Day 2-267 Day Trip to Mill Creek Discovery Park and ?

     We set off mid-morning by bike (Ann), electric-assisted bike (Terry) and electric scooter (me - John). We headed east along the Lake Huron shoreline past "motel alley" and then about 3 miles along a trail on an old railroad track. It was a beautiful day with clear skies and probably upper 60s at the start (picture at right). The park had an excellent local history part that focused on the development of the logging and lumber industry in the Mackinaw area. The other appeal was a zip line, which neither Ann nor I had ever done before.

     The man who demonstrated and explained the sawmill was wonderful. Surely he had done the demonstration hundreds of times before, but he had an infectious enthusiasm about his presentation. Archaeologists had discovered the actual location of the original mill and the dam for the pond that fed water for the mill. Although they only have a sawmill today, they did find one of the two original grind stones for the grist mill. In reconstructing the sawmill, the inner beams are all new lumber. However, once the sawmill was reconstructed inside the basic beams, the wall, roof, etc. were all made from lumber cut using this saw.

We actually got to see about a one foot long cut. That short cut would have taken nearly 10 minutes by hand, but the mill did the cut in under one minute. Lumber from the original mill was used to construct all of the early buildings in Mackinaw City and on Mackinaw Island.

     Terry and Ann are watching the demonstration.  We got to see the log move forward and back, but the repositioning for the next cut looked like it was going to be by brute force.

     The flutter (aka paddle) wheel that drove the saw seemed remarkably small, but the head (height) of the water was 10 feet, which was enough to really spin the wheel.

     The whole demonstration started with the hand saw demonstration shown in the picture at the right. The log being sawed is shown here elevated on stilts. Usually this was done with the log being rolled over flat ground above a deep pit. The pit man (or 10 year old boy from the audience did all of the work. The saw cuts on the downward stroke and clears the blade of sawdust on the up stroke. The "pit" or "pit man" was down in the hot, sweaty pit with sawdust raining down on him. Talk about a hard job!

     Obviously, the water driven saw was much faster and required no rest breaks, food, etc. This mill and its success formed the basis for the next 100 years or so of logging and lumber production in Michigan. Pretty cool!

Fortunately, it was then time for lunch. Even better was the fact that the Admiral had slaved in the galley for hours to make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch...

    Well, enough of this educational stuff. It is time for some FUN. It is time to get suited up for the canopy bridge and then the zip line. The picture at the right shows the group suited up with hard hats, safety belts and safety line with rollers going across the canopy bridge. The bridge was very stable, but you were walking on a 10 inch wide board, and it is best not to look down...

     Everyone made it across the bridge so we went on a short hike up through the woods and across the stream. Kind of sounds like we should have ended up at Grandmother's house, but instead we arrived at the zip line. The picture at the right shows the Admiral about to rocket down the short ramp and out on the zip line.  Whoop!   I was next, and of course, I did the trip in style and grace...  Well, I did go, and I did not panic.

     The next picture shows Ann arriving at the bottom. I am pretty much convinced that is all a plot conceived by kids and designed to make adults look like total klutzes... If that is correct, then the plot was successful in my case.

      Late in the afternoon we saw the Brig Niagara leaving Mackinaw Island and headed west under the Mackinaw Straits Bridge.

 

...and now for the grand finale. We went out to dinner, then Ann and Terry walked to an outdoor concert in the park next to the marina. The concert started at 8:00 pm, and it was a good thing that they were not too late since it ended promptly at 9:00 pm. Nice amphitheater, beautiful weather, but evidently they got to experience most of the concert.  We just continue to be amazed at all of the wonderful events that we have experienced in the many towns that we have visited.

A long, diverse but very fun day!

Days 266 - a day trip to Mackinaw Island

Day 2-266
We caught the early ferry to Mackinaw Island at 8:30 am - Let the fun begin! There are still a few of the "old-style" ferries that go 10 mph and take in the scenery, but most of the ferries now zip along at 30+ mph. This is obviously not the ferry that we were on, but it shows how close we were to the Mackinac Straits Bridge.

The harbor at Mackinaw Island is small, which means that you must make reservations well (months) in advance so we did not stay here. Once inside the harbor, one of our first views was of the tall ship Niagara, which we had passed on Lake Erie way back on Day 2-241. She is at Mackinaw Island for 4 days as part of the celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Mackinaw Island, which is TODAY.

