Copper Harbor shops

Mary Hunt

Laurel Rook in front of her colorfully eclectic shop including many nature-related gifts, comical and serious, at all price levels, including jewelry, T shirts, animal-design pottery, and local preserves.

• LAUGHING LOON: Crafts of the North is run by Laurel Rooks. (Her husband and business partner, Jim Rooks, died in spring, 2005. Copper Harbor won't be the same without him. See the Copper Harbor profile.) Laurel's shop carries many nature-related gifts, comical and serious, at all price levels, including jewelry, T shirts, animal-design pottery, and local preserves put up by Hannah and Nathan Miller, Laurel's daughter and son-in-law, who now work regularly at the shop. Nathan, who redid the front porch, sells his wood bird feeders, rustic creations, and Adirondack-type chairs.
Be sure to see the regional handcrafts including Ojibwa basketry, quill boxes, and jewelry; prints of Bill Hamilton's watercolors of Upper Peninsula scenes; and work by other U.P. artists.
Laurel has sold the Loon Outpost building next door to nature photographer Steve Brimm, for his photography gallery and studio. The regional books and maps that used to be next door - on of many, many vacations in his role a birding, on regional and Isle Royale geology, plants and wildflowers - are now back at the Laughing Loon. So is the year-round stock of cold-weather clothing - fleece, hats, and gloves - overlooked but important for Isle Royale outings. On First at Bernard a block north of U.S. 41 at the east end of town. (906) 289-4813. Open year-round, 10 a.m. 'til dark. Handicap access: three stairs, tight quarters.

• TRAPROCK VALLEY POTTERY is the name of the tiny shop (it looks more like a porch) where retired park ranger Dennis Sotala makes and sells his colorful, functional stoneware. His work is also sold at the Community Arts Center in downtown Hancock. It can be seen online at www.traprockpottery.com. He may sell work from other potters, like Leslie Boucama's botanical and bird pieces, in which she presses pine needles, cedar boughs, and molds of, say, loons into clay, and fires them in the raku process. Some are tiles; most are decorative rather than functional.
Dennis's self-sufficient lifestyle and his interest in handcrafts were inspired by his hard-working Finnish grandparents, from this area. Once he lived off the grid three miles from a road. Now he he lives simply, but on a paved country road in the stovewood house he built, and he heats with wood. His kilns are now electrically fired. On Gratiot/U.S. 41 across from the Pines. (906) 289-4636. Off-season phone: (906) 337-6879. Open daily from the end of June thru color season, usually from noon to 5, often later. In slow seasons it may be open from 2 to 5. Wheelchair access: for the yard portion of display space.

• NORTH STATION. Jody Wheeless's intimate little shop is known for handcrafted work reflecting the north woods, usually by area artists, though some other things like sweatshirts are also on hand. Pieces by four local woodworkers are here, often made of bird's-eye maple from the U.P. There's quite a bit of jewelry, and Gayle Stewart's thrown stoneware with a pine tree motif. Jody, a dollmaker, creates the Santas and snowmen in the Christmas shop. Jody sells by mail from her web site, www.thenorthstation.com
The building itself, a 1910 frame cottage, was part of the Eagle Harbor light station, later moved to this prime location. When it became available, Jody sold her interest in the Bear Track gift shop on M-26, moved to town, and gutted the house while retaining much of its historic character. 420 Gratiot/U.S. 41 in downtown Copper Harbor. (906) 289-4335. Open daily from Mem. Day weekend through color season, from 10 a.m. to 9 or later in high season, until 7 or so in the fall. Not handicap-accessible.

• KEWEENAW AGATE SHOP. Mineralogist-owner Les Tolonen Jr.'s sells a splendid collection of mineral specimens (datolite, greenstone, copper, and agates native to the area), books on area geology, and rockhound equipment. Maps of collecting sites at beaches and mine rock piles can be purchased here, and metal detectors can be rented. On Gratiot/U.S. 41 in Copper Harbor. (906) 289-4491. Open daily from May thru September, usually from 10 to 7. Wheelchair-accessible.

• THUNDERBIRD GIFT CENTER & MUSEUM is a rambling, old-fashioned tourist shop with all the classic souvenirs, plus new and used books and antiques. The owner sells prints of her attractive drawings of local landmarks. The fun, old-timey museum features antique dolls, Native American artifacts, and more. Admission is $2 for ages 12 and up. Located n a white frame building connected to Minnetonka Resort on U.S. 41 in the center of Copper Harbor. (906) 289-4449. Open daily May 15-Oct. 15, usually opens 9 and closes at 9 p.m. or later or so.

