As a graduate of Recreation Administration, from San Diego State University, I have made recreation and travels my career and life’s passion. After graduation, I traveled solo for one year throughout the South Pacific, doing travel photography in a wide variety of settings. Upon my return, many of my photographs became the subjects of my newly created line of handcrafted photographic greeting cards, "Exquisite! By, Elaine", a business I have had since 1986. Check them out at: http://ExquisiteCards.fototime.com .
In 1983, I began teaming up with my mom, Goldie, teaching arts & crafts to cruise ship passengers, aboard Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean. In addition, I lectured on travel photography, as well as Australia and New Zealand history, aboard Princess Cruises.
In 2004, I formed a new teaching team with my recently retired husband, Bruce, who serves as my "humble assistant" until 2010 when the cruise lines shifted the arts and crafts program to mostly being taught by their own staff.
Currently, our favorite mode of travel is by river boat. Along the way, we enjoy poking around small European towns, meeting the people, seeking out interesting photo subjects, and always stopping at every chocolatier to make a purchase. Adding to my chocolate label and wrapper collection is a bonus! And, as a U.S. Masters swimmer, if I can find a pool to get in a swim with the locals, all the better!
Cheers!
Elaine-iaK
~ Believing in your dreams can be far more rewarding than living by your limitations~ -Karla Peterson
I shot a lot of photos in Chicago! What you saw in my last post was just a fraction! Chicago is such a photogenic city, and shooting digital (rather than film, like I did in the good ol’ days), allowed me to photograph freely and delete rejects later. Yes, I deleted a lot of pictures in my editing; however, there were many more that I kept. Culling them down for my blog was difficult, but I thoroughly enjoyed the process!
Editing my photos and writing my blog posts has allowed me to savor the memories of our vacation for longer than I would have otherwise. Sure, I’m back in my home office in Georgia, but as I edited, wrote, and read my drafts to Bruce; my mind traveled through the cruise ports and Chicago all over again. Here it is, nearly one-month post-travels, and I have spent the past four weeks “traveling.”
To conclude, I will leave you with views of the Chicago skyline from above, along, and on the Chicago River. If you would like to see larger versions of these photos, click on them for a full-screen view.
Marina City, better known as the “Corn Cob” has parking on the lover levels and a marina on the river (see below).
“Be careful in Chicago; there is so much crime!” “Don’t go out at night in Chicago, even in the tourist areas!” These were the warnings I received from a couple of acquaintances who used to live in Chicago. I had heard it all before. Chicago’s crime was all over the news, and it had gotten much worse since I visited the city with my best friend, in 2012. Those warnings, however, weren’t going to stop me and Bruce from seeing U.S.A.’s third largest city together, and this was the perfect opportunity—at the end of our cruise, before flying home.
During our three days in downtown, we took the necessary common-sense precautions, walked all over downtown, and thoroughly enjoyed it!
For a good overview to begin our stay, we used our on-board credit and took a city tour that was offered through American Queen Voyages, the company we had cruised the Great Lakes with during the previous two weeks. On our final day, we did an architecture river cruise to learn about the skyscrapers that lined the Chicago River. Both tours were excellent!
What most impressed us about Chicago was how clean and beautiful the downtown city center was everywhere we walked. The city is situated along Lake Michigan, and the city planners did a fabulous job lining the waterfront with attractive parks that offered great vantage points of the amazing skyline.
There is so much I could write about Chicago, but I will let my pictures tell the story instead. (To view them larger, click on the photos.) Here, then is Part 1:
That’s us at the bottom, center, looking up at the sculpture
It was fun watching the faces change on Crown Fountain, and then “spit” water every ten minutes. The kids loved it! What a great way to cool off during the hot, humid summers.
We stayed on the 14th floor at the Warwick Allerton Hotel, on North Michigan Avenue. This (right) was our (zoomed in) view of Michigan Avenue from our room, including this gorgeous bird! Yes, it was real! I was able to photograph it by sticking my camera out the window that opened up just enough to fit my hand and camera through. Our room was on a corner, so it required a bit of maneuvering and guess work to angle my camera, hold it steady, and snap these shots!
