U.P. Dream Days is a new kind of guidebook about the U.P. — one that features the voices and stories of people who live here and make their living here. The premise of the book, the “Dream Day,” comes from Culver inquiring about the places locals would bring a beloved visitor. The book also features 21 maps and one road-trip bingo card.

“I do think guidebooks are changing, but historically it’s just been some traveler going to a place and reporting back ‘this is where I stayed, and this is how the food was; here is how I found the culture,'” said Culver. “It’s an outsider looking in, and I am an outsider. To be clear, I know what I am, but I try to not center my own voice and instead center the voices of the people who live here.”

Culver is from Indiana, and now lives in Portland, Oregon. Her partner, Jason Powers, is from Marquette, and the two of them return often for visits. Culver describes herself as being in “a long-term relationship with the Upper Midwest.”

“Very few of the recommendations of things to see and do come from me,” said Culver. “They mainly come from people who live here, and people who are dependent on this economy, and who have chosen to make their lives in an often inhospitable place.”

The font style on the cover of U.P. Dream Days is the same font style from the old “Say Yah to da U.P., eh?” bumper stickers. (Photo courtesy of Breesa Culver)

Culver stresses that “nothing about this book was a solo endeavor,” and that everything she does is a group project.

“Dream Days” featured in the book include input from Maggie Scheffer, an audio engineer from Iron County; Megan Hess, a community organizer from the Sault; Candy and Rolf Peterson, wolf researchers on Isle Royale; and Isabella Nizschke, the 2023 Mackinac Island Lilac Queen, among others. Some of the featured correspondents will be in attendance at Friday’s release party.

The book also features illustrations from Emily Lanctot, director of the DeVos Art Museum on the Northern Michigan University campus and design and illustrations from Alissa Bedow.

U.P. Dream Days is also different from traditional guidebooks in that it promotes a different kind of ethos around being a tourist and visiting a place; one that is especia

lly important in a place like the U.P., which has received a noticeable recent increase in tourism and is experiencing some amount of growing pains as a result.

“A lot of the book is really instructions for how to be in the U.P.,” said Culver. “Emily Lanctot calls tourists in the U.P. ‘temporary members of the community’ and a lot of the book is about how to be a responsible temporary member of the community.

“I asked every person I interviewed — ‘What’s your advice for people visiting the U.P.?’ And everyone gave their own advice, but the themes are like – ‘slow down, pay attention, don’t talk for people, don’t tell people’s stories for them, ask them, and shop local.’ There’s way more about being respectful to the land, but a lot of the book is about extraction economies and how tourism can be extractive. The book is about how to visit the U.P. in a way that is respectful, and not extractive.”

Culver spent three years planning and researching for the book, including one summer in which she and Powers became “professional tourists” in the Upper Peninsula and went everywhere that they could. The two have collaborated on projects before; in 2018, they started the podcast “State of Superior,” which is a storytime-style podcast about life in the U.P. featuring interviews with locals.

Culver is currently producing a podcast called LINE TIME with Powers, Lettie Jane Rennekamp and Sanae Yamada based around creating transitional rituals for artists, and is working on two zines; one about Sheboygan, Wisconsin and one about a potluck dinner she and Powers have been hosting for ten years. She also runs a community art shop called Closed Circle, available at closedcircle.shop.

Copies of “U.P. Dream Days” are available for sale at U.P. Supply Co. and the Marquette Food Co-op, as well as at closedcircle.shop. Free bonus dream days, designed to fit perfectly into copies of the book, are available at updreamdays.com.

Annie Lippert can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. Her email address is alippert@miningjournal.net.