Keweenaw Gem & Gift

Gemologist Cindy Flood and her geologist husband Ken provide all manner of expert assistance at this large Copper Country gift shop and jewelry studio. They can point rockhounds in the right direction with free maps, rent them a metal detector for $15 a half day, sell them hammers and tools, help identify found stones, and fabricate and repair jewelry. Books pertaining to Upper Peninsula geology and minerals are for sale. Jewelry using greenstone (Michigan's state stone) and local agate and copper are a specialty. At Ken's fabricating studio in Dollar Bay, slabs of copper are sawn and polished for use as bookends and clocks, and freeform copper crystals are "grown" on straw into fanciful shapes. Visitors are welcome; ask for directions.

The Floods' web site, www.copperconnection.com , has a helpful Michigan mineral section, with an illustrated primer on Upper Peninsula minerals, answers to frequently asked questions, and helpful tips on finding agates, cleaning copper, and much more. The store has a very large selection of copper wall hangings, containers, and other copper accessories, and specimen minerals from the U.P. and beyond. Currently on display is the Point Mills Nuggett, a float copper mass twice the size of the famous Ontonagon Boulder that launched early copper explorations. A logger unearthed it near Dollar Bay. It has been sold but the owner hasn't had it delivered. Other even larger copper masses have been found elsewhere, too large to be removed.

On West Memorial Drive/M-26 just south of the blinker at Sharon Ave. by Pizza Hut. Look for the green tower. (906) 482-8447. Open Mon-Fri 10-6, Sat to 5. From May thru Dec. also open Sun noon-5. Wheelchair-accessible.

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HOUGHTON
POINTS OF INTEREST

Downtown Houghton. Shops, eateries, historic saloons, and a brewpub line Shelden Ave., with its handsome sandstone buildings and a dramatic location a block uphill from the Portage Waterway path and Bridgeview Park. ... more

Keweenaw Brewing Company. A wonderfully comfortable place to taste good fresh-brewed beers ... more

Portage Lake Lift Bridge. A local landmark iss the world's heaviest lift bridge, permitting giant freighters to cross the peninsula ... more

Windeye: Architecturals & Antiques. Fabulous stained glass windows, lamps, unusual furniture, much of it from the Copper Country's boom times when mining managers built big fancy homes ... more

Houghton Waterfront Path and Park. Along a 4 1/2 mile paved path are fishing platforms, kayak access, the new library with beautiful views, and Dee Stadium, home of a huge summer history display and a mini-museum about Houghton's pioneering hockey history. ... more

Nara Nature Park and Houghton-Chassell bike trail. A mile-long boardwalk with fishing benches is a highlight of this 10-mile-long path past shops and through wetlands ... more

Seaman Mineral Museum. One of the country's finest collections of U.P., Michigan, and world-wide minerals, artfully displayed and interpreted by professional geologists. ... more

USDA Forest Service Rhizotron. Through large underground windows see the root systems and insects of northern forest ... more

Michigan Technological University. One of the country's better technological universities provides a dramatic entryway to Hougton and lots of exceptional winter activities. Ice sculptures for the MTU Winter Carnival are worth a trip! ... more

MTU Archives/Copper Country Historical Collection. Lots of interesting old photos and loads of historical documents from a fascinating region ... more

Keweenaw Gem & Gift. Gemologist and geologist owners provide expert perspective on Copper Country rockhounding, agates, copper, greenstones, datolite, and more. ... more

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