The largest Starbucks in the world was located a block away. People actually line up around the corner to get in! We don’t drink coffee, and we aren’t Starbucks fans, but we thought it was worth a look inside when we happened to walk by when there was no line.
The planters along Michigan Avenue and neighboring streets were fabulous! They added such a beautiful element to soften the appearance of all the steel and concrete of the city.
Some of the buildings featured interesting artwork on their exteriors:
Although we thoroughly enjoyed our vegetarian deep dish pizza at Lou Malnati’s during our pre-cruise Chicago visit, we decided to try Giordano’s stuffed vegetarian deep dish pizza for comparison (see below). Lou Malnati’s crust wins the contest; however, Giordano’s wins for everything else! We loved their sauce and stuffed pizza! Want to make your mouth water? Click on the pizza photo to see it larger!
Now, for dessert. Kind Snacks is on their “Frozen Summer Tour,” and we were lucky enough to see them– twice! First, we saw the truck at the park at the foot of Navy Pier, and they were handing out free samples of their DELICIOUS frozen bars. They were eager to give you as many as you wanted, so we went back for seconds. 😀 The next day, they were on Michigan Avenue near the Chicago River! They would have given us an entire box if we wanted! The sample lady was eager to empty their coolers and call it a day. We ended up tasting one each of three different flavors and made pigs of ourselves. Damn, those things are good!
A window display on Michigan Avenue, better known as the “Magnificent Mile.”
Next up: Cruising the Great Lakes #12: Captivating Chicago, Part 2
Our last port of what turned out to be a fabulous cruise was Muskegon, Michigan, located on the state’s west coast. The city’s population is only about 38,000; however, it is the most populous city along Michigan’s western shore.
What makes this city a popular vacation destination is its beautiful beaches, excellent fishing, sailing regattas, and scenic forests, along with interesting historic architecture, museums, theater, public art, and farmer’s market. There is a lot to offer in this small city!
Historically, Muskegon was a fur trading post and had a thriving lumber industry. At one point the city boasted more millionaires than any other town in America.
One of those millionaires was Charles H. Hackley, who came to Muskegon with only $7 to his name and died worth $12 million, in 1905. His fortune was made in lumber, and when the industry declined, he administered the Chamber of Commerce program that rebuilt Muskegon into a center of industry. The city ultimately became known for manufacturing all sorts of well-known name brand products.
Hackley was a great philanthropist, leaving behind gifts and endowments to the community totaling over $6 million, supporting parks, statuary, schools, churches, a hospital, and a beautiful public library.
Public Library with beautiful stained glass windows (below)
The philanthropist’s fortune also paid for a fabulous three-story wood frame Victorian house, which is now administered by the Muskegon County Museum. Built in the late 1880s, it features 15 stained glass windows, hand-stenciled walls and ceilings, hand-carved woodwork, and seven tiled fireplaces.
Next door is Thomas Hume’s house, which is also part of the museum. Hume was first Hackley’s bookkeeper, and then business partner, from 1881 until Hackley’s death. After Hackley died, Hume was instrumental in transforming Muskegon into a major manufacturing center.
Between the two homes, was “City Barn,” which was shared by the two families and reflects the features of each house. All three structures were designed by David S. Hopkins.
Charles H. Hackley House (left), Thomas Hume House (right), and their shared “City Barn” (middle) with architectural elements from both houses (Click on photo to see full size.)
Our included hop-on-hop-off tour of Muskegon included tours of both homes. Bruce and I have toured many historic and grand homes throughout our years of traveling, but I can definitely say this tour was one of our favorites. Glass and wood are my two favorite mediums, and the Hackley house was loaded with both. It took fifteen men two years to complete the hand-carved woodwork alone!
This bedroom was upstairs in the Hume House. The acoustics under the curved ceiling were amazing!
Hume House fireplace
Hume House kitchen
Although these two homes are the gems of Muskegon, the entire neighborhood was beautiful. One street over, we toured the Scolnik House that was built during the 1930’s depression era, and the Fire Barn Museum.
Check out those 1936 grocery prices!
