slushy, and it was delicious. Food was great too and super affordable! We were cracking up because my friends all got fancy/authentic things, and I got the “two taco combo with cheese sauce” and the waiter was setting our plates down naming the dishes… and when he got to me he like laughed and didn’t even say the name of my dish. We were cracking up. I was like, “You can’t even call the cheese sauce something fancy like queso?!” LOL. Two taco combo with cheese sauce, lolol. I’m not right. 🤣 After dinner, we took another drive out to Presque Isle Park to catch the last little glimpse of the sunset.

The next morning, we had time to fit in a few stops before making our way back to Grand Rapids! We put in our name for Donckers, and I’m glad we got a reservation because they were fully booked up. We sat upstairs, which was cute! You order at the counter, and they bring everything to you. I got their Donckers Smash, which was pretty bomb. Corned beef, onion, bell peppers, and hash browns with two eggs how you like. After breakfast, we stopped into the I Love Marquette store, got a couple of tees/stickers, stopped to Babycakes Muffin Company to grab some road trip pastries, and headed out of town! We made one final stop at Kitch-Iti-Kipi, and then made our way back down to the lower peninsula. Such a fun weekend. I’d relive it over and over if I could! All the vibes. ALL THE VIBES.

Summer weekend in Marquette

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