Letter 13 Upper Michigan, Sault Ste Marie

Monday, June 28 we moved via the Tunnel of Trees, seeing pretty homes on one side and views of Lake Michigan on the other and a 20 mile, narrow, winding road without a center stripe. At the end of this road and still in the boonies of northern Michigan we found the famous Legs Inn named for the stove legs that trim the roofline. This is one of Michigan’s most exuberant and unusual landmarks. The building reflects Stanley Smolak’s creativity and craftsmanship of local Ottawa Indians. A Polish immigrant Smolak came to the US in 1912 and settled in Cross Village in 1921. He and the Indians built the inn from locally gathered timber and stones. A self-trained artist he used tree roots, limbs and driftwood to carve fantastical creatures into the furniture and decorative objects used in the inn. Several doors were decorated with slices of trees. We thought of all the oak logs Alan has in Rockport. The creator called the carvings “Nature’s oddities.”After reading the Polish menu we decided we just had to come back and have lunch.

In Mackinaw City we learned that Mackinac, Mackinaw City, and Mackinac Island are all pronounced Mackinaw. The natives were the original people of the area now named Mackinaw City, Mackinac Island, St Ignace and the Straits of Mackinac. The French replaced the soft “sh” with the “ch.” The ending was heard & pronounced as “aw” by the French, but their spelling was “ac.” When the British arrived, they heard the term as “aw”, thus leading to the future spellings.

Tuesday, June 29 we explored the attractions of Mackinaw City. Our first stop was the Historic Mill Creek, where we watched boards being sawn by the old water powered method.

Fred & Olivia then braved the adventure tour and walked across a forest canopy bridge to a Eagle’s Flight Zip Line. Olivia was slightly afraid Fred would back out so she asked him to go before her so she could watch him. He flew like a Eagle, so she followed suit, with a “WHEEEE!”

The rest of our time was spent playing with thewater display of how it moves things and makes motors work.

We also walked to a naturalist stop and learned about the different stages of a forest.

We were so thankful for the beautiful blue skies as they make the world more attractive and our pictures more interesting.

Our next stop was the Old Mackinac Point lighthouse, built in 1889. It is just beside the Mackinac Bridge.
From there we went to the retired US Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw, the largest icebreaker in the Great Lakes. We toured the ship enjoying learning how an ice breaker works. Basically, the front prop moves a small amount of water from under the ice. Before more water can flow into the void, the ship moves into the ice with the void underneath. The weight of the ship is enough to break the ice. The broken ice is caught in the prop flow and is directed to the side and to the rear of the ship. This is a continuous process.

We thought of Bill Wick and his lost propeller and wondered if this one would help?

This town is just full of interesting things to do and is full of tourist traps including about 15 fudge shops. We had been told JoAnn’s was the best so we shared a slice with the Jones. It was good.

The Jones had brought crappie from home and we feasted with them for supper. Yum!

Wednesday, June 30 we had a grand adventure and took the ferry to Mackinac Island. The weather was beautiful with the high of 65 degrees, no clouds, but it was windy. Olivia and Sandy were afraid of being sea sick, but it was a short trip and we took the

largest ferry, so they made it ok. As we entered the harbor we passed a

unique lighthouse.

Shortly after arriving we took a

carriage ride around the island, visiting Arch Rock and being invited into the fort

by a soldier. After the ride we walked a short piece down into town where we saw the Jesuit priest’s missionarybark chapel, next to a few other original buildings for the island. This was adjacent to a large park where many were enjoying the sun and their lunch on the grassy slope

Back in town, Sandy & Olivia went into every t-shirt shop hunting for crew neck sweatshirts. After finding one they found several others for better prices, but oh well. We walked the streets to the aroma of fudge and horses. We couldn’t help showing how many bicycles are on the island. Of course there are no cars, so horse power or human power is how to get around. There were several large bike rentals and lots of people brought their own over on the ferry.
We walked up the hill, seeing many morebuggies and carriages, to the Grand Hotel, noticing two signs as we went. One aboutproper dress and the other telling us it would cost us $10 each just to walk into the lobby. TheGrand Hotel was built in 1887 by the railroads to encourage the use of the trains for travel. It’s magnificent colonial porch, longest in the world, is a classic example of gracious living seldom seen today. It is an outstanding landmark on the Great Lakes and is the world’s largest summer hotel.

