Yes, Michigan…Oh Yeah! Part 3

Yes, Michigan…Oh Yeah!

Part 3

By John W. Vander Velden

The sun came up in an early morning overcast sky

 

After four “restful” days, I thought I might get up early Wednesday.  Our room faced the harbor to the east and I wanted to see the sunrise.  I purposely left the drapes open so the day’s first light would awaken us.... It woke Jackie first… She made certain I didn’t oversleep.  So we sat on our balcony watching the new day begin.  Another glorious morning.

Point Iroquois Lighthouse was one of the sights we had
picked before we left home.

We were on the road heading to Iroquois Point Light House by nine-thirty.  The detour the evening before, took us very close so we had a good idea of how to get there.  The morning’s overcast burned off and it became a beautiful day to walk the lighthouse grounds, climb yet another tower, and stroll the Lake Superior shore.  I took pictures…OK, you knew that already…but I did.

The straights between the Upper Peninsula and Drummond Island
were narrow.  I gave a great view of the ships that passed

The north shore of Lake Huron.
The shores we visited varied.
From the sandy beaches one might expect, to
rock strewn stretches, or places where the grassy
almost marshes edged the grand expanse of water

We ate lunch in the finest restaurant of the trip, in a small place called Bay Mills.  Our table gave grand views of the lake, Whitefish Bay actually, as we watched boats on the glass smooth water.  The afternoon brought our next adventure.  I have traveled the Upper Peninsula going west from I 75 but never east, so that was the direction we chose.  The country changes at the interstate.  The west is mostly forest…trees, trees, trees, made up of National and State Forests, cabins nestled between the trees… You get the idea.  However the eastern point of the peninsula is much more developed.  There were farms…if you can believe it…hay fields everywhere.  Also you come across small towns…what we might call normal looking towns.  You know the ones with hardware, groceries, and drug stores.  We ended up following the Lake Huron shore to the eastern point.  Had we arrived a couple of hours earlier, we would have taken the ferry to Drummond Island.  You know there’s a light house out there.  We were amazed how many vehicles they could load on the ferry…and quickly.  While we watched a freighter passed through the narrows.  We had seen several…strange, they all look pretty much the same.  However this one definitely needed repainting.  The ships are older than I might have thought…many with over sixty years of service of hauling iron ore, limestone, and the like southward.  I’m not certain what they bring back.

St. Ignace only recently gained this beauty 

We followed the shoreline west completing our journey’s circle in St. Ignace and spent the remainder of the day in that small town.  We walked the breakwater had supper, finishing the day on our balcony, as we watched Wednesday fade over the bay. 

Thursday morning came with a plan.  We intended to visit the lighthouse that graced the cover of our guidebook.  Seul Choix Point Lighthouse, some seventy miles west, just off scenic highway 2.  The route followed the northern shore of Lake Michigan with many turnoffs giving breathtaking views.  We made our way to Manistique, an area of lumber processing and shipping.  We found the shore there covered by sawdust which they claim had been dumped long ago.  I wonder…  The sun shown in the blue sky overhead as we walked the boardwalk and breakwater, greeting others, some with their dogs, and talked to the men that were painting the lighthouse… They do it for a living…paint lighthouses that is. 

We stumbled upon this one as we searched for another.
The painters were just finishing a new paint job. 
They were bound for Alpena the next lighthouse on their agenda

Studying the map at dinner, I realized we had gone too far.  So back we went looking for a side road that would lead us up the peninsula to Seul Choix Point.  The turnoff was at a small place called Gulliver we had passed in our travels.   Don’t ask me how to pronounce Seul Choix either.  All I remember is that the sound of the S and the C are reversed, if that makes any sense.  Four mile of dust road took us up to the very tip of land that juts into Lake Michigan.  On that very tip stands the monument we had driven past and back…driven through four miles of dust to see. 



The northern Lake Michigan Shore on Seul Choix Point
was covered by a layer of shells.

The view from the top of Seul Choix was magnificent.  You could look back down the ribbon of land that connected the point to the Upper Peninsula and the water all around.  To the north the limestone works was visible.  And to the south we could pick out four or five islands in the distant haze.  We stood there for several minutes just absorbing the grand vista.

The lightkeeper’s quarters had been beautifully restored.  The doors are trimmed out with copper, the only lightkeeper’s residence known to have copper on all the doorways, even the closets.  At one time three families called the point their home.  We found it interesting to see the appliances and furniture of long ago, revealing a lifestyle left behind and forgotten. 

Wandering down to the lakeshore we found a beach covered by a thick layer of what appeared tiny clam shells…Zebra Mussels I believe.  I mean more than a foot in depth.  The shore was not very inviting and any idea of wading out to get some lake into my pictures of the lighthouse vanished.  Well in any case we wandered the grounds and I took my pictures on another wonderful afternoon.