Fire Barn Museum
Muskegon Heritage Museum was our final museum visit for the day. Inventions and products of over 80 local companies were represented, including one by a late friend of ours, Sherman Poppen, who died in 2019. Sherm and Louise lived in our Sun City community, and we first met them in 2009 when Bruce and I moved in.
In 1965, Sherm, known as the “Grandfather of Snowboarding,” invented the Snurfer, which later became known as the snowboard. He was inducted into the U.S. Ski-Snowboard Hall of Fame in 2019.
Our visit to Muskegon was on a Saturday, so Muskegon Farmers Market was in full swing. We walked through town to go have a look. On the way, there was a downtown street music festival in the process of getting set up for the weekend, so we took in the sights and smells of food trucks preparing their cuisine for the expected crowds.
It turned out to be a gorgeous day, so when we returned to the ship after browsing the farmers market, I decided to head out with my camera one last time for a stroll through the park where Ocean Navigator was docked. Watching the geese feed, a young bird venturing out on his own, and taking in views of the ship was such a relaxing and satisfying way to conclude our last full cruise day. In the morning, we would be disembarking for a three-night stay in Chicago.
Sturgeon Bay wasn’t on Ocean Navigator’s itinerary, but we happily ended up there anyway. Following our stop in Green Bay, we were supposed to have a full day cruising on the Great Lakes. The captain had passed through Sturgeon Bay during the previous cruise, though, and he was intrigued. A cruise ship had never stopped in this Door County, Wisconsin town, and the captain thought it would be an appealing place to spend a day.
In very short order, the captain notified the company we would be stopping in Sturgeon Bay, the authorities were notified; and, Diane, the shore excursion manager, put together an included hop-on-hop-off tour for the passengers.
Bruce and I were excited to return to Sturgeon Bay, because we had enjoyed our visit there during our 2017 Wisconsin road trip. We had stayed at the very memorable Holiday Music Motel, and the entire Door County experience was fantastic!
Arriving in Sturgeon Bay
As the ship arrived, Bruce and I watched from the deck. Boaters honked their horns, and people watched from the just-completed park where we docked. We were anxious to get an early start on our day, so we were the first ones off the ship as soon as we were cleared to disembark. Wow, what a fun experience! Locals came up and welcomed us; and, we were asked all about where we had been, where the ship was going next, and what it was like to cruise aboard the Ocean Navigator. What a blast!
This park was just completed.
In addition to being a friendly little city of less than 10,000, Sturgeon Bay, Door County, is a world-renowned shipbuilding hub where thousand-foot lakers (lake cargo ships) and small bass-fishing boats are built. It also has a vibrant music and arts scene, nice shops, and a variety of good restaurants.
We began our day by hopping on the bus for a ride out to Door Peninsula Winery. Neither of us were interested in getting off at the winery; we just wanted to enjoy seeing Door County again. It brought back great memories!
Door County Maritime Museum was where we hopped off—mainly so we could enjoy the views from the top deck. Located in the Jim Kress Maritime Lighthouse Tower, we had seen several people at the top watching Ocean Navigator’s arrival, and I wanted to see our ship from that vantage point as well. What an awesome view! We even spotted the Holiday Music Motel.
Door County Maritime MuseumSturgeon Bay Bridge (Michigan Street Bridge) is on the left, and the new bridge is on the right.Ocean Navigator is docked behind the new Oregon Street Bridge
On the way down from the viewing deck, we took the stairs rather than the elevator, so we could see the excellent exhibits located on several of the floors. It’s a work in progress, but they are doing a fantastic job repurposing the lighthouse tower.
Rather than ride the bus back to the ship, we opted to walk over the Michigan Street Bridge, aka Sturgeon Bay Bridge that dates back to 1931 and was dedicated as a Door County Veterans Memorial.
Thanks to musician Pat MacDonald, owner of the Holiday Music Motel, and other locals passionate about the iconic steel bridge, they formed the Citizens for Our Bridge preservation group to save the old bridge. (It was slated for demolition when it no longer met safety standards.) MacDonald created and hosted the Steel Bridge Songfest, which took place—and continues annually— at the hotel, to raise money for the bridge’s restoration. They were also able to get the bridge listed on the National Register of Historic Places as well as the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation, to save it from demolition.