Many people stay over on the island and we thought about it and priced the hotel, $600 a night. Call us cheap or economical, we took our picture and walked back down to the ferry, then home to our own bed and potty.

Thursday, July 1, we left the lower peninsula of Michigan via the Mackinac Bridge. It was three miles long and only one lane open. It was a grated surface and was not comfortable driving.

As we leave Lake Michigan, we had a few thoughts. As you would expect, shore property is coveted. Seldom did we see an available stretch of shoreline without a house, even in remote areas we saw houses along the shoreline. Lake Michigan is huge and it isn’t even the largest of the great lakes. It is a real jewel and something special to see.

Arriving in Sault Ste Marie we found the only two campsites available in town. They were not the easiest to get into and no extra breathing room, but we had a spot. This was the 4th of July weekend and we should have made reservations, but we never know when/where we will want to be so this time we suffered the consequence. “You win some and you lose some.”

After parking, we ventured out to the chamber visitor’s center and the Soo Locks visitor’s center operated by the corps. We found these are very important locks to the US and are among the world’s busiest locks. They have been operating since 1855 when copper and iron ore were discovered in the western Upper Peninsula. Because of the rapids, all goods had to be removed from the boats and portaged around the rapids. In 1852, the federal government gave Michigan 750,000 acres of land to finance the building of the canal. When boats got larger, bigger locks were built. The newest lock opened in 1968. It is 1,200 feet long, 110 feet wide and 50 feet deep. Plans are in the works to remake two of the locks into an even larger one.
The tower of history was next on the agenda and we took the elevator to the top to view the Soo Locks and the International Bridge to the left and one of the world’s longest
hydroelectric plants, (Edison) built between1892-1902. It remains to be the longest horizontal shaft hydroelectric plant in the world. It has Lake Superior as its millpond, and the structure is a dam, powerhouse, and factory all rolled into one. The structure is large, over one quarter of a mile long. The exterior is built of the rugged red sandstone taken from the excavating for the power canal. Built in the then popular Romanesque style architecture, the powerhouse generated the electricity for the Sault.

We waited up until the sun went down, then walked to the river and joined other campers for the July 1 Canada Day fireworks from across the river. The sunset was beautiful and thefolks in front of us created an interesting silhouette. The fireworks was beautiful and Olivia was able to obtain a few good pictures.

Friday, July 2, we boarded a Soo Lock Boat for a tour of the St Mary’s River and the Soo Locks. We cruised along the river seeing small boats with fishermen tied to the outflow of the Edison Sault power plant. This is a peak time to catch Whitefish, so popular in these waters. And the water really is that color of turquoise.

We toured into Canadian waters and saw the highlights of Sault Ste Marie, Ontario. Their new civic center controls their skyline as well as afountain in the water.

Then the wait began as we watched theSam Loud squeeze into the MacArthur lock. There are four locks in two canals on the US side and a couple of smaller locks on the Canadian side. We had to wait our turn so we cruised the river for a while.

When our turn came another Soo Lock tour boat joined us in “locking through.” There is a 21 foot drop in elevation of the St Marys River between Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan and Huron. There have been locks here since 1855 and as the need has risen more locks have been added. The area around Lake Superior is rich in Iron and Copper and these locks help to transport these and coal, grain or stone to the rest of the world. More than 11,000 vessels, carrying up to 90 million tons of cargo pass through these locks every year. Since 1881 the Corps of Engineers have controlled these locks and it is toll free to any vessel wishing to pass through the St Marys Falls Canal.

We rode past one of Canada’s large steel mills on the shore of Superior before returning to the Poe Lock for our return through the engineered passage. We could also see the

the International Bridge overhead and saw the line of cars waiting to go through customs on both sides. We know we will be doing this when we cross over.

This time we were paired with the other Soo Lock Tour boat and the McKee Sons. We were intrigued that the tug boat for the McKee Sons was enclosed in the ship.

Returning to our dock we could see our trailer park along the banks of the river. We are really packed into this space, but were lucky to get a spot on the very back side. We count our blessings for this parking place.