A visit to Seul Choix Point Lighthouse will explain why
the lighthouse graced the cover of our guidebook.

On our drive back we stopped to see “Big Mac” from the west.  And knowing it would be our last night in the place that had been our base of adventures, we wandered around the tourist part of St. Ignace, visiting several shops as our Thursday came to its conclusion, worn but pleased with all we had seen and done.

 

 

 

 



For more than fifty years the bridge has spanned the straights,
connecting the two parts of Michigan.

 

  

The final installment comes next week.

 

I hope not!
One of the thousands of shirts offered in  the shops.

Jackie standing on our balcony.
We will remember this hotel and perhaps one day return

Yes, Michigan?...Oh Yeah! Part 2

Yes, Michigan?...Oh Yeah!

Part 2

By John W. Vander Velden

 

            I don’t know what you think of Michigan.  But when we think of Michigan, we think of mile upon mile of forestland, hundreds of lakes, endless stretches of Great Lake shorelines, and lighthouses.  Michigan has more light houses than any state in the union…well over a hundred.  However there was one thing we had over looked in the Great Lake State, waterfalls…until this year.  On our list of “to do’s” for this trip, that natural spender became a required part. 

The lower Tanquanenon Falls

There are many waterfalls of various sizes in the state most found in the Upper Peninsula.  Distance from our base camp, Best Western Harbor Point, St. Ignace, eliminated many.  However near the top of the ten best…who made up that list I have no idea…was Tanquanenon Falls.  Try saying that ten times quickly…or even once for that matter.  I asked the woman at the gift store how it was pronounced.  I practiced saying the word for twenty minutes.  Jackie laughed at me as I walked with the syllables rolling off my lips again and again.  I told her that by the time we reached the car the word would be lost…and it was.  So please do not ask me how to say “T-quan…er…something, something something…rhymes with phenomenon I am told.

Jackie took my picture as we walked the island

Masses of ferns lined the roadside. 
As we walked the trail, I loved
 how the light played on this one

Tanquanenon Falls State Park was a bit down the road…more than an hour and half’s drive.  The park covers a substantial area.  The entrance to the lower and upper falls are separated by four miles.  We reached the lower falls first.  Though the park was not crowded, we certainly were not the first to arrive.  We found the fall remarkable and we walked the trail to the main falls…breathtaking.  To reach the other falls…other lower falls that is…required a boat to reach the island in the river’s middle .  We rented the flat bottom row boat and I used all the skills I had…hmmm…I am not the best mariner…and reached the island quite directly, the distance greater than it appeared from the shore.  Once safely…and dry…yes, we arrived dry…upon the island that separated the two portions  of the lower falls, we walked the trail while watching others wade in the rapids.  Returning to our worthy craft, I rowed the river for a time and arrived at our point of beginning, yet dry.  Now it shouldn’t be that surprising.

As you can clearly see, Jackie remained dry...

After a light lunch we made our way to the upper falls.  There things became interesting.  After three circuits around the overfull parking lot, I grew bold enough to park on the grass.  Best way I can describe the place was crowded…I mean all those cars didn’t drive themselves.  We joined the throng on the trail that led us…all of us…through the forest, offering views of the falls and the river below.  The route led to a pair of platforms built for spectators, which hung from the canyon wall near the thundering waters.  The grandness of the lower falls was overshadowed by spectacular upper falls.  I can see why Tanquanenon Falls are considered a “must see”…even if I can’t pronounce the word.

Our first glimpse of the upper falls...wow!

It was not a long drive from the Tanquanenon Falls to another state park…Whitefish Point Light Station.  I don’t need to point out the pattern here do I?  The light house at Whitefish Point had never been on my “need to visit” list.  The pictures I had seen…well it just doesn’t look like a light house.  But we were near and thought the view of Lake Superior alone would make the drive worthwhile.  On arriving it became apparent that the pictures did the place an injustice.  We spent our time moving about the Shipwreck Museum, saw the beautiful 2^nd order Fresnel lens, climbed the light house and walked the beach on a magnificent late afternoon.  Closed the place down.

The first thing that caught our eyes
inside the Whitefish Point Shipwreck
Museum was this magnificent
2nd order Fresnel Lens.