The Holiday Music Motel is over the bridge and on the left with the red tiled roof and red awnings.
Meanwhile a larger four-lane sister bridge was built one block away, on Oregon Street, to meet federal safety standards and accommodate the heavy traffic loads caused by the bridge’s 3,000 openings annually. In 2011, the newly restored Michigan Street Bridge reopened, and the two bridges operate as one system to relieve traffic congestion.
During our walk across the bridge, we were stopped so the bridge could open and allow boat traffic through. It was a cool experience crossing that bridge and knowing that when a group of passionate people want something bad enough, they can make it happen. And, it was fun remembering back to our stay at the Holiday Music Motel, that it was the hotel owners that were most instrumental in saving their iconic bridge.
The Holiday Music Motel sponsored this sculpture of a Sturgeon Bay tart cherry. It is one of several cherry sculptures up for auction in the Cherries Jubilee.
This was the most interesting “cherry” of them all!What a great way to spruce up a gas station!We watched a glass blowing demonstration at Popelka Trenchard Glass
This sign was in front of a home across the street from the glass studio. WELL SAID.
After heading back to the ship, Bruce enjoyed the sculpture fountain as I walked back up the Michigan Street Bridge to take more pictures.
Laura, this is for you!
Our cruise out of Sturgeon Bay was through a narrow canal. This is the Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal Light, built in 1899.The Sturgeon Bay Ship Canal North Pierhead Light was built in 1882 and is located at the U.S. Coast Guard Station on Lake Michigan. Goodbye, Sturgeon Bay!
Bruce and I have such fun memories of our previous visit to Green Bay, when we toured Lambeau Field, home of the “Cheeseheads.” The Ocean Navigator was offering that as a premium tour; however, we opted to take the included narrated hop-on-hop-off for a new experience. We did convince a few of people from our ship to take that tour, though, and they loved it!
Green Bay, a city of 107,000 residents, gets its name because of the greenish color of the water. It is Wisconsin’s oldest settlement and was established as a fur-trading post. Paper production manufacturing was also established and it is now Green Bay’s largest employer. (Thankfully, by the early 1900’s, splinter-free toilet paper was invented. Whewww!) Ultimately, Green Bay also became a major shipping center.
For sports trivia enthusiasts, here are some Green Bay sports facts: It is the smallest city to host a National Football League (NFL) team, the Green Bay Packers, named for the meat packers where its founder, Curly Lambeau worked. He sold shares of stock to raise money for the team, and the Packers, a non-profit organization, are the only NFL team owned by its shareholders and fans today. Go Pack Go!
At a capacity of 82,000, Lambeau Field, the Packers stadium, is the 4th largest in the NFL. It is located in the middle of a residential area, so the homeowners closest to the stadium have become quite entrepreneurial. To raise money for their snowbird vacations (Green Bay gets 40 inches of snow a year.), they rent out their driveways and front lawn as parking spaces on gameday for $20-$40!
Our first tour stop was the fantastic National Railroad Museum. Their collection of trains was amazing! The Lake Superior & Ishpeming #24, constructed in 1910, is the oldest locomotive in the museum’s collection:
Here are a few of the other trains:
Milwaukee, aka “Brew City,” has an interesting history of beer-hauling trains. The earliest beer breweries in Milwaukee date back to the 1830s, with more than 300 operating across Wisconsin by the 1890s. All of that beer needed to be distributed somehow, so the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad banded together to become The Milwaukee Road. They brought in grain and other beer-making materials and hauled away the beer. What a great business collaborative!
Unfortunately, by the mid-1980s, many of Milwaukee’s industrial and manufacturing businesses had moved their production to Mexico or China. Today, less than a mile of the rail route remains.
MillerCoors, the one large brewer remaining in Milwaukee, still receives grain by the Milwaukee Road’s successor, Canadian Pacific Railway.
