Old School Bar Town

On a recent tour of the Upper Peninsula I stopped in downtown Ishpeming, an old iron mining town just west of Marquette and was pleasantly surprised to see a large number of old fashioned taverns. Not trendy brewpubs, old school places where guys drink beer out of a can. A favorite is the Rainbow Bar, which was a hang out of my favorite U.P. writer, John Voelker, a judge, novelist, and above all a fly fishermen. Reading his fishing essays, you'll regularly find names of taverns mentioned, and the Rainbow is noted. I was a bit surprised to see it still in operation, along with five others within walking distance. I'm going to have to return to make a pub crawl some night. All look interesting and include Jack's Tee Pee Bar, which is next to an old favorite, The Congress, which also serves great pizza. The others have kept their old style names, the Wonder Bar, Paradise Bar and Hickeys Bar. For those looking for a micro brewery, try the Jasper Ridge Brewery & Restaurant which is located outside of downtown of M-28. As for me, I'll stick to beer out of the bottle at the Rainbow.