• GRANDPA'S BARN is the history-filled bookstore created by Lloyd and Clyde Wescoat in the hay barn moved to this site by Clyde's grandfather. Lloyd is well known to summer visitors as the proprietor of the Skytop Inn gift shop at the top of Brockway Mountain. In this newish bookshop she has space to offer an intelligent selection of vacation reading, nature guides, and regional fare. Lloyd has now completed her degree in elementary education. The children's book selection reflects her longstanding interests in children's literature and natural history.
The rockers on the long front porch of the remodeled barn invite customers to browse and look out onto a wildflower meadow.
The fascinating collection of Keweenaw memorabilia was mainly assembled by Clyde's grandparents, pioneers of Copper Country tourism. They owned and operated the Pontiac Resort (now the Mariner North), the Isle Royale seaplane, and the rustic log gift shop atop Brockway Mountain, the original Skytop Inn. Just before the Depression, Clyde's grandfather, the first Clyde Harold Wescoat, sold his auto dealership in Detroit, came to the Upper Peninsula, and started its first airport. On South Fourth St. behind Copper Harbor's one-room school. Turn south at the school's west end. (906) 289-4377. Currently open from mid May into Oct, weekends at least. Open daily at 10 a.m. from Mem. to Labor Day. In July & August open until 8 or 9. Handicap access: one step.

• RAGAMUFFINS offers fun, functional clothing for children and for women of all ages. Buyer-owner Elizabeth Kilpela looks for quality clothing that makes a good impression, at a reasonable price. Lots of repeat customers come, especially from shopping-deficient Copper Country. She herself has an art background (she graduated from Detroit's Center for Creative Studies), and she was a serious seamstress and the daughter of a tailor. 765 Gratiot/U.S. 41. (906) 289-4330. Open daily from Mem. Day weekend through color season, 10-7 in summer. Other times hours may vary. Handicap access: 1 step up deck, 1 into shop.

• BOREAL BEANS in the Brockway Inn motel is a little coffeehouse/gallery (no seating to speak of) where innkeeper/nature photographer/birder/tonwship official Karen Karl and her espresso machine make a whole range of coffee drinks year-round. She sells packaged high-protein breakfast cookies and a range of coffee beans from Good Migrations fair trade certified coffee and from locally roasted Twin Lakes Java (from small-scale, non-exploitive growers who aren't officially certified). Among her coffee-related merchandise, Karen's quite keen on the $25 portable coffee press in a travel mug, which produces excellent coffee wherever hot water is available.
Some of Karen's nature photography of local subjects can be seen online at her outstanding site www.brockwayinn.com. Be sure to check out the seasons and birding section, and the online gallery. At Boreal Beans Karen produces and hands out Copper Harbor birder checklists, and posts current activity and unusual sightings on her Birding Central board. Boreal Beans is inside the Brockway Inn where U.S. 41 splits off from M-26 and heads up the hill. Open from June 1 through mid-October, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Closed Monday except in July and August. Not handicap accessible.

• THE BERRY PATCH serves up an unusual mix of pleasant things: ice cream (including thimbleberry ice cream), berry products, antiques, and gifts. The owners hand out a free info sheet on the tasty, tart thimbleberry with a jam recipe. Next to the post office on M-26 near Brockway Mountain Dr. Open in summer only.

• THE ISLE ROYALE FERRY DOCK in town at the end of Fourth Street has several interesting seasonal shops owned and managed by people whose area roots often go way, way back.
HARBORSIDE doubles as the ticket office for the Isle Royale Queen IV ferry. It carries books, gifts, T shirts, and more. Merchandise focuses on Isle Royale, moose, and wolves. Open all day, starting at 7 a.m. from May 15 thru Sept. (906) 289-4437.
JAMSEN'S FISH MARKET (906-289-4285) sells fresh and smoked fish. Proprietor Christine Jamsen grew up in Copper Harbor. Her father, Wally Jamsen, fished commercially for 60 years and docked his tug here. There's no commercial fishing in the harbor any more, so she gets fish from Peterson's in Hancock and VanLandschoot's in Munising. The fish market connects with Christine's other business,THE FISHERMAN'S DAUGHTER. She has now retired from teaching autistic children in California, and she's planning to spend the winter here in Copper Harbor, working on the stained glass, fish-print T shirts, and one-of-a-kind jewelry with semi-precious stones, all sold here. Others produce rag rugs; jewelry using greenstone, copper, and other local minerals; handmade soaps; hand-crafted pottery; and unusual clothing, often loose tops for fuller figures. Many items have cat, fish, and mermaid themes. Retired Michigan Tech photography professor Joe Kirkish's photographs of local scenes are here. Season probably from Mother's Day thru Oct. Summer hours 9-7, maybe earlier if she starts a coffee shop for ferry passengers.
ELIZABETH'S ON THE WATERFRONT (906-289-4437). Nature is the inspiration for the home accessories, handmade jewelry, and sweatshirts here. Elizabeth Kilpela, the mother of the Kilpela brothers who pilot the Isle Royale ferry, is doing more and more watercolors, also sold here. She also buys for her Ragamuffins clothing shop on the main street. Open daily from Mem. Day weekend thru Oct. 15 from 10 a.m. until 7 p.m., sometimes later. (906) 289-4437.
The ferry dock is next to the Copper King motel in the center of Copper Harbor. To reach it from U.S. 41, turn north just east of the Minnetonka Resort. All shops wheelchair-accessible.