The re-enactment was to take place in the center of the Island on what is now a golf course. Since we were on the first ferry of the day, we had a number of people in full military dress who would be participating in the re-enactment on board the ferry with us. So, we were well prepared to repel any boarders... We never did see any of the bad guys (i.e. the Red Coats).

It turns out that none of us were that excited about seeing the re-enactment so we passed on that opportunity. We had expected to hear the roar of cannon fire less than 2 miles away in the city, but we did not???

     We headed immediately to the carriage tours, and to our surprise, we got on a carriage with only a couple of minutes wait. Note: One of the unique things about Mackinaw Island is that motorized vehicle are not allowed. Electric mobility scooters are allowed with a doctor's letter. We were asked to sit in "the back of the bus", but as it turns out, the odiferous emanations from the horses were much worse in the front rows. We did make at least three stops where we could have remained longer and several where we changed carriages. The guides/drivers were fairly informative, but overall, it seemed like a contest as to which driver could tell the most corny jokes.

     We started in a carriage pulled by 2 draft horses, later we were in one pulled by 3 horses. The main street down along the waterfront looked like a scene out of the past with no cars, trucks, etc. There were hundreds of "modern" bicycles, which did (in my opinion) detract from the setting. We were told that there were 16 fudge shops, second only to the number of restaurants/bars.

 

      There are some private houses on the island as well as numerous other small hotels/bed and breakfasts. The few residential streets (pictures above and at left) were quite quiet in sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle often just a block away.

     The baskets of flowers, which seemed to be everywhere, provided a wonderful splash of color. Since it is on an island, recycling is an important part of life here. Recycling also includes making mulch/fertilizer out of the manure left by the 600+ horses used on the island. So, I guess that the flowers should look very healthy, since they are well fed.

      This is one large hotel (photo at right), but most of the others were quite small by comparison. It has the look of a building with many additions over the years.

      One of two centerpieces on the island is the Grand Hotel, which is about half way up the gentle slope of the main "hill" that forms the island. The main deck in front is over 600 feet long, and it is loudly proclaimed to be the longest in the World. Anyway, this is as close as we got since they charge $10.00 per person to walk along the front of the hotel. I take that to mean that the "paying" guests in the hotel are also paying for their privacy. It is no doubt THE place to stay to get the full experience of having visited this beautiful location.

      Just across the street (behind the photographer above) is the club house for the golf course and a lovely restaurant. The original phase of the Grand Hotel (above) was completed in 93 days. The story is that the workers who built the hotel were promised double their pay if it was completed in 90 days. So, they got no extra pay...

     There are also several beautiful churches on the island. Foresting in Northern Michigan, especially the native White Pine, was to become the dominant industry on the mainland for many years. The "Lumber Barons" ruled

     On our carriage tour we saw several points of interest/beauty, including this stone arch. along the water. Once again, the water is clear enough to see the bottom even at this distance. The bedrock for the island is limestone, and this arch was once near the entrance to a cave that had been dissolved out of the limestone by the ground water. The roof over most of the cave collapsed and left this stone arch behind. Simply beautiful!

There are many more pictures in our collection, but the above gives you some idea of the splendor of this historic island. However, we were ready to call it a day by 3:30 pm when we boarded the ferry back to Mackinaw City.  So, our last view of the island was this channel marker as we looked ahead to the Mackinac Straits Bridge. If I had to guess, I would bet that we will be back one day...

After a short rest, we topped the day off by heading once more to the movies where we watched Planet of the Apes.  An interesting take on how the apes might have evolved into a position of dominance on our world. 

THEN, it was time to really call it a day...

Day 2-265 to Mackinaw City

     By design we left the Cheboygan City Marina at 11:00 am with the Admiral at the helm for the undocking. BTW she did a fine job handling both the river current and a light breeze! Our trip today was only 16.5 miles to Mackinaw City. With the "late" start the ladies went out to breakfast while the Captain chose to sleep in... Then Ann had a little time for shopping before we left. Somewhere in all this we passed this dingy with a very anxious dog hanging over the bow (picture at right).We made the 11:15 am bridge opening while the ferry to Bois Blanc Island waited on the other side for us to pass through first.