It had nearly become seven when the two of us in our trusty Chevy left for the long drive back to St. Ignace.  It was a pleasant drive following the two lane highway that cut through the forests of pine and hardwoods.  However when we had gone most of the way, a policeman stopped us as we approached the only railroad crossing of the route.  He kindly told us that the train had struck a semi and it would be three hours…minimum…until the crossing could be cleared.  “You’ll need to go back to highway 28”, he said.  “Only eleven miles,” he told us.  “28 will take you to the interstate.”  He didn’t tell us that it would very nearly take us all the way to Sauté Saint Marie to reach I 75…more than an hour out of our way.  Life is an adventure, so we began off in the direction we had just come. 

Whitefish Point Light Station.
Though the tower might appear modern,
It was built in 1860.

We received a guided tour to the top of  this
light house.  From there we had a wonderful view
of Lake Superior.

After a quick Wendy’s stop in Sauté Saint Marie, the light was fading as we began our southbound trek, confident that the forty some odd miles would pass quickly on the interstate.  Surprise!  Just began “book’n” when we came to a detour.  I mean they closed down the whole Interstate.  Sent us two miles west, then south on the Mackinac Trail…the road that the interstate replaced…for eleven miles, jogged back east to I 75, and homeward again.  

With each stop we saw Sea Gulls.
Here posts have been placed to weaken the waves
on Whitefish Point

 

We arrived at our room well after nine and that ended our Tuesday…at least I think it was Tuesday, another restful day…well maybe not restful, but a fantastic day all the same.

The adventure continues next week

(926 Words)

  

From the top of the light house we saw this freighter,
"The Burns Harbor".
Thought it was cool that the ship carried its name
from an Indiana port.

 

Yes, Michigan?...Oh Yeah!

Yes, to Michigan?...Oh Yeah!!!

By John W. Vander Velden

 

 

A week north bound.  A week trekking the forests and lakeshore, waterfalls and light houses.  A week of delightful weather of sunrises when we woke to enjoy them, and of sunsets as we sat side by side.

Cheboygan, MI Crib Light

 

This summer saw us return to an area from where we have been parted too long.  Months ago when Jackie asked where we might go on our vacation, I reminded her that it had been sixteen years since our last visit to Mackinac Island.  The summer had been hectic…it seems each season drives us at a rushed pace…so the planning for the actual trip occurred later than usual.  I am in charge of “the planning”.  So I take full responsibility, especially when things go well…which they did.  (I’ll try not to dislocate my shoulder as I pat myself on the back.)



This 1940 La Salle owned by a delightful man
we met our first morning in Michigan, one of only two
of this model know to be in existence.

We left on the first Saturday morning in August.  Taking to the road we headed northward, 358 miles later we reached our hotel in Cheboygan before four, which offered us our first opportunity to explore the shores of Lake Huron.  After a short drive along the shoreline and photographing the first two…I did say first…light houses and a quiet supper, we sat in the park on the shore, watching the sun slowly abandon us in a blaze of glory.  That was the first day, and a sign of the pace we drove ourselves all the days on this “restful” escape. 



     The following day included a short drive to Alpena…it was only seventy-eight miles…with stops along the way.  On a day of brilliant blue skies we followed the shoreline and visited three…yeah three…light houses.  We strolled the grounds of those sentinels and climbed the two at Presque Isle, the new and the old.  After lunch we spent several hours in and around the Shipwreck Museum in Alpena.  The day ended with a return drive back the way we had come and across “Big Mac”…what a grand engineering marvel…to settle into our hotel and base camp in St Ignace.  The Inn on the Lake Huron shore was a delightful place.  At nine PM each night they have a bon fire on the grounds, and we joined the party and watched the children roast marshmallows.  So ended our second restful day….Do you see the trend here?

The Old Presque Isle Light House was unique
by having steps made of  hewed stone.
We found it one of the hardest to climb.

We had already driven six hundred miles so Monday we decided to give our noble steed, the Malibu, most of the day off.  You could measure our Monday’s drive in yards, just down the street to the ferry dock.  The 9:30 passage to Mackinac Island began our day afoot.  The morning’s mist lifted an hour or so after we disembarked revealing blue cloudless skies, another day of light breezes and pleasant temperatures.

 

Mackinac Island...Bicycles, Bicycles, Bicycles!

     For those that have never gone to the island…it was our third trip…the place is quite unique.  They work hard to keep it special.  Most know about the lack of motorized vehicles and it seems the fudge capital of the world, yet there is so much more to the place.  What astounded us were the bicycles.  Oh on past visits, we had seen all the places that rented the two wheel pedal powered machines.  We knew that people used them to get around on the island.  But what surprised us on this trip was the sheer number…thousands and thousands of bikes…some moving down the streets in their own traffic congestion and many more parked along the sidewalks.  It required care to cross the major streets as we dodged all the cyclists…their spouses and children, on their singles, tandems, and bikes with what they called towable seats that had pedals of their own.  There were bicycle delivery people, and law enforcement bikes.  Bikes, bikes, everywhere.  Except us.  I thought we might rent a tandem

Beautiful flowers graced each place we visited

but walked instead…walked and walked and walked.  We walked to see the Frigate Niagara, a tall ship on its last day at the island.  We walked to the butterfly house.  We walked up the shore as far as Arch Rock.  We walked to St Anne’s Church, to a restaurant, to about a hundred and fifty shops that sold many things, including fudge.  We walked part way around the south side of the island, up the hill to the Grand Hotel…had some of the most fantastic ice cream there.  Yeah, I cheated a little…but I had been walking…a lot.

