I love the accent. The last time I heard it was an interview on a TV station out of Green Bay. I was immersed in it when my wife and I went on vacation into the UP. We were up around Michigamme. We would go to this one place, now named Mt. Shasta Restaurant. I don't remember if it had a different name back then. This was in the 60s when we were there. They filmed Anatomy of A Murder in the area, and used the restaurant for part of it.
We ate most of our meals there, enjoying the ambiance, and talking to people. So many of them had that accent. It was surprisingly empty most of the time. Since we were up there for two weeks, we decided to go there on the Saturday night in tme middle of our vacation. When we got there, the entire area was full of cars. I mean overflow, out on grassy areas.... everywhere. We went inside, and there was a wedding party. We figured we should leave, but the groom's father told us to join the party, and enjoy ourselves. They even had us sit with everyone to eat with them, as part of the wedding party. Such hospitality.
That was around 1966 or '67 if I remember right. We got an envelope from the bartender, and put a $100 check in it as a wedding present. We didn't know that they were going to open the presents later, and when they opened ours, and saw the check, they were shocked at how much it was. It was embarrassing to be honest. We didn't do it to be show offs, but when we realized that family was giving them $50, it kind of took us back.
They had a band that was out of this world playing that night. They were really good. I can't remember their name, but they did put out a couple of songs that made the charts later on. Not big time, but made it into the top 40.
We've taken a lot of vacations. Europe for a month at a time, Japan for 3 weeks, the Caribbean, Hawaii, Alaska, and several others, but I've never met friendlier people in my life. These were real down to earth people that was a slice of Americana.
Sorry about the ramble. So many memories.