[nfbmi-talk] Yooper Bars

[Fred Wurtzel]

hello, 

 

this is not off topic for this list.  Our president owns a house up there.
We don't recommend you get blind drunk or go to a blind pig, so read this
book to keep in the lines.

 

Best Regards,

 

Fred

 

Ellen Creager: Father and son pen a most important guide to the UP's finest
bars

May 13, 2012  |

RANDY and KEVIN KLUCK/Whiskey River Publishing

By

Ellen Creager

Detroit Free Press Travel Writer

Ellen Creager

Upper Peninsula

Randy Kluck of Sault Ste. Marie doesn't have small dreams for his new book.
He has

big dreams.

"I keep telling myself, 'Hey Randy, this is probably the most important
travel and

entertainment guide ever printed,' " says Kluck, who wrote "Yooper Bars"
(Whiskey

River Publishing, $19.95) with his son, Kevin, and spent eight months
driving 47,000

miles back and forth across the Upper Peninsula to do it.

A comprehensive guide to 100 of the 300 bars in the UP, it profiles
establishments

according to the brew they stock and the games and entertainment they have,
menu

highlights, fun facts, celebrity sightings and history, too.

Yooper bars are not just fun, he says. They're cheap. Beer might cost $1 and
a pizza

$6.

"You or I could spend two weeks up here in the UP and not spend as much
money as

we would in one day in Chicago," he says in a phone interview. "We think the
UP is

as good a place to visit as anywhere in the country for a long weekend."

Yoopers' community centers

In contrast to bars in big population centers, bars in the UP are more like
community

centers, he says. Families eat there. Women feel comfortable.

"You don't have a lot of psychiatrists up here in the UP," Kluck says. "If
you had

depression issues, you go to a bar and it's like, well, if we went into
Timmy Lee's

there in St. Ignace, within 15 minutes you and I would think we're at a
family reunion."

The book provides color commentary about bars, such as:

. Swallow Inn in Rapid River is the bar that actor-playwright Jeff Daniels
used as

the model for "Escanaba in da Moonlight."

. The owner of "Foggy's Steakhouse and Lounge" in Christmas -- a man whose
name really

is Foggy -- can be found in the restaurant "if he's not out fishing."

. At Shooters Firehouse Lounge in Munising, firefighters can sign the Wall
of Fame.

Best for downstaters

How did the Klucks choose which bars to feature? They surveyed them, then
decided

on the ones they would feel comfortable recommending.

"The reason was, I wanted people downstate to see what they're getting into
before

they even leave their driveway," Kluck says. "I wanted them to know exactly
what

to wear, what it's like, if the bar has fish. Some bars, you want to avoid.
I wanted

people from Cleveland, Detroit and Chicago to think, 'If I am going up
there, this

is where we want to be' -- and I don't want them disappointed when they go
in the

door."

To help cover the cost of the self-published book, father and son approached
the

bars they chose to write about and asked them to donate $195 to the cause.
Most accepted

-- and those were the final ones listed in the book.

"Yooper Bars" actually contains a lot of information about food, especially
which

bars have the best $9.95 Friday night fish fries. It also recommends a
sandwich called

"The Hanky Panky" at the Granada Bar in Escanaba.

"A lot of these bars could be 5-star restaurants. I mean, I put on 40 pounds
doing

the book," Kluck says.

So far, "Yooper Bars" has sold about 3,400 copies. It is for sale at the
featured

bars, at

www.yooperbars.com

and online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

"It's kind of like a cult classic," Kluck says. "It's doing pretty good. And
we are

three weeks away from the high-tide tourist season here coming up."

Kluck says he and his son are thinking of doing a revision next year to keep
it up

to date.

He wants to make sure everyone downstate has the latest lowdown on Yooper
bars: "If

you can't leave these bars happy, then get a gun out because there is no
hope for

you."

Contact Ellen Creager: 313-222-6498 or

ecreager at freepress.com

. Follow her on Twitter, @ellencreager