These are some of the U.S.A.’s other rail lines. One surprised me, “The Phoebe Snow.” I had only remembered the singer and had no idea there was a train of the same name. As it turns out, the singer was born Phoebe Ann Laub and changed her name after seeing Phoebe Snow, a fictional advertising character for a railroad, on trains that passed through her hometown in New Jersey.
The museum had a beautiful Pullman train with an excellent display detailing the history of the Pullman Porters and their fight for civil rights. Following the Civil War, George Pullman, owner of The Pullman Company, reinvented railroad travel with the introduction of his luxury Pullman Palace Car. He hired thousands of attendants, nearly all of whom were African -Americans. Porters served their mostly white patrons for years despite discrimination and difficult working conditions.
Philip Randolph established the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters to fight for their labor and civil rights. The Pullman Company responded with threats, firings, and intimidation. It took decades for the group to able to become a truly independent labor union, in 1937.
What a hungry beast! It took 28 tons of coal to fuel the locomotive while pulling a 3,600-ton train between Ogden and Echo, Utah, a distance of 55 mountainous miles. Yikes!
Big Boy also runs hot and stinky. Its huge cab normally reached around 90 degrees Fahrenheit; however, in tunnels, the heat could build up to as much as 180 degrees! Even in the Wyoming winters, engine crews would run with the roof vent and windows open. The cab got very smoky as well, sometimes becoming so dark that the crews had to grope for the controls. I wonder what the lung cancer rate was among Big Boy’s crews…
Next stop on the hop-on-hop-off tour was The Automobile Gallery. They had a wonderful collection of cool cars, including this Delorean we were invited to hop into for a photo:
We wanted to see what the downtown area was like, since we missed it during our 2017 visit to Green Bay. A nice surprise greeted us as we walked through the Broadway District: Murals, and lots of ‘em! I love murals, and I photograph them wherever I go. The district sponsors the Mural and Busker Festival with prizes going to the mural winners, so it has been a great way to beautify the Broadway District’s businesses and bring in tourists.
All that walking made us thirsty, so we stopped in for a beer at Titletown Brewing Co., one of Green Bay’s brew pubs.
The Nevill Public Museum was another tour stop, but it was so close to the ship that we saved it for the end of what turned out to be a very full and enjoyable day!
The view of Sault Ste. Marie port from our cabin windowThis massive red brick building houses a hydroelectric plant that supplies 20% of the city’s power. I shot this photo from the top deck of the Ocean Navigator before heading out.
Following our visit to Thunder Bay, Ontario, we returned to the American side of the Great Lakes, requiring a mandatory bus ride to the border for processing. Police officers had a close watch over everybody exiting the ship to ensure we boarded the bus, because we had foreign crew working on our ship.
I had anticipated long border-crossing lines and a wasted morning; however, when we arrived at the station, our bus load of cruise passengers were the only tourists to be processed. There were several staffed windows with smiling faces to greet us, so we showed our passports and zipped right on through. Based on my experience (and what I witnessed at other windows), they were the nicest and friendliest bunch of border patrol officers I had ever seen!
A border station poster. Love that mask!
Before we knew it, we were back at the ship and ready to embark on our included narrated hop-on-hop-off bus tour of Sault Ste. Marie, a small city of 13,000 people. The name is French, so “Sault” is pronounced like “Sue.” Just across the bridge over the St. Marys River is another city named Sault Ste. Marie, so it can get a little confusing. The difference? The other one is in Ontario, Canada, and it has a population of about 72,000 residents.
The bridge in the background connects the two Sault Ste Marie’s
The American Sault Ste. Marie is the oldest city in Michigan, and among the oldest cities in the United States. It was first settled by Native Americans for the abundance of fish and fur found in and along the river that linked the Great Lakes of Huron and Superior. Later, French fur traders settled in the area.
It is very easy to find this city if you are heading there on a road trip from where I live in Georgia. No GPS is needed! Just hop on I-75 (our closest freeway), and head north. If you stay on I-75 until it ends, you will eventually arrive in Sault Ste. Marie.
Just don’t plan on spending the winter there unless you love snow, because they get an average of 180 inches a year! Stay healthy, too, because their small hospital is the only one within 200 miles, and they may not have the resources you need.
