Well, we did it again. The host told us when we pulled in that the black flies were bad and asked if we had bug spray. We most certainly do!! It’s been taking three layers some nights! There weren’t any bugs when we went down to the beach (twice) but when we got up from our campfire to go to bed, holy cow!! Mosquitoes, AGAIN! I swear all of them from the entire came over to check us/me out! Well, since the wind was blowing so beautifully and there weren’t any we left the window and tailgate open on the truck. DUH!! Beaver River was still the worst as there were TONS of them, but this was just as irritating with a few, hundred?? I don’t know. What is awful is the high-pitched whining sound they make and then suddenly they’re quiet and you wonder where they are!! I swatted and slapped and killed many. Andrew wasn’t bothered. We tried opening the window for cooler air, but they didn’t want to leave and a few more came in to feast. After several hours I finally gave up and slept in the front seat. We should know better; and we will never leave the tailgate and window open again, guaranteed!! We are assuming they were in the truck bed and not sneaking in somehow??
We headed towards the USA drove through Sault St. Marie, a city of about 75,000 right on the border. There is also a Sault St. Marie in Michigan, and they used to be ONE city. But the War of 1812 sort of decided where the border was for sure and the city got split into two.
Saute St. Marie is apparently French for Saint Mary’s Falls due to the rapids and cascades. The water drops 20 feet from the level of Lake Superior to the level of the lower lakes. There is an amazing locks and dam system in place, the American Soo Locks, and they are the busiest canal in the world based on the amount of tonnage that passes through it.
We passed back into the United States in record time. She asked where what we’d been doing (vacationing), where we were going (back home to Indiana), if we were bringing anything back (souvenirs). That was it! No questions on dirt, firearms, fruits/vegetables, or anything!
We headed to catch a ferry to experience Mackinac Island. NO motorized vehicles (except emergency ones) are allowed and haven’t been since it has been a tourist attraction since the 1890s!! Hard to believe! We had to pay for ourselves and our bikes, and to park! The timing was perfect as we paid and walked on shortly after. The ride was pretty and we were soon riding the streets. Bikes can be rented on the island but they start at $7 per hour per bike. We wanted to bike the perimeter which was 8.2 miles and around and we had them with us the entire journey so we brought them along!
It is like stepping back in time!! Horses and carriages carrying people, horses delivering things to hotels and restaurants (ask Andrew to show you how they got beer cases off the wagons and into where they wanted them!). Horses and wagons hauled trash and it was amazing. They had special crews with carts and brooms to keep track of horse debris and hoses and buckets to help in that regard as well. LOTS of people, many bicycling, many walking. LOTS of families. The buildings are older Victorian style with bay windows, wooden siding or shingles, colorful, turrets, and porches. The stores and restaurants were in buildings from various time periods of history, but keeping these characteristics in tact. Only about 500 people are considered permanent residents but nearly 15,000 people swarm in DAILY during tourist season! That is quite a few people!
The island was home to the Odawa before Europeans arrived in the 1600s. It is conveniently located for commerce and the fur trade. Europeans loved loved loved their fur, especially beaver hats! Because of its location, a fort was established during the Revolutionary War by the British and two battles were fought here during the war of 1812!
We did pedal the perimeter around the island, 8 miles! It was lovely and not bad at all. My new bike rides nice. MOSTLY flat-ish but requiring some shifting for smallish hills (good practice for me!) and one bigger one but we made it and it was neat to see the sea and islands from all sides. The water looked like it should have been in a tropical locale, that lovely light turquoise!! It was clear and cool. There was a yacht parked a bit out but who it was, who knows!
We did stop after only a mile to walk up 207 steps to see Arch Rock. It once stood over 100 feet above lake level but the latek waters slowly dissolved the softer rocks of the center. That crumbled away and left the arch.
A movie called “Somewhere in Time” was filmed here in 1972 starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. There is a stone with a famous quote “Is it you?” and a store featuring souvenirs!