     On the way out of the harbor we stopped at the Cheboygan County Marina for just over 204 gallons of diesel fuel and a pump out. On the way here yesterday we listened over the VHF radio as another boat called and asked for their  diesel fuel price. When I heard $3.999 per gallon, I decided that we would "top off" the fuel tanks on our way out. The young lady at the fuel dock seems quite happy as she waved goodbye in the photo (at left). Indeed she was happy since both the Admiral and I had tipped her... Anyway, we did get both a pump out and fuel, and she was quite helpful with the pumpout as was our extra crew member Ann (while the Admiral and I focused on the fuel).

    As you can see in the picture at the right, it was a bit hazy, but we keep getting closer to the Mackinac Straits Bridge. We have been able to see it in the distance since before Cheboygan, but in Mackinaw City we are now within a few miles of the bridge.

    Okay, I know that I am a poor speller, but there are two spellings for Mackinac/Mackinaw. The Straits of Mackinac and the bridge over it are "Mackinac", and Mackinaw City (our destination today) and Mackinaw Island are "Mackinaw". However, some people and maps use all one spelling using either the "C" or the "W" version. Go figure??? The good news is that whatever the spelling, it is all pronounced as if it were the "W" spelling...

     Speaking of our destination of Mackinaw City, we were lucky to get some great views of the USCG ice breaker Mackinaw, which was retired in 2006. I can remember seeing and hearing about her as a kid in high school over 50 years ago. In fact, one of my classmates had a relative who was her Captain at some point. You can get a feel for her shallow bow that would ride up and over the ice to break it.

     In the picture at the right you also can see how wide she is as well. She is open for tours, and if time permits, I would really like to go aboard her.

      The Mackinaw City Marina is busy due to its close proximity to Mackinaw Island about 8 miles away, and the largest ferry company operates out of one side of the marina. The picture at the left shows the Admiral directing me and getting ready to try to read the slip numbers. Every marina always says that their slip numbers are "easy to read", but most of the people saying this have probably never had to find a slip in a boat... You can see her headphones and mouth piece that we use for communications.

    We were near the outside end of the pier in front of the Admiral, and most of our neighbors were privately owned tugs from Canada. There were 6 of them, and they ranged from about 40 to 50 feet in length. The people on board seemed to be having a good time. At night they played loud country (?) music. I had been expecting to hear sea (if not tug) chanteys... All appeared to have been real working tugs, but now they were having a lot of loving care and restoration.

     After short naps, we headed into town, which is only about 100 yards from the end of our pier. Just after getting off the pier, we passed this lady (picture at left) who had just returned from Mackinaw Island on the ferry. I guess that this is a taste of what is to come tomorrow... There are a LOT of shops, including a lot of fudge shops. When we go to Mackinaw Island tomorrow, we have been told/warned to expect almost as many fudge shops as restaurant/bars... "Four Out of Five Great Lakes Prefer Michigan" seems to be a popular theme on shirts, etc. in the stores. We decided on pizza for dinner and got an excellent recommendation from one of the store clerks. By 8:30 pm it was a very tired group that returned to Lucky Us for some much needed sleep.   FYI We did pass a 6 screen movie theater so no doubt we will make time to see a movie (or three?).

Tomorrow, we are off on the first ferry to Mackinaw Island...

Day 2-264 onward to Cheboygan, MI

Well.... Yesterday may have been mainly lighthouses, but lighthouses are everywhere on the Great Lakes. The bike trip that the ladies took yesterday included the New Presque Isle Lighthouse. That lighthouse is in the center of the long peninsula that forms Presque Isle. As you can see in the photo at the right, it is therefore less spectacular from the water.
     Our trip from Presque Isle to Cheboygan was a total of 57.0 miles and took about 7 hours. There was haze but no (early morning) patchy fog as had been predicted.  We are very close to the Straits of Mackinac so we did go into a 1+ mph current for most of the last two hours.

     We could go fairly close to shore in fairly deep waters thanks to a steep drop off several hundred yards off shore. The next really good photo opportunity was (you guessed it) the Poe Reef Lighthouse (photo at left.). The land in the background is Bois Blanc Island, which is quite long and forms the northern boundary of the shipping channel through the Straits of Mackinac. Our destination tomorrow is Mackinaw City, Michigan, which is just a 16+ mile trip beyond Cheboygan so we could see the beautiful suspension bridge over the Mackinac Straights near the end of today's voyage.

