The UP - part 3

Michigan's Upper Peninsula - Part 3

(Sightseeing and genealogical research)

August 4, 2017 - August 25, 2017

From the Soo we drove to St. Ignace which lies at the north end of the bridge linking the upper and lower peninsula's of Michigan. From here we were in good position to visit Mackinac (pronounced Mac-in-naw) Island. Why visit Mackinac island?  Here's what it says on their website (www.mackinacisland.org):

"You have an Island where the automobile never replaced the horse and carriage. You have lodging properties where corporations never replaced family ownership. You have a Revolutionary era Fort where the British couldn’t permanently replace Americans. You have Fudge Stores where box recipes never replaced our 19th Century recipes. You have a place to leave your routine, discover the rhythm of waves and horse-clops and a place that getting to is half the fun."

It begins with a boat ride from either St. Ignace in the UP or Mackinac City in the lower peninsula.  They run frequently and the ride takes about 25 minutes.  We specifically took the time slot that takes a bit longer because it veers off and goes under the Mackinac Bridge which gives you a unique view of this huge structure. 

The Mackinac Bridge in the distance.
It is 5 miles long from end to end and at mid-span it is 199 feet above the water.
It ranks as the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere.
For those to nervous to drive it themselves, there are people available to drive it for you.

Looking at it from this angle, I have to say the roadway appears to be pretty thin.  I expected something beefier. 

Gads, you can see right through it!

Now we're circling back to head for Mackinac Island.

This picture came the next day when we crossed the bridge.  The grating is the part you can see through from below.

From the perspective of sitting high in a motor home, the side rails seem a bit on the low side!!! 

One of the main ways to get around the island.
There are numerous bike rental shops all along the pier.
They have bicycles for any age and condition. 

As you can see - bicycling is very popular.

More bikes and another popular stop - one of the many fudge shops along the main drag.
We were looking for a place for lunch and it seemed to us that every other store sold nothing but fudge!
Don't know how they all stay in business.

We chose to do a carriage tour of the island.

Here we are approaching the Grand Hotel - one of the premier places to stay on the island.

Everything moves around the island by carriage or bicycle or foot.

This is what a traffic jam looks like on the island.

This was the second part of the tour on a much larger carriage pulled by 3 draft horses.
Our driver was a medical student from Romania doing her second summer on Mackinac Island.

You see lots of beautiful gardens on the tour.

Arch Rock looking down at Lake Huron.

View of the beach from near Arch Rock.
You can just see the road the circles the island through the trees.

Fort Mackinac sits high on a hill on the island.
It was built by the British during the Revolutionary War to control the Straits of Mackinac between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.  It was maintained by the British for 15 years after our independence!

Costumed re-en-actors demonstrate military maneuvers off an on during the day.

One of the old buildings at the fort.

As you can see the fort had a commanding view.

Great view of the town below.

Another view of town.

View of the private harbor on the island.

View of the end of the town and the commercial boat harbor from the fort.

While in St. Ignace we visited the Marquette Mission Park and Museum of Ojibwa Culture.  It proved to be a fascinating look into Native American life.  It is located in a building that was moved to it's current site, on the grounds where Father Marquette lived and worked with the Huron Indians over 300 years ago.  In spite of the museum's name, the artifacts are not limited to Ojibwa culture.

The sculpture representing the Fisherman.

The sculpture representing the Drying Rack

The sculpture representing Woman.

The sculpture representing Medicine Man.

The sculpture representing Garden.

Information about the Ojibwa Clans.

The Crane Clan.

The Bird and Eagle Clans

The Loon Clan

The Fish and Turtle Clans.

The Bear Clan.

The Martin Clan.

We loved visiting this museum.  Their indoor exhibits were also educational and interesting including a film showing how a birch bark canoe is constructed from stripping the bark from the tree to it's first paddle on a lake. A true labor of love.  If you are ever in St. Ignace - stop and see this wonderful little museum!

The UP - part 2

Michigan's Upper Peninsula - Part 2

(Sightseeing and genealogical research)

August 4, 2017 - August 25, 2017

From Marquette we drove to Munising, gateway to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore.  We missed seeing this beautiful area on our trip in 2003 and we've been kicking ourselves ever since.  The best view of Pictured Rocks is from the lake of course so we immediately signed up for a boat trip.  I think you'll agree it is spectacular.

