Out decision to have a full day in Port Huron proved to be a good one as yesterday's strong north winds continued over night. So the waves out in Lake Huron were still in the range of 3 to 6 feet.
The Admiral had read about a "Ten Cent Trolley Tour" that sounded like fun. I had thought that the "ten Cents" was a joke, but sure enough, the actual fare was a dime. The driver was a hoot! A life long resident of Port Huron who unlike many tour guides did not have any corny jokes along the trip. The trip lasts an hour, and there are several stops where you can get off. You can then reboard after touring a house or spending time on the beach at Lake Huron.
One of the finest views was of the Blue Water Bridge across the St. Claire River. Sarnia, Ontario is on the other (Canadian) side. You can see a line of tractor trailers stopped on the bridge waiting to clear customs. It seems like a very busy crossing especially for commercial traffic.
We also saw a large boulder that is part of a memorial to lost sailors and ships. In just one storm many years ago, some 16 ships and their crews were lost. We have probably heard about the Edmund Fitzgerald, but she is just one of hundred of ships that have been lost on Lake Huron. Waves as high as 70 feet have supposedly been recorded in severe storms.
We also saw the Lightship Huron, which was retired in 1971 and has since been restored. She was the last lightship on the Great lakes and is now open for tours.
A year ago, we visited Thomas Edison's winter home in Fort Meyers Florida. When we went on our dingy trip up the Huron River last week, we ended up about 15 miles from Edison's birthplace in Milan, Ohio on the Huron River. When Edison was 7 years old, his family moved to (you guessed it) Port Huron. Yes, indeed it is a small world.
We passed a dock where railroad cars had been loaded onto ferries for transport across the river to Canada. Later, a tunnel was blasted under the river for trains. This became such a busy tunnel that it had to be replaced when the rail roads went with higher double deck freight cars. So, in the early 1980s a new, much larger was made using modern boring machine that made the new tunnel. Port Huron was also served by passenger trains. This rail road station and passenger car was served by the line over the rail road bridge that was locked in the up position in yesterday's post.
A couple of blocks from the (deactivated) Port Huron Lighthouse, we saw a replica of an earlier Port Huron Lighthouse. It was built by the home owner who evidently is a fan of lighthouses.
We also saw many beautiful homes and commercial buildings. I will show a bit of my geology side by including the picture on the left. It is a nearly completely restored gas station for Standard Oil of Indiana (or Stanolind, or Panamerican Oil Company, Amoco). "Back in the Day", I did a fair amount of consulting with Amoco and had many friends and former students who worked there. (It was purchased by BP in about 1999).
After the tour ended, we got off the trolley at its next to last stop, which just happened to be on Military Street where there are quite a few restaurants. We chose an Irish pub, which had a marvelous décor and rather surprisingly played rather loud classic 1970's rock music (?). Anyway, I had a marvelous Reuben sandwich for lunch.
After lunch, we used the marina shuttle to go grocery shopping, and to stop at Walgreens for some prescriptions for me. We have used Walgreens for prescriptions throughout our trip, and it has worked very well. I usually try to order on line a couple of days before we reach a location. It was a little less smooth this time as I had to make calls to two doctor's offices to ask them to expedite the e-mail refill requests from Walgreens. I ended up having to go back later for one last prescription, but at the end of the day I had everything filled, and I am good for another 90 day.
I will end today's post with one last picture of a beautiful stone house. Yes, indeed, Port Huron is a pretty little town.
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