Besides the hospital, Sault Ste. Marie has another extremely important asset: The Soo Locks. The locks enable shipping traffic in the Great Lakes to bypass the St. Marys River. The locals claim it to be the busiest canal in the world in terms of tonnage passing through it. We checked out the viewing platform and stopped in at the Soo Locks Visitor Center to see the excellent exhibits explaining how the locks work.
According to our tour guide, experts predicted that if the Soo Locks ever broke down, the U.S. would plunge into a recession within five days, due to the importance of the cargo (such as iron and grain) that is transported through the locks. Those experts make a strong case for the role the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers play in keeping our economy humming!
The small downtown was just across the street from the locks, so we had a look around:
Colorful crosswalks
Following our tour and walk around town, we returned to tour the Valley Camp, which in its previous life was a “Laker,” a cargo ship that worked the Great Lakes. It now serves as a fabulous museum with exhibits located throughout the huge ship.
This view of the Valley Camp is from the deck railing of the Ocean Navigator. We were that close!
While touring the museum, we learned about the James R. Barker, a 1,000 foot-long Laker with a carrying capacity of 61,650 tons. Back in 1976, it was the longest vessel on the Great Lakes. You can see in the picture below how it compares in size to the Valley Camp, which I thought was massive!
Bruce and I concluded our self-guided tour by going up on deck to see the bridge, officer cabins, galley, and dining room, in addition to the cargo area. Just as we arrived, we saw the James Barker cruise on by!
The James R. BarkerThe view from the bridge of the Valley Camp
Our day ended beautifully with this colorful sunset.
Bruce and I had $300 of onboard credit with American Queen Voyages to use during our cruise aboard the Ocean Navigator, so we chose to use it for a couple of premium tours, including one in Thunder Bay.
Situated on Lake Superior, Thunder Bay is on the Canadian side of the border, in Ontario. The French were the first Europeans to settle in Thunder Bay as a fur trading post along the Kaministiquia River. Mining and forestry were the next industries to develop, and now Thunder Bay is best known for medical research and education.
This city of about 109,000 residents is quite isolated. Forget about taking a flight in or out of Thunder Bay; you’ll have to go to Toronto for that. I just looked it up on Google Maps, and the quickest route will take you over 14 hours to get there by car. As a matter of fact, the closest city to Thunder Bay is an 8-hour drive away!
Thunder Bay has managed to develop a fantastic culture and arts scene, though, so there is plenty to do for the residents. Declared the “Cultural Capital of Canada” in 2003, Thunder Bay has a variety of cultural and community centers for the Finnish, Scandinavian, Italians, Polish, and many more.
Arts are also well-represented by Thunder Bay Symphony Orchestra (which is the only professional orchestra between Winnipeg and Toronto), a professional theatre, a variety of music and arts festivals, museums, and art galleries. There is also Thunder Pride, an LGBTQ pride parade that has been held annually since 2010.
Numerous sports and recreation facilities, city parks, and community centers also keep the locals busy and engaged. It’s impressive how much this isolated city has to offer!
One of the area’s natural highlights is Kakabeka Falls, the second highest waterfall in Canada at 130 feet. We chose to take the tour that visited these falls, and it was well worth it.
We walked across the bridge (see previous photo) to see the view from the other side. This is the view from the middle of the bridge.
We also visited Fort William Historical Park, one of the largest living history sites in North America. Although this is a replica, they do a great job depicting the original inland headquarters for the North West Company, the world’s largest fur trading enterprise. Our costumed tour guide, a university history student, taught us about what life was like at the fort in the 1800’s. We were split into small groups, and ours visited the Canoe Shed, Fur Stores, Apothecary, Kitchen & Bakery, and the garden. I managed to slip away for a few minutes and pop in to see a few others on my own.
Fort William Historical Park Visitors CenterBeautiful stained glass and wood carvings
These massive canoes were used to transport furs from Thunder Bay to Montreal.
Seeing these real furs turned my stomach!
We got taste these fresh baked breads right out of the oven.
