April 2017 by James B.
My family and I were in the Eastern U.P. this week and knew the sap was running. My wife searched and found Besteman's in Rudyard. I asked some locals in the Soo who had the best maple syrup. They said Besteman's. My wife was right and the locals weren't wrong. We got there about 11 a.m. and we're met by Delores, who was about the nicest person I have met. Marvin told me to follow him in his ATV, and we went to "Sugar Bush," Besteman's sugar shack. There, son Mark took over. Mark took my wife and kids into the woods, let us tap a couple of trees, and (shhh!) even let us taste some syrup that had just been boiled down. Mark then showed us the family saw mill, and his personal skills as a woodworking and master craftsman. We went to Besteman's to get some syrup. We ended up with a lifetime of memories! Thank you Marvin, Delores, Mark, and the rest of the Besteman family. You showed these "downstaters" what hospitality is all about! And, oh yeah, the syrup is FANTASTIC!