      We did begin to see much more boat traffic, which was mainly larger pleasure craft that were probably beginning or ending vacations in the area. Anyway, most (all?) seemed to be really making knots (i.e. speed)... As we entered the channel at Cheboygan, we saw this beautiful red channel marker, which looked like a miniature lighthouse. Just to the right (west) of the light was a busy public beach. The channel was busy with lots of small boat traffic, which may have been related to a Salmon Fishing Tournament with $10,000.00 in prizes.

      To get to the Cheboygan City Marina, we had to pass through a bascule bridge that opened on the quarter/three-quarter hour cycle. The picture at the left shows a sea-going tug-tanker combination. This view of the stern shows how tightly the tug fits into the stern of the tanker barge. In the picture we are headed up the channel about to pass these vessels. The wind was being funneled up the river, so we went around the tug-barge to get a wind break where we could "hang out" until the bridge opening. We had some river current toward Lucky Us and the wind from behind so I was busy during our 15 minute break (Note: you're supposed to feel sorry for poor me... ha ha).

     While we were hanging out, we had a lovely view of some tugs moored at a dock on the west (right) side of the river. As you know, the tug pictures are added especially for our Grandson Will who really likes tugs (and trains).
     I do not have a bridge picture because once the bridge started to open, it suddenly got very busy. The bridge had a vertical clearance of 9 feet when closed, but of course, two small outboard fishing boats with a height of maybe 4 feet had to pass through the bridge  at the same time. Just to make it more exciting, they immediately increased their speed just enough to produce big wakes in the (narrow) 50 foot wide channel under the bridge.
      Just past the bridge there is a dock/terminal for the Bois Blanc ferry, and just after that, we docked on the wall at the Cheboygan City Marina. It was a nice wall with a park and families fishing from the wall. Amazingly, the public restroom facilities in the park were among the cleanest of any marina that we have stayed at on our trip.
     For some of us it was then time for a well deserved nap while the Admiral walked a block to the business district. The Admiral found some very attractive yarn spools for her loom room back in Texas. We had "light" dinners of salad and a shared appetizer, since we were going to a movie after dinner. We saw "Guardians of the Galaxy". It was enjoyable, but I guess that I was expecting more cute/funny than it seemed.

     The last picture (at the left) shows the Admiral and Seaman 3rd Class (Ann) standing on the bascule bridge with the marina in the background.

A nice ending to a very nice day!

Day 2-263 to Presque Isle State Harbor

We left Alpina, Michigan (for the second time) at 8:15 am headed 40.5 miles to Presque Isle State Harbor. We had gone a 1/4 mile the first time before we realized that we had forgotten to turn in the bathroom keys. Fortunately, the Dockmaster came out and reached out for the keys so that we did not actually have to dock again. We had to back track a few miles to actually exit Thunder Bay, and as we were doing that the Fish & Game Warden decided to pay us a visit. All that he wanted was to see our registration and documentation certificates (picture at right). A nice guy just doing his job with as little inconvenience as possible.

     As we rounded the northern corner of the mouth of the bay, we passed the Thunder Bay Island Lighthouse. There are a series of small islands and shoals that sort of connect to the mainland. The bed rock shoreline illustrates the dangers around this northern part of the entrance to Thunder Bay.

     We did not know it yet, but today was going to be a day full of lighthouses.

     A few miles further north we passed the Middle Island Lighthouse. Once again, the lighthouse marked a bend in the shoreline and more shallow areas just off shore. We were able to turn toward shore after passing the shoals and got close enough for some lovely views of the lighthouse. The shoreline appeared to be a natural berm of larger rocks that had been piled up by the waves. You can see how light the wind was along with a pretty clear sky. The remainder of the trip was pretty barren coast with not much change in the heavily wooded shoreline. We spent about the last hour in light (?) fog. Once again we could see large power boats passing us in both directions at high rates of speed. When we got to the marina there were two large (about 50 feet) power boats at the fuel dock. There is no guarantee, but judging from other new arrivals, these were probably two of the ones that passed us. THEN, they decided to wait for the fog to lift before going further. Sure enough, about 3 hours later they roared off at high speed...