After we walked some more, shopped some more, walked some more, and had a light supper, we caught the next to the last ferry home, the end of a wonderful day.  Like I said until you have spent some time on Mackinac Island you can’t understand…completely.  With aching calves we finished day three, sitting on our balcony and watching the day fade away.

Without motor vehicles other means are needed...
 

Our vacation story will continue next week.

      







So many butterflies floated all around us in the
 "The Original Butterfly House". 
The Red Doris were kind enough to pose.


 



Though we watched many Blue Morphos
flit about with their wing tops a brilliant blue, I found them
difficult to photograph with wings spread. 
However one took a liking to Jackie's hat.
Perhaps a Purdue fan... 

True Friend

True Friend            

By John W. Vander Velden

Waiting with patience infinite, gleeful upon your arrival, with friendship unquestioning, to please the only purpose.  Someone always kind, always near, though others may, will never abandon.  When forgotten, holds no grudge, only the greater excitement when remembered once more.  Suffers through harsh treatment…visibly cowering beneath hard words.  Even when punished, yet loves…never returning anger for anger.  By your side as you walk.  Near when you take your rest, a companion beyond measure.  Will never argue, listening calmly to your ranting, your opinions beyond doubt.  An ever watchful eye, on which you can rely...your trust never misplaced.  Standing firmly in your defense…a protector, yes…a companion, more…an enemy, never!!!  Little more can you ask of one that demands nothing.  Do any deserve this devotion unwavering?  There is nothing like a good dog…a truer friend can not be found!!!

(143 Words)

 

Wisdom

Wisdom

 

By John W. Vander Velden

 

There are those that know little but speak a great deal.  There are those that know much yet never speak.  Neither offers much benefit to those around them. (Anonymous)

 

Surely you have noticed, those that chatter on and on.  They constantly speak of anything that passes through the mind at any given moment.  Whether or not they have any real knowledge on the subject is irrelevant – the words flow unstoppable.  Perhaps in your polite-ness you have nodded, as quietly you endure the verbal deluge.  What I find most interesting is the confidence they carry as the drivel on. 

But perhaps there is another side.  In everyone’s desire to “fit in”, the means to do just that, might include talking.  That the words flow not out of confidence but because of the lack of it.  Each person seeks to be “liked”, yet some just don’t know how to go about it.  This is not to say that there are no “arrogant buffoons”, only that not everyone that prattles on, is one.   

It remains important that we, each of us, do not fill the position of all knowing, advice providing, yappy individual, that no one truly likes, and in truth does little social good, other than to drown out others with more sensible voices.  Times come when we believe that we alone, hold the only knowledge about a particular subject.  The phrase, “listen twice as much as you speak”, fits here and is a difficult rule to follow.   

Then there are the silent ones.  Those who do not share their thoughts.  Some are well educated yet do not offer any words that might aid.  We might observe them and wonder if in their minds, they feel grateful that they do not face similar difficulties, though they know precisely what course would best handle that situation.  That would express a different kind of arrogance.

But is that fair – for us to assume another’s thoughts?  Is it fair to believe only one reason exists for any person’s actions?  I would think not.  The things that drive a person’s actions are as unique as the individual.  So what is the essence of wisdom…and who holds what is wise?  I for one do not have even the slightest understanding of that question, except perhaps to recognize that I do not know.  I recognize that each woman and man is complex – no single idea fits more than one.  That the things I feel or understand might be very different than the things or understanding of any other.  That though it is often difficult, I must not to measure others by the standards I set for myself.

I see myself little more than a fool -- muddling my way through my life – continually making new mistakes – but learning a few things in the process.  So I see the single most important part of this question hinges upon – love.  The word that has been watered down in our times.  But I know that GOD loves all – and that speaks volumes.  To care – first and foremost – about one or more to care about others, lifts us, and opens our hearts to understanding.  That through understanding perhaps knowledge can grow.  By understanding others better, then perhaps we will know when to speak and when to remain silent.  And perhaps that is the door that can lead us toward wisdom

 

(555 Words)