Fort Mackinac sat high on top of a hill and now overlooks a lovely park. Back in the day though it was a fabulous garden! It isn't often you hear of fabulous vegetable gardens in history! We went into a birth “chapel” made like it would have been in the mid 1600s when Marquette actually discovered the island; he was a missionary. I overheard a young man say, “I never paid attention in Social Studies.” I looked at him and his mom and said, “Oh, you should have.” I then backtracked and explained that I taught Social Studies and it can be fascinating! WE walked around the area some more and encountered the same family and she came up to me and told me that he was going to pay more attention from now on. He was going into 6th grade and did have U.S. History last year! Too fun.
We encountered a family with FOUR little boys! They were all dressed in bright orange shirts and they brought their own bikes with them. Three of the boys rode, the 2nd littlest a balance bike, and the littlest was being pulled in a carrier behind dad. Dad led and Mom brought up the rear! We saw a big Amish/Mennonite family/families pulling wagons of kids and picnic supplies. We saw old and young, bicycles built for two, three-wheeled bicycles, and lots of walkers and even a few runners, some wheelchairs and some canes. Some lucky dogs got their own carriers and were pulled or they were riding up front in baskets like Toto!! Some did get to walk too!
We stopped at a local pub for lunch, splitting a bowl of amazing chicken soup and a plate of the best ever fish and chips. The bartender said they get it fresh from the lake each day. It was so light and not heavily breaded. GOOD! We popped in and out of shops and had some ice cream and headed back to the ferry. More people were arriving and more people is a good time to exit!
We backtracked a bit and headed to Whitefish Point. Why? There is a lighthouse there (the oldest on Lake Superior, commissioned by Abraham Lincoln!), but there is also a shipwreck museum there. It is called the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and features exhibits and artifacts salvaged from shipwrecks from the Whitefish Point Underwater Preserve, as well as the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald. There is some “history” as some of said artifacts may have been obtained from wrecks on state-claimed bottomlands. Back and forth legal issues prevailed for years. The SS Edmund Fitzgerald was a long-standing ship with seasoned crew that got caught in an early gale in November of 1975 and sank. We watched a short video of the ship and the incident and how they retrieved the bell and put it on display in the museum and placed another bell with the names of those lost back in its place as a memorial. This area is narrow and there have been many shipwrecks here. The museum has such a great selection of authentic artifacts; it is very sobering to look over everything they have. While we were watching the movie, a song was being played, a song written and sung by Canadian (Ontario) Gordon Lightfoot called "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." It was released in August of 1976, not quite a year after the ship sank. I'd heard the song before but never realized it was based on a true story. Andrew knew and wanted to see the bell since we were so close. Haunting.
We toured the lighthouse keepers quarters and it was authentic, complete with amazing wood floors and wainscoting!! They even had some very life-like wax personas representing a keeper and his wife. I really thought they were going to turn around and say hello to us! I mean she was rolling pie dough and had freckles on her arms!!
While we were in there, a fog rolled in. This part of the lake is notoria for that and it dropped 20 degrees! With the fog we couldn’t see much past the shore. We did not go up in the lighthouse as I have developed a slight case of vertigo. It showed up on our return flight to Montreal and is annoying to say the least. I sway like perhaps I’ve imbibed too much and that doesn’t ever happen!!
I got yelled at today. Yes. As we were exiting the boardwalk from the beach area, a lady asked us if we knew where the lighthouse tour began. I replied, “You need a ticket for that.” She replied, LOUDLY, “I KNOW that, ma’am” and huffed off around the corner. Andrew and I looked at each other and shrugged our shoulders. A little history: this same lady had been in the lighthouse keepers house and interrupted the guide talking to us and another couple to ask if she could go out the in door. The guide said she could. I was reading something on the wall and heard a comment about the museum and she said, “Where’s that?” and the other couple replied, “Where you bought your tickets.” SO, I assumed that if she didn’t know where the museum was as it was literally 3 feet from the ticket counter, that maybe she didn’t know the the lighthouse tour was a separate ticket from the other one. I am assuming she was just having a bad day and took it out on us. It happens.
We drove back to Mackinaw City and had a light supper, sharing a couple of simple appetizers, drove to the McGulpin Lighthouse (all brick!) and then headed down the road. We opted for a hotel this evening vs another battle with the bugs. I know. But even in the parking lot of hte hotel the mosquitoes just pop up out of nowhere and get a taste!!
Tomorrow we head south and the dunes and a few more lighthouses.
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