Fly Like an Eagle

July 6, 2005

It’s 35 miles on M-26 from Houghton-Hancock via Larium, Mohawk and Phoenix to Eagle River, and some 26 miles shy of Copper Harbor. Either way, the Eagle River Inn and its Fitzgerald’s restaurant are located right on Lake Superior in the Upper Peninsula in a beautiful setting.
Linda Sorsen has owned the inn for 25 years and is aided by her son, Michael Lambert. For the last three years their chef has been Eric Karvonen who graduated from the Culinary Institute of America in New York and has taken courses in Mexican cuisine, incorporating a southwestern theme using herbs and spices imported from south of the border.
Located in secluded Keewenaw County on the Eagle River Beach, the inn and its restaurant offer a chance to reconnect with nature. “Bring your walking shoes and binoculars for hours of strolling the beaches and watching ore boats pass by the sunset,” says Linda.
There are many attractions nearby including the Sand Hills Lighthouse and Eagle Harbor Lighthouse, which has a museum and tours. There are many other historic buildings and museums nearby, including the National Historic Village of Calumet, as well as mines, golf, and agate beaches to explore.
The Eagle River Inn offers 12 rooms, all with spectacular Lake Superior views accompanied by passing ore boats and other ships. Each room has a lakeside porch, double and queen size beds, a refrigerator and coffee maker. With a two night minimum, rooms range from $85 to $110 per night. There are also two condominiums available for rent at $900-$950 per week.
Fitzgerald’s Restaurant is one of the U.P.’s best, featuring a casual, nautical setting with hand-carved ships and a replica of the Edmund Fitzgerald which sank in Lake Superior with all hands in 1975. Tables look out over a panoramic view of Lake Superior, and you may enjoy either a sunset or an approaching thunderstorm with your meal, often with a freighter or an eagle passing by.
Six dinner appetizers run $6 to $7.50, from smoked trout pate and baked Brie to angel hair pasta scallops and whitefish tostadas, both at $7.50. The 12-item dinner menu runs $17.50 to $27.50. Pecan walleye is a filet dipped in pecan coating, sauteed, topped with cherry butter, roasted garlic mashed potatoes; second is chipotle-orange chicken linguini, both $17.50.
Three entrees at $20.50 include spicy 8 oz. flat rib steak, char-grilled with crisp onions, corn fries; coconut shrimp with yellow rice and char-grilled pork tenderloin with pineapple salsa, served with roasted red potatoes.
Pan roasted duck breast at $21.50 comes with New Mexico red chili-pear sauce, bourbon brown sugar, potato blue cheese cakes. Sea bass in banana leaves is served with roasted vegetable couscous at $23.50. Roasted rack of lamb at $24.50 includes a mint-based caramelized onion treatment. Oaxacan style lobster tail at $26.50 includes two tails sauteed and steamed in onion, garlic and white wine. Cowboy Steak at $27. 50 is a 22 oz. bone-in rib eye char-grilled with bbq red onion, double baked potato and zucchini with cheese. A regular salad comes with dinner and the salad du jour entree includes chicken, duck, fish or beef.
Once a week, Karvonen entertains guests with a five course gourmet meal from his beef and fish entrees.
Fitzgerald’s has a large wine list with tap and imported beer and is the only restaurant in the area featuring vintage wines by the glass, with Beefeater and Tanqueray gin martinis at $6.50 and Manhattans at $5.50. Reservations are accepted for parties of four or more and smoking is discouraged in the dining room.