Build yourself a playground in the sand. First, draw a peninsula washed by the boundary of three Great Lakes. Drop in beach pebbles for rugged hills. Add sprigs of grass for green forest. Mark in squiggles for waterfalls and dribble on water for rushing trout streams.      Or better yet, instead of simply capturing a fanciful image in sand, visit Michigan's Upper Peninsula! We offer wilderness, Michigan style. Our vast forested acres and Midwest mountains are escapes from the rush of traffic and teeming cities, leaving the remaining sounds of waves lapping against a sandy shore and the whisper of wind in the tall fragrant pines.      As a bonus of the best Mother Nature has in store,  our wilderness is upgraded to 5 stars by the nearby supporting amenities and the comforts of home. Within easy reach, discover main highway arteries, airline services to major hubs and safe harbor marinas. At restaurants, lodgings, shops, galleries, museums and other attractions, hosts anticipate your arrival.      The peninsula, fondly called the U.P., offers more than you can imagine, stretching indelibly through all four seasons north of the "hurry" zone. The U.P. forms a shield above Michigan's mitten, highlighted by the 1,700-mile shorelines of three Great Lakes: Superior, Michigan, and Huron.      With a pioneer beginning in furs, its population of 317,600 now thrives on an economy based primarily on timber, medical services, mining and tourism. With you in mind, we like to welcome our guests with a capital "W".      You are invited to explore our peninsula that reaches for 384 miles east to west and 233 miles north to south. Discover our art galleries that feature numerous artists-in-residence, quaint shops, boutiques, historic fort reenactments, and historical museums with fine exhibits displaying the memorabilia of yesteryear. Unique restaurants and coffee houses are found in our cities and small towns, some offering sidewalk and lakeside dining. Corner taverns still offer family-style fish fries on Friday nights. Or try our gourmet restaurants for some of the finest dining in the Midwest. If you're craving a fast-food fix, we have those, too.      Sampling our pasties is a must. Pasty (rhymes with sassy) is our fragrant Upper Peninsula "national dish," a meat pie in a crust first introduced here by early Cornish settlers. They packed their pasty dinners in tin pails as they headed underground to mine for copper and later for iron ore.      Native Americans sponsor pow-wows featuring dancers in full regalia. Churches spread potluck dinners, inviting travelers to join in. There are festivals galore; most communities use any excuse for a celebration and parade.      Choose lodgings of your choice, ranging from rustic to luxury, with options within easy reach of attractions and wilderness settings. There are lodges or ma & pa log cabins alongside rippling streams, or luxurious hotels that offer pampered elegance. Modern motels are most often found in towns or along main highways. Bed & breakfast inns include historic hotels, a former mission house, three restored lighthouses, lumber barons' mansions, a turn-of-the-century railroad inn, and others.      So what about wilderness? To the traveler, 5 stars denote top quality--the best! With this in mind, we surveyed our wilderness that's waiting for adventurers and others who appreciate natural beauty. Our wilderness with nearby amenities scored top marks.      Discover our 12,000 miles of rivers and streams teeming with trout. In a hurry to reach big water, many streams rush over boulders and cliffs to plunge headlong into roaring waterfalls. We boast of more than 150 falls on a first-name basis.      There are 4,300 inland lakes, along with countless bogs, fens, and marshes. Islands? We have them, with some large enough to boast lakes of their own.      Our wildlife knows no boundaries, darting through the forests in games of "spot me if you can" : whitetail deer, moose, wolves, bears, with small game galore. Soaring eagles nest in craggy pines; friendly chipmunks come uninvited to your picnic at one of the many parks, lakeshores, or forest campgrounds.      Follow our back roads and mossy paths to discovery. Seek out forests where we guarantee as much solitude as you may desire. Here, one discovers peace and tranquility, with cool breezes stirring the leaves overhead to contrast with the crescendo of falling water as it sheets over a cliff to pound onto the boulders below.      Stroll our sand and pebbled beaches. Along your favorite Great Lakes shoreline, watch down-bound ocean freighters riding low in the water with their loads of iron ore.      With its numerous mountain-tops, islands, harbors, peninsulas, and bays, the Upper Peninsula is a natural for watching lingering sunsets. For the second feature, linger in hopes of an unscheduled show of the Aurora Borealis. These Northern Lights often dance rainbows across the night sky.      Campgrounds offer personalized room service by Mother Nature herself, with wake-up calls of birdsongs at dawn and nightfall marked by the haunting cry of the loon.      Michigan's Upper Peninsula--welcome to our 5-Star Wilderness!