We camped in St Ignace and Mackinaw City and spent time exploring there as well as one last trip up into the Michigan Upper Pennisula.
We spent a day in Sault St. Marie visiting the Soo-Locks
and a Tanker Museum:
The Soo-locks connect Lakes Superior and Huron.
We got to see several ships going through, the water being raised
or lowered in the locks to account for the 21-foot difference between Lake Superior
and St Mary’s River which flows into Lake Huron.
Locks Gates Closing
Interesting facts
- Soo Locks have no pumps they are 100% gravity fed – the water adjust up/down based on the valves that are opened.
- Via the Soo locks, Freighters over 1,000 feet in length can travel all the way from Duluth, Minnesota outward into the Atlantic Ocean and beyond
- It would take 600 train cars or 2300 semi-trucks to move ~60,000 tons of cargo that one 1000 foot freighter can transport.
Tanker Museum
The Camp Tanker Ship was turned into a museum, you get to
walk throughout the tanker ship, engine room and pilot house, cargo hold as well as lots
of exhibits throughout the museum ship.
2 recovered and badly damaged life boats from the Edmund Fitzgerald.
While we saw tankers coming in for unloading/loading.. we weren’t sure how they did that… one exhibit explained the self-unloading process – its conveyor belts in the cargo hold that moves the taconite up & out. Pretty ingenious.
We took a Day Trip to Paradise Michigan
Tahquamenon Falls (rhymes with phenomenon)
The 2nd largest falls in the US east of the MS River (after
Niagara Falls)
The water is brown in color from the tannins coming from the
cedar swamps which the river drains. These falls are nicknamed, "The Root
Beer Falls" because of that.
This is the first state park we have ever seen with a brewery in the park!
Whitefish - Shipwreck Museum
Museum dedicated to shipwrecks on Lake Superior – stories of
ships that braved the waters and those that were lost.
Salvaged Bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald
The bell is a memorial to her lost crew. They replaced the Bell on the sunken ship with a replica that has all of the name of the lost crew members engraved on the bell.
Whitefish Light Station
The original lighthouse used to be brick/mortar.. but the strong
storms off Lake Superior made it a maintenance nightmare for the Lighthouse
keepers and they wouldn’t stay very long.
This structure was built in 1861, the iron skeletal steel framework was
designed to relieve stress caused by high winds – all the lightkeepers had to
do was keep it painted.
Interestingly in the summer of 1918, the head lightkeeper, Carlson ended up with a 2nd assistant lightkeeper who turned out to be a German spy. Discovering the man’s attempts at sabotage, Carlson secretly summoned help and they were taken into custody. Apparently, the German government had sent them to foul up shipping by putting the light and fog out of commission.
We
took a day trip to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw)
Our ferry boat took us by the
Mackinac Bridge for a close-up view/pictures before we got to the island.
We brought our bikes on the ferry as “no cars are allowed” on the island (banned since 1890’s). Michigan Hwy 185 that circles the island is "the only state highway in the nation where motor vehicles are banned". Traffic on the island is by foot, on horse, by horse-drawn carriage/wagon, or by bicycle. So instead of seeing cars lining/parking on the side of the road, it’s bikes!
We road our bikes all the way around the island - beautiful scenery!
Lunch overlooking Lake Huron, watching ships/boats
Arch Rock on Mackinac Island, overlooking Lake Huron
146 feet above the Lake
It was fun
riding on the roads with no cars, only seeing horse drawn carriages – which was
fun to pass up on our bikes - LOL!
Only bikes parked on the side of the street!
There were lots and lots of fudge stores in Mackinac Island (as well as St Ignace & Mackinac City). So yummy! They also made handmade chocolate candies… It was very tempting each day to stop in a shop for a sweet, so we ended up getting a “Turtle” each day, which were so huge we shared it. On our last day we decided we should each get our own “turtle” since it would be our last one in the area.. after that we decided our sharing was the better option as it was too much to eat it all by yourself! Sorry - no pictures.. as we ate them as soon as we bought them.. LOL. The other thing we enjoyed throughout our northern travels from Montana to here, was kettle corn... they have the largest popped kernels we’ve ever seen - some of the best Kettle corn we’ve tasted.
Beautiful
St Anne’s Catholic Church on the island
Designated as a Michigan historic site, Sainte Anne de Michilimackinac is one of the oldest Roman Catholic parishes in the interior of North America
Pic as we drove over the Mackinac Bridge on 9/11
“Here in Michigan, the Mackinac Bridge Authority did their part to remember the fallen hanging a massive 30-foot-by-60-foot American flag from the Mighty Mac”
God Bless America!
Mackinaw
Parade of Lights
100’s
of semi-trucks were on display in St Ignace,
many of them customized with artwork
and neon lights.
On Saturday night, they drove across the Mackinac Bridge
through Mackinaw City for the Parade of Lights –
with lots of lights and blowing horns – very cool!
We
found a Beer & Wine Festival in Mackinac City
got to sample many of the local beers & wine – and hear a great band.
We saw lots of Sasquatch around the towns... LOL
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