If you like the thought of being able to make loops in all four directions and have the trails to yourselves (even on a weekend), then Florence is a great spot to base out of! Last weekend I spent 1.5 days riding out of Florence and it felt like midweek with how few other snowmobiles we met and how good the trails were (90% very good - excellent).
We stayed overnight at the Nicolet Lodge in Florence - conveniently located right on a trail intersection and also right next to a gas station. It's a little out dated in some aspects, but was cheap and clean (and like I said, location couldn't be beat). There is a bit fancier BnB in Florence I've heard good things about, otherwise more chain style hotels in Iron Mountain if you and your wife want to go that route.
Friday afternoon we rode a 94 mile loop from Florence - Tipler - Alvin - Iron River - Florence. Stopped at Riverside in Iron River for some great pizza. Rode the first 40 miles without meeting another sled, and probably saw a total of 15 others on the entire ride that afternoon - evening. One swamp closer to Tipler hadn't been gone through yet, but otherwise most of the ride was on very recently groomed trails.
Saturday woke up to 4-6+ inches of fresh snow and made a 119 mile loop from Florence - Iron Mountain - Felch - Sagola - Crystal Falls - Florence. Despite being a Saturday, didn't see another snowmobile the entire 45 miles from east of Iron Mountain all the way to Felch; we broke trail on the 20 miles of trail 111. Had lunch in Felch at Solbergs; another great meal and a place I've seen recommended by multiple people on this site. There was about 15 miles of swamp sections in the Felch area which hadn't been groomed yet, but they should have been groomed at some point this week (all packed down and froze in last weekend).
While we made loops NW and NE of Florence last weekend, I've been reading nothing but good reports from the areas south of Florence as well (Dunbar / Armstrong Creek areas). It's a wonderful area with minimal traffic but still having enough pit stops (food/gas) if needed to piece multiple stops together in a ride.
From Florence, the following towns have good food / convenient gas stops:
-Dunbar (North Country Inn food and gas)
-Armstrong Creek (four different pub and grills, Green Shack is our favorite, two gas stations on the trail)
-Tipler (White Tail food and gas)
-Iron River (numerous gas / food stops within a couple blocks of the trail)
-Amasa (Tall Pines for gas, have yet to be in either of the bars)
-Felch (Solbergs for food)
-Sagola (not exactly convenient but if needed, gas station a mile north of the trail on M95)
-Crystal Falls has numerous options for food/gas, just not as convenient to get to by snowmobile as others listed above.
