Upper Peninsula Stop 1 – St. Ignus, MI
The nearly five-mile long Mackinac Bridge over Mackinac Straits, known as “The Mighty Mac”, joins the Upper Peninsula to lower Michigan. It also marks the separation between Lake Michigan and Luke Huron. It turns out that Lake Superior is just 90 miles away by water, on the other side of the locks at Sault Saint Marie. For some reason, “Mackinac” is pronounced “Mackinaw” and “Sault” is pronounced “Soo”. That doesn’t look like French pronunciation to me. Perhaps it’s a hybrid of French and Indian.
Angie had reserved a campsite near the north end of the bridge on the water where we had a perfect view of the bridge to the southwest. The lake shore was quite shallow, but we walked out about 30 yards to throw Charlie’s toy for a good swim. The view of the bridge was amazing.
Our first full day was cloudy and rainy, so we took the opportunity to drive 90 miles to Whitefish Point on Lake Superior. This is the site of a historic lighthouse near the choke point of shipping lanes in and out of the locks at Sault Sainte Marie which connect Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Fog, shoals and large waves that build up as high as 30 feet when storms blow across the massive width of the lake combine to make the narrow passage extremely dangerous. There were many shipwrecks in this area, including the Edmund Fitzgerald. The site is home to a shipwreck historical society and museum today.
Having read about Big Fitz in “Gales of November” at the beginning of our trip, we were quite interested in that story and Great Lakes shipping history in general. It is an excellent book that goes into the back stories of many of the crew. It was poignant for us to watch a video about how they had raised the original bell off the wreck in 1995 and replaced it with a new one on which they inscribed the names of each of the 29 people who lost their lives on the shipwreck. There were no survivors.The bell recovery mission was led by Canada (the wreck is in Canadian waters), and Canada gifted the bell to the museum. In a memorial service after the recovery, family members rang the bell after their crewman’s name was read – one after another.
We stopped by the amber colored Tahquemenon Falls and grabbed a bite to eat before heading back to camp.
The next day we had reservations for a ferry to Mackinac Island. We were only a mile from town, so we were able to ride our bikes to the ferry. We chose a 9 am ferry that took us under the Mackinac Bridge before dropping us off on the Island. We learned that The “Mighty Mac” is the longest suspension bridge in North America. Since the 1880s there had been discussions about building a bridge. But every potential designer walked away saying that the geology was wrong, the depth was too great and the winds too strong. However, David B. Steinman, who had grown up in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge, conquered the challenge. He had designed bridges on five continents. He had predicted the vulnerability of the Tacoma Narrows bridge before it collapsed in 1940.
His design is very strong, capable of bearing up under 600 mph winds. To build the foundations for the bridge the largest peacetime maritime fleet ever assembled. The bridge opened in November 1957. There is one problem the designer never foresaw and has yet to be resolved. Every winter freezing rain coats the cables and towers in ice. Garage door-sized sheets of ice can fall 200 feet to the bridge deck. Click here to see the full story about the bridge.
Mackinac Island was amazing! There are no cars allowed on the island, so you see a lot of horse-drawn taxis, hotel shuttles and cargo wagons in addition to bicycles. Between the horses and the federalist architecture, the town seems like an anachronism from the 1880s, when the town enjoyed great renown as a luxury vacation spot.
The Island has special meaning for Angie because her great-times-five grandfather lost his leg here during the War of 1812 when America tried to recapture the fort above the town from the British who had taken it without a shot very early in the conflict. The fort and much of the island is a state park now. Interpreters dressed in period style – military and civilian – did a great job relating the story of the fort and the lives of the men stationed there. We saw rifle and canon demonstrations during our visit.
Then we mounted our bikes for an 8-mile ride around the perimeter of the Island. The water was so clear and shallow! The colors in the water were reminiscent of The Caribbean or the Panhandle of Florida. The weather was beautiful during our visit.