To conclude our tour, we returned to the city to take in the view of Lake Superior.
It’s funny how the mind works. After choosing “Delightful Duluth” for my title, I remembered a blog I had written about our previous visit to Duluth in 2017. It was such a beautiful day last time we were there, so I wanted to include a link to those photos. After including the link (see above in blue font), I noticed on my site I had used the same adjective to describe Duluth—“Delightful!”
Although this was one of our only gloomy days during our entire 16-day trip, this visit to Duluth was delightful. We were fortunate to have just missed the rain that fell before we arrived.
Like a few of the other ports we visited while aboard Ocean Navigator, Duluth is located on Lake Superior in Minnesota’s Arrowhead Region. Tourism is the main industry, and the population swells from less than 90,000 residents to anywhere from 500,000 to 1 million in the summer. I would imagine it must feel like a ghost town in the winter when the average temperature is -2 degrees, the snowfall is typically 80” and the snowbirds flee along with the tourists. The lake rarely freezes over; however, the water temperature averages 39 degrees. I’ll give a big miss to swimming in those waters!
We heard an interesting statistic about Lake Superior to add to the facts we had learned so far about this Great Lake: There is enough water in Superior to cover North and South America with one foot of water! It’s also touted to be the cleanest and purest lake in the world with an average visibility of 27 feet. What a nice environment for the 78 species of fish that live in it!
It sure can be a wicked lake though. The largest wave ever recorded on the lake reached 31 feet! That explains why there have been so many ship wrecks, including the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which sunk on November 10, 1975. For those of us who have been around awhile, we immediately think of the beautiful songGordon Lightfoot wrote about the 29 crew members who lost their lives that day.
Throughout our cruise we learned a lot about the Edmund Fitzgerald in the various maritime museums we visited, including the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center. We also had an “aha” moment after we learned that lake freighters that stay on the lakes are called “Lakers.” Now I know how my favorite childhood sports team got its name! Prior to becoming the Los Angeles Lakers, they were the Minneapolis Lakers, and the name was inspired by Minnesota’s nickname, “Land of 10,000 Lakes.”
Following our visit to the center, we walked all around the area before returning to the bus for the remainder of our included tour. These shots were captured along the way:
The Aerial Lift Bridge is a Duluth landmark dating back to 1905. It was first constructed as the United States’ first transporter bridge, and then it was converted to a vertical lift bridge in 1929-1930.
This is a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that connects Canal Park to the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center
What a clever idea for a lakefront takeaway restaurant! It is situated at the end of a parking lot and along Duluth Lakewalk.This restaurant, located next to the Lake Superior Maritime Visitor Center and Aerial Lift Bridge is also a clever idea. They converted a cargo container into a takeaway restaurant. Then, there was this. Hmmm. It is located just behind the takeaway and is a dine-in restaurant. At least they have a sense of humor!
Located on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, Houghton lies along Portage Lake and the Keweenaw Waterway. Native Americans mined copper here thousands of years before European settlement. The later discovery of copper lodes between 1855 and 1870 resulted in an economic boom that lasted until after World War I. Many Cornish and Finnish immigrants arrived in the area to work in the copper mines, and Houghton today has the largest concentration of Finnish/Americans in the country.
The last copper mines closed in the late 1960’s, and Houghton is currently a distribution center for wood materials, and for dairy and poultry farming.
Houghton is small; just 8,000 residents. They must be hearty souls, because winters in Houghton are frigid. Some years have seen snow during every month! In 1978-79, the area logged in 406 inches, and it snowed for over 50 days straight.
American Queen Voyages organizes an included tour for every port, and the highlight of the tour in Houghton was visiting the A.E. Seaman Mineral Museum of Michigan Tech, which features specimens of copper and over 100 other metals and crystals. Neither of us have ever given more than a passing interest to geology; however, we were in awe of the natural beauty we saw in that museum! The vibrant rainbow of colors of many of the specimens were dazzling.
Outside the museum was a lovely garden and the most amazing specimen of all; a 19-ton tabular mass of native copper which was recovered from Lake Superior. It was discovered in 1991 by SCUBA divers at a depth of 30 feet.