After the boat ride we followed a native camper’s recommendation and ate at “The Antlers” restaurant. We had been told to at least go in for a look, but the food was good too. As the menu stated, "this restaurant is in a state of suspended animation. That is, there is a prodigious amount of junk hanging from unseen wires above the occupant’s heads, like so many swords of Damocles, a veritable cloud of rifles, pawn-brokers signs, moose and a birch bark canoe just swaying up there, denying gravity and the laws of physics.

It was first know as the “Bucket of Blood Saloon and Ice Cream Parlor,” during the prohibition days, so it had to have a front until the internal revenue discovered it sold only one quart of ice cream a month, yet took in a profit of $900. Then it became the first lemonade stand in history which refused to serve minors. They obtained most of their “junk” by barter, exchanging money for material goods, operating one of the few “bar” gaming economies in the world.

But there is an intellectual side to life in the Antlers. It is the country club of the working class. Small, very small fortunes are won and lost in spirited games of daytime cribbage. Night time activities center on good food and drinks. In 1959 one of the tables and several episodes of Gunsmoke were filmed in front of the famous log bar. Today the Antlers gives lessons in boat whistles, whistles and horns of all kinds."

We sat under a Canadian goose, and antlers of several beasts. Behind the Jones was a beautiful family of Lions.

Friday night was all you could eat fried Whitefish and it was delicious. None of us had eaten Whitefish before and surprisingly the texture was more like chicken, but a different flavor. Very good and not fishy tasting.

Saturday, July 3, we started the day with an email that Olivia’s mother, Muddie, had fallen and was taken to the hospital ER in Waxahachie. Many phone calls later revealed no broken bones and a small cut on her forehead. The whole time Olivia was thinking, “Where do we leave the trailer? Where do we catch a flight?” Fortunately Muddie was OK. Our daughters handled everything beautifully.

At noon we walked down to the river front of the campground and watched the largest of the Great Lakes ships at 1013 feet. It cannot leave the Great Lakes as it is too long to go passed the Niagara locks.

The big event for today were tug boat races. There were
three races according to size. It was not very exciting but our conversation with a New Zeeland man was interesting. He told us his wife was at the Indian PowWow and that sounded interesting so we headed that way. Fred found out about a Texas Holdem’ tournament on Sunday then we found the Sault Tribe of the Chippewa Indians sponsoring the Pow Wow and contests. The Indians were infull regalia dancing around a center stage. They were having a dancing and drumming competition. Around the outside were vendorsselling all kinds of Indian wares as well as a
variety of food.

After supper we joined a guided stroll for a “Twilight Walking Tour” of history. The couple who performed were full of information and song for a free, for a donation, entertainment. We walked all over the Soo Locks park and even stopped at ananchor as one of the large ships came through the lock. The guide told us about the immigrants who helped build the locks, the first interactions between Native Americans and settlers, and colorful tales of the region’s ancestors.

Sunday, July 4, what a glorious day and place to spend the 4th of July. We started the day standing in line for the Tug Boat Race all you can eat
pancake breakfast served on a barge. It turned out to be a floating restaurant which had been serving breakfast for July 1 & 2 in Canada, now the 4th & 5th in the US. All proceeds were given to children in need.

After a very filling breakfast we worshiped at the Central United Methodist Church, which is an excellent example of Richardsonian Romanesque architecture. Built of the local red sandstone, taken from the nearby power canal. This is the same architecture as our Ellis County Courthouse built about the same time as this church.

After an afternoon of going back to the PowWow and Fred attempting to play Texas Holdem’, and picking the brains of some full timers who have been to Alaska twice, we went down town for their 8:00 pm parade. It started about 8:30 for us and we enjoyed watching the children anticipating all the candy they were going to receive, see their sacks, bags and buckets. And the

teenage boys couldn’t wait for their parade so they entertained the crowd for a while. The parade had several neat floats such as the
the Miss Mermaid, a tugboat,
the band and the prize winner in our eyes was the snow plow with a patriotic snowman. The structure with the snowman went through its exercises of sweeping the snow to everyone’s delight. They really know how to put on a fourth of July parade, except at the end when all the BIG trucks and firetrucks went past blowing their horns and sirens as loud as possible. We folded our chairs and went home. We noticed the children’s bags were full. This was as good as Halloween for them. The city had fireworks immediately after the parade, so the crowd moved to the river to watch. We went home to bed, as we had an early morning coming up. Suspense, until the next letter.

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Next letter: EUP, figure that one out! A surprise goes to the one with the correct answer.