     Presque is literally French for peninsula, and Presque Isle had long since been a harbor of refuge from storms. Now, the state of Michigan has built a heavily protected boat harbor for pleasure craft. The breakwater is about 12 feet high on the lake side, and you can see how clear the water is. We could see the bottom quite clearly in 10 feet of water at our dock. We did not spend a lot of time staring at the water, but we did see one large fish. I estimated it to be about 30 inches, but remember that fishermen lie...

     Once settled into the marina, we learned that the store across the street had free loaner bikes. Thus, we did not have to even unload our bikes from the boat to visit the local lighthouses. So, we set out to visit the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse.  It was a flat ride on a trip of about 0.4 miles, and much to our surprise,  the loaner bikes were in nearly new condition. The old lighthouse was only 45 steps to the top, which made it an easy climb. The bad news was that the lighthouse was not tall enough to project over the local forest so it proved fairly ineffective. It was completed in 1840, and the last light keeper was appointed by President Lincoln. The tapered lower 2/3 of the lighthouse was made of native stone with the top being a straight cylinder of brick. The picture at the right shows the Admiral and Seaman 3rd class (Ann) at the top. Yes, after taking the picture, I did climb up to the top.

     The picture at the left shows Ann with the Fresnel Lens for the light. The lighthouse and the keeper's house had been very nicely restored. The last light keeper had four sons who all became light keepers. I suppose that after  growing up here they were used to the life of isolation.

     I must admit that at this point that I wimped out when it came to riding another mile to the New Presque Isle Lighthouse. The new lighthouse, which was built in 1870, is more than 3 times as high as the old one and definitely solved the problem of the nearby trees.

     The prize for the best picture of the day goes to.... Well, it turns out that both of the ladies took about the same spectacular view of the stairs looking up.

     The last picture for today is of the original 3rd order Fresnel lens, which is on display.


     Like I said earlier, today was BIG on lighthouses, which was fine with all of us.


     We finished the day off with a lovely dinner at the waterfront restaurant at the marina. Then we went back to the boat and got ready for a short evening and then sleep, wonderful sleep...

Day 261-262 in Alpena, MI

     Wow, two full days of fun and...work (on Lucky Us) in Alpena, Michigan. The picture at right shows a sunrise over Lucky Us at the marina. It goes without saying that I did not take this particular sunrise picture since we were at the dock (and I was still asleep).
      The downtown area continued to work well for us. We went to see another movie at Noon. "The Purge: Anarchy" was interesting enough. However, it was also like watching the news in any major city in the US. Lots of murder and mayhem, but everyone got a pass on the deaths during the 12 hours period. Well, the popcorn was excellent once again. We also went into a couple of stores, including a huge antique store. It is interesting to see how these stores change regionally. For example, lots of duck decoys and fishing lures along with the usual stuff.

     We picked up a rental car at 5:00 pm, which actually turned out to be more like 7:00 pm. The car greatly expanded our horizons so that we saw more of the town, including some beautiful homes. I liked this Victorian mansion was made out of local stone, which in this case was probably cobbles and small boulders brought in and deposited by the glaciers. The Admiral was really amazed that I would bother to make a U-turn and go back for a picture. Yup, I did like this one.



     While we were out we found a nice local restaurant where (drum roll please) the Admiral ordered a perch dinner for her very first time. She has tasted mine before, but this pan seared perch might just have "hooked" her too. We also stopped at Home Depot for non-contact electrical clamp meter and electrical plugs to make our own 30 amp to 20 power cord adapter. Showing her mastery of things electrical, the Admiral stripped wires, etc. and assembled the adapter in a matter of minutes.

     On the second day we drove inland about 70 miles to pick up our friend Ann M. who had arrived there from Lorain, Ohio.  It was a quick trip, but we did get to see some of "inland" Michigan, including this wonderful barn with a Happy Face painted on one end.









     After dinner on the boat, we walked about 5 blocks to the Thunder Bay Theater, which houses the local theater company. We saw a performance of "Disney's High School Musical". We had a fun time, although it was pretty chilly during the walk back to Lucky Us.
    Tomorrow the weather forecast is very favorable so we will continue our journey northward along the Michigan coast of Lake Huron.