Month: August 2023

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Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Tahquamenon Falls

Amy Kline

Highlights for today were the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and Tahquamenon Falls. Jeff’s must see stop on our roadtrip was the museum and it did not disappoint. We listened to “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald” on the way to give the boys some context. The museum was a lot more than I thought it would be. One main museum-y building with displays and info on some of the main shipwrecks around there. It is known as the Graveyard of the Great Lakes because so many ships sunk around there. Bad storms that come up quickly, busy shipping lanes, and underwater shoals caused a lot of the sinkings.

Other buildings there focused on the lighthouse keepers and their families. The Whitefish Point Light Station was the first lighthouse on the Great Lakes and was so important to saving lives. The building attached to the light station set up in different time periods as if the families were living there. There were 2 light keepers and their families so the house is kind of a duplex with a connected hallway to get to the light station. It sounds like a monotonous and very isolating job.

There was also a very interesting building that housed a life rescue boat. I never knew that there were self bailing boats. Cool! The men who worked the shipwrecks sailed out in some of the worst weather-cold, gale force winds- in order to save people.

Once we finished the museum, we went to Tahquamenon Falls. First we stopped at the Lower Falls. They have a paved path to follow that takes you to great viewing spots of the falls which is split in half by an island. Lots of people were there swimming and climbing around on the rocks. Then we went on to the Upper Falls a few miles down the road. That It was much easier to get a photo without people at this area. The falls has a 50 foot drop and is 200 feet across. The water is a brownish color because of of the tannins in the swampy areas near the source of the river, caused by the trees. All natural, not polluted. Hurray!

Another 1.5 hours in the truck and we got to our campground in Musining. Normally we camp in state parks but this is owned by the town. Lots of highway noise and we are on the driveway to go in and out, but the site is level and gives a good view of the sky and water.

A replacement bell was lowered to the wreck with all the passengers names engraved on it as a grave marker. This bell is the actual bell that was on the ship.
For each wreck, there was a model displayed of the different shops.
A fresnel lense which was used in lighthouses until more modern lighting was available.
A diving suit from the 1930’s. Someone on the surface had to hand pump the air for the diver.
Looks just like the Singer sewing machine Mom gave me!
Rescue boat that has a self-bailer.
They all tried skipping rocks.
They are both such good sports and go along with the crazy adventures of their parents without too much grumbling.
Hordes of people!
Spencer and I hiked a little longer.
When it is done, the North Country Trail will be longer than the Appalachian or Pacific Crest Trails.
Selfie by the Upper Falls
View of our campsite from the driveway of the campground.

Sunset. No Northern Lights, but if there were, we would have had a great view!

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Mackinac Island

Amy Kline

The big event for the day was experiencing Mackinac Island. We bought ferry tickets online from the Mackinac Island Ferry Company and also had them come right to the campground to pick us up. Very easy strategy, since then we didn’t have to deal with parking and we could leave our vehicle right at the campsite so it looked like it was occupied.

The ferry ride was beautiful. Our boat’s name was Cadillac. We sat on top and had a great view of the Mackinac Bridge with a freighter just getting ready to go under it. We also had a great view of the grand hotel and “cottages” along the island coastline.

Since our main goal was to visit Fort Mackinac, we did not rent bikes or the horse carriage tours this time. At some point Jeff and I will go back for a weekend to do those things and explore the rest of the island trails.

We walked up the long pathway to enter the fort and toured all the buildings. It was very interesting! I didn’t know (or don’t remember ) that there was an actual battle between the British and the Americans on the island. It was the first battle of the War of 1812. The island also was later designated the 2nd National Park (1st was Yellowstone). As the fort got decommissioned, the park became Michigan’s State Park. Motor vehicles got banned in the 1890’s because they spooked the horses that were already used to transport tons of tourists around the island. The horse drivers lobbied and won and to this day, there are no vehicles beyond emergency vehicles allowed on the island.

Even though we were there on a weekday, there were so many tourists, but we waded through them in the town area and got some Murdick’s fudge, which we immediately gobbled up while standing on the sidewalk. It was delicious! Then we walked to another place to get ice cream, I got Mackinac Island Fudge ice cream of course!

Spencer and I peeked in to the library for a minute -very cute! Then we were just about to walk up to the Grand Hotel, when we saw some dark clouds to the north, heading our way. It was already 4:30 and we were not planning to stay on the island for dinner so we went back to the ferry.

Jeff and I decided to sit on top again, while the boys sat inside. Well, the boys made the better choice on that one! The water was very choppy and we were going against the wind, plus it started sprinkling as we crossed the Straits of Mackinac. It was a long 15 minutes, but thankfully the storm never really hit. I wonder what the boat people would do if it started lightning?

We got back to the campsite, had a light supper-cheese, sausage, etc then sat relaxing until it got dark and we went to bed.

The boys were not quite as interested in the history of the place as I was. LOL
We heard a demonstration of a canon being blown off. Too crowded to get close enough the watch the presentation.
You can watch the fudge being made at Murdicks and many of the other fudge shops.
These were gorgeous dahlias!
You can see the dark clouds behind the ferry.
Easy camping supper of cheese, sausage, kippers and tricuits. We had a big lunch and all the fudge and ice cream so weren’t that hungry.
Catching up on the days news and watching 40-Year Old Virgin.
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Green Bay to St. Ignace

Amy Kline

Started off our U.P. Roadtrip about 10:30 am with a beautiful drive up to our campsite for the next couple nights at Straits State Park, which is very near the Mackinac Bridge. We stopped for lunch in Marinette and I was able to stop in a a quilt shop there for a few minutes.

Later we stopped to stretch our legs at an amazing beach called ThompsonRogers Roadside Park. Carson and I were expecting to do a little rock hounding, but the sand was like brand new sandbox sand. So we waded instead. There was a spring fed fountain where people could fill up their water bottles too. A great place to stop during a road trip!

Kwik Trips are the best for roadtrips. Good food, easy parking
Spotted knapweed-apparently invasive but pretty flowers against the sand.
Puncture vine. Called that for a reason. Also invasive. But pretty. Goos thing we didn’t take shoes off until we were near the water!
It was only knee deep about 30 feet from shore . Refreshing!

We got to our campsite and set up pretty quickly. It is so much easier now that the boys are older and help so much. Jeff made some delicious pork sandwiches while I went to explore and check out the viewing spot of the bridge that was near the campsite. Amazing view!

After so many years of camping, we have a pretty nice setup that is efficient to set up and take down. We have 2 plastic drawer containers that Jeff puts on the picnic table and then locks away in the back of the pickup along with the cooler at night. No raccoons visiting us in the middle of the night! The drawers hold all the dishes, cooking utensils, dry foods and snacks. We also have a Rubbermaid tub for the bigger things like bread and big bags of potato chips.

One other thing we started doing is to put a trail cam out to capture any animal invading our site and as a deterrent to any potential bad guy who might try to break into our camper while we are out hiking or adventuring for the day.

We are in a wooded campsite so no sunset pic or decent view of the sky here, The weather is perfect though-cool enough to keep the mosquitos away, but not cold at all. Great sleeping weather in the pop-up tonight!