There are numerous trails throughout the park but only a few are short enough for the average American to easily get to the shore of Lake Superior.  The platform above some trees near the center of this picture is one easily accessible place but the real views belong to anyone who travels there by boat or kayak.

The coast is shaped by wave, ice and wind action.  The colors are courtesy of the various minerals in the soil.

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore stretches for 42 miles along the south
shore of  Lake Superior from Munising to Grand Marais, MI.
The 15 miles of cliffs can reach as high as 200 feet. 

Here you can see where large chunks of the cliffs have broken off and fallen into the lake.

I think this looks like an abstract painting of a coastal city as flooding begins because of global warming.

The area is very popular with kayakers.
This sand beach is nestled between cliffs on either side - the perfect spot for a campsite or just a break for a meal.

Nature's been working hard on this stretch of cliff.

We didn't see many arches but this one is beautiful.

This section of cliff will eventually succumb to natures forces.

The beginning of either a tunnel or an arch.

Pieces of the cliffs that have fallen into the lake.  

Spectacular cliff.

Another arch/cave combination.

The captain actually steered our boat right into this narrow area. You could almost touch the walls on either side.

I don't know what is it about rocks that make them so appealing but I love them

I wonder where this chunk came from.  I don't think it fell from above.
Perhaps the waves pushed it to the right many years ago?

Short video for you to enjoy.

From Munising we drove to Tahquemenon Falls, the largest water fall in Michigan. (FYI: the name rhymes with phenomenon.) Due to large crowds we were only able to get into see the upper falls which is the larger of the two falls.  The line of cars to get into the lower falls parking lot was all the way out to the road and them some!

The falls are 200 feet across and drop about 48 feet.

The brown color comes from tannins leached from cedar swamps.
At the height of the spring runoff approximately 50,000 gallons of water flow over the falls.
The foam is due to the soft water, dissolved organic matter and water turbulence.

From the falls we drove to Sault Ste. Marie, nicknamed the "Soo" in order to help people pronounce it correctly. Here a set of locks lowers or lifts ships 21 feet between Lake Superior (the higher of the two lakes) and Lake Huron. Canada built the original locks in the late 1700's (!!!) on the Canadian side but they were destroyed in the war of 1812.  An American company built new locks in 1853 and turned them over to the state of Michigan in 1855.  The U.S. Corps. of Engineers took over the locks in 1881.

There are 4 locks on the American side and 1 on the Canadian side.  One lock on the American side was rebuilt in 1968 to accommodate new, larger freighters on the Great Lakes. It is 1200 feet long, 110 feet wide and 32 feet deep.  The largest vessels on the lakes are 1000 feet long by 105 feet wide so they pretty much fill up that big lock. They are massive and they carry approximately 60,000 tons of cargo.  Per the brochure that is comparable to 6-100 car trains, each train with a capacity of 10,000 tons or, perhaps even more amazing, 2308 large trucks capable of carrying 26 tons each.

Stern of a freighter positioned in the lock.  It's headed from Lake Superior down to Lake Huron and beyond.
The long white structure positioned in front of the pilot house is a conveyor boom which is used to unload the cargo.
The entire unloading process is done automatically by means of conveyor belts, bucket elevators or high-speed loop belts. 

Middle section of the same freighter.
In the background is the Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge between the U.S. and Canada.

Bow section of the same freighter.

The same freighter has now been lowered and is proceeding out of the lock.

The freighter in the distance is waiting to enter the locks to travel on to Lake Huron.
In the foreground is an empty lock.  

Weird to think of Duluth, MN as an Atlantic seaport!

Found this interesting.

A few blocks east of the Soo locks is an old freighter, the "Valley Camp," that has been made into a museum.

The Valley Camp - now permanently relegated to shore duty.

The stern of the Valley Camp.

The Valley Camp is the model on the far left.  As you can see, she is small by today's standards.

2 floors of maritime exhibits in the hold of the Valley Camp.

More exhibits in the hold.

Fascinating nautical knots and rigging. 

The captain of this ship probably felt like I did when I was stuck in the mud in Ontonogan!
No tow truck is going to get this out.

The pilot house.

Great view from up here.

Seems like a quarter mile to the stern from here and this is a small freighter.

There's our motorhome and car waiting in the parking lot.

Mates quarters.

More mates quarters.

The wheel house.  There is a lot of equipment in this space.

Crew's dining area.

Part of the galley.

 

Officers dining area.

Interesting historical benchmarks of navigation on the St. Lawrence and the Great Lakes.

Part 3 of the UP is next.