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UPfirst.com |
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UPfirst Natural Fridays! |
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The Keweenaw Star 'Blues
Cruise' |
And for the special partygoers Friday night who reserved soldout tickets, a rockin' and shakin' evening was had by all, aboard Captain Funkey's Keweenaw Star Blues Cruise, sponsored by the Marquette Maritime Museum, and featuring Marquette's own beloved Flat Broke Blues Band.
And, as if that wasn't enough, the South Shore Fishing Derby, including organizer and participant Richard Burkman of Marquette, blasted off at 6:00 am Saturday morning with 70+ boats filled with anglers from all over the Midwest competing for $50,000 in prize-money.
Thousands gathered last Friday
at the 24th Annual Marquette West Rotary
Club
Seafood Festival in Marquette's
Lower Harbor Mattson Park
Friday night's Blues Cruise was a captivating memory-maker, thanks to Captains Kraig, Fred, and Jason Funkey, owners of the Keweenaw Star and Keweenaw Excursions of Ahmeek.
And Saturday's South Shore Fishing Derby made a lifetime memory for Rich Burkman and family. Taking home 3rd place in the live catch category together with son Lee and friend Dave Schneider, Rich--a very generous Rich with all his prize money!--never stopped grinning at the Festival Saturday afternoon and early evening.
Other highlights of the sunny weekend included several narrated daytime Keweenaw Star cruises out to Presque Isle and back.
Flat Broke Blues Band setting up for last
Friday's
9:00
pm 'Blues Cruise' on the Keweenaw Star
Friday's Blues Cruise evening began with a gorgeous view of the moon above serene waters over Marquette Harbor. My husband, Todd, and I strolled along the Harbor on our way to the Festival beer tent, where we met a group of friends for the 9:00 pm two-hour tour aboard the Keweenaw Star
.
A
gorgeous moon and serene waters
in Marquette Harbor for the 'Blues
Cruise'
Left: Cory LaFave and Stacy Busch aboard The
Keweenaw Star
Right: Tom "Argie" or "Args" Argetsinger, me, and Cory LaFave sitting on the deck
Just a few of us getting the 'Blues Cruise' party started!
Marquette Harbor from the deck of the Keweenaw Star
It was a priceless experience, and as Args said more than once, "Well worth the 20 bucks!"
We have lots more pictures of the party, but sorry, the Blues Cruise show stops here for those who missed it. As usual with all good parties, "What happens on the cruise, stays on the cruise!"
Movin' right on now to Saturday....
Left to right: Walt Lindala, Jimmy Cohen,
Mark Johnson,
Lorrie Hayes, and Mikey Letts
Flat Broke Blues Band shakin' up the harbor
on Keweenaw Star Blues Cruise
Lee and Richard, celebrating with family and friends, joined Mom, Cory LaFave, and son Eric. Another son, 8-year-old Dustin, and I headed to The Keweenaw Star for a 6:00 pm cruise around Presque Isle and back.
Lee
Burkman and Dad, Richard Burkman,
displaying 3rd place trophy
won by a 6-pound salmon live catch
in the South Shore Fishing Derby
Saturday
Left: Dustin Burkman, son of
Richard Burkman and Cory LaFave of Marquette,
meeting Captain Kraig Funkey of the Keweenaw Star for a day cruise in
Marquette Harbor
Center and right from left to
right:
Mitchell Labelle; Eric Hurst, son of Chuck and Leslie Hurst, owners of Cedar
Hurst Lodge of Republic;
and Dustin in the Crow's Nest of the Keweenaw Star
A view of McCarty's Cove and Lighthouse from the Keweenaw Star deck
After the cruise, Dustin and I met up with his family. Then my husband, Todd, joined us. Rocking to Buzz Factor in the Park, we sat together at a picnic table near the beer tent with other downhill skiing buddies and ate delicious seafood dished up by Rotary volunteers. Most of us tasted fresh fried shrimp, scallops, clams, and crab cakes with plenty of lemon wedges, shrimp sauce, and tartar. Todd, a vegetarian for over 30 years, joined in on coleslaw, baked potato with butter and sour cream, cheesy biscuits, and peanut-butter cheesecake. Dustin's favorite was the cotton candy he shared with Cory and me.
Last weekend's Marquette West Rotary Club's 24th Annual Seafood Festival succeeded in bringing fantastic Keweenaw Star Harbor cruises, great music, great seafood, and tons of fun for everyone to Marquette's Lower Harbor and beyond. Tropical weather boosted the crowds to record numbers, with friends and family members, tourists and locals living it up UP-style during a spectacular Marquette festival weekend!
For more information about ...
Keweenaw Star and Keweenaw Excursions, visit keweenawexcursions.com, email Captain Kraig Funkey at kraig@pasty.com, or call 906.482.0884.
Flat Broke Blues Band, visit flatbrokebluesband.com
Cedar Hurst Lodge, visit Leslie and Chuck Hurst at cedarhurstlodge.com, or call 1.800.475.7501 or 906.250.7527. Email Chuck and Leslie at info@cedarhurstlodge.com.
