Escanaba Is The Place

Escanaba Is The Place

by Bud Lemire on March 5, 2004

Where is this place, that I still call my home

I lived here a long while, and wrote my first poem

Escanaba is the place, it's above the Mackinac Bridge

In the coldest of winter, it's like inside a fridge

Ice shanties for fishing, and the sled dog race

A chook on the head, to keep warm your face

The House Of Ludington, and Ludington street

And Ludington park, where picnickers meet

At the top of Lake Michigan, the bottom of the U.P.

The heart of a Yooper, is a good place to be

South of Marquette, Northeast of Green Bay

The place where I celebrated, my very first birthday

The Eskymos play there, and they are a team

Cheering them on, is a young girl's dream

Every year in August, is the U.P. State Fair

People from all over, can be found there

Iron Mountain, Houghton, Hancock, and Gladstone too

Ishpeming, Negaunee, are places near where I grew

Home of my birth, Escanaba is the place

A Big part of the Great Lake state

Note: A film only known in the Great lake region was filmed in Escanaba. Directed/written/and starring Jeff Daniels called "Escanaba In Da Moonlight" and I was lucky enough to watch some of it being made as it was being filmed right next to the house where I lived most of my life.

Yooper = People who live above the Mackinac Bridge (Trolls live below the bridge)

Chook = known to most other people as stocking caps, or ski caps.

Escanaba = originally Eskanawba...Native word meaning flat rock