Before the tour returned to the ship, we visited the Carnegie Museum of the Keweenaw. After a quick look around, Bruce and I opted to leave the tour and stroll the streets of downtown before walking back to the ship.
We got a good laugh out of our reflection in this curved window. How about those toothpick legs?! I just love the styling of that pick-up truck behind us!
We were impressed with the attractive park along the lake— a wonderful place to relax, have a picnic, enjoy the flowers, and take in the views of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge. Connecting Houghton to Hancock, the bridge is the world’s heaviest and widest double-decked vertical-lift bridge. In the winter, the lower level is used for snow mobiles as a safer way to cross over the lake rather than on the frozen (or not so frozen, as the case may be) lake. More than one snowmobile has ended up breaking through the ice, due to its driver’s lack of better judgment!
Viewing the sail-away from the top deck was spectacular. It was a gorgeous day, and we had a perfect perch from which to enjoy the beautiful scenery as we cruised on to Duluth, Minnesota.
In between our visits to Mackinac Island and Marquette (and on the day before Mackinac), we had two days cruising. Normally, ships refer to this as being “at sea,” but since we were on the Great Lakes, Bruce and I joked about being “at lake.”
Before arriving in Marquette, we cruised what is reputed to be one of the most turbulent bodies of water in the world—Lake Superior. As I mentioned in my first post, we were very fortunate to have such calm waters!
This is how calm it was while we were cruising!
The Great Lakes (Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario) are the largest group of freshwater lakes by total area and are second largest by total volume, containing 21% of the world’s fresh water by volume. Bordering both Canada and U.S.A., they connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River, making them a major source for transportation, migration, trade, and fishing.
A note to all my swimmer friends who might be thinking the Great Lakes would be a great vacation spot for open water swimming: Bring your wetsuit! Lake Superior averages 40-42 degrees, topping out at 62+/- degrees in the summer! It’s a very deep lake, too, reaching a depth of 1,332 feet.
Marquette (population 20,629), located on the southern shores of Lake Superior in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, was most memorable for two reasons: An interesting water feature (for lack of a better word!), and a beautiful lakeside park and beach.
Upon our morning arrival, before heading up to the River Grill for breakfast, I had stepped out on deck to snap a few photos. This was the first thing I saw:
What the heck is THAT thing? I hadn’t a clue, but I knew I would find out during our included tour.
Having done no prior research on Marquette before our cruise (very uncharacteristic of me!), I hadn’t realized the port was known primarily for shipping iron ore. The first mining took place in the mid-1800’s, and by the 1850’s, Marquette was linked by rail to several mines. Docks were built to transfer the iron ore from rail cars to the freighters below for transport to other cities to be made into steel:
This photo was at the Marquette Regional History Center
Over time, the railroad companies merged and bigger docks were needed. Those docks were located in the upper harbor, and the Marquette Lower Harbor Ore Dock 3 B W, built in 1931-1932, was dismantled in 1971. Ever since, the dock has been a source of great interest and inspiration for the community.
A working iron ore dock at the upper harbor
Our included tour took us along Presque Isle State Park, which was a gorgeous 323-acre park featuring sandstone cliffs with outlooks to take in the views as well as beautiful beaches below. I was impressed by the natural beauty as well as how nicely it was designed for locals and tourists to enjoy for walking, hiking, cycling, picnics, and beach-going.
We also visited the campus of North Michigan University, passing the Superior Dome stadium along the way. The campus has an excellent art museum, and I found a few pieces that piqued my interest:
This was a painting! The subject matter– collections of a world traveler and letter write– reminded me of me.
The Maritime Museum was located in the old City Waterworks building. I loved the color of the local sandstone bricks!
The Maritime Museum had a wonderful collection of lighthouse Fresnel lenses, including this beautifully restored lens from one of the lighthouses that had been destroyed by a fire.
This view was from the lighthouse. North Michigan University’s Superior Dome is off in the distance.
Following our tour, we enjoyed strolling through downtown, which was quite attractive with its hanging baskets of flowers, historic buildings, and gift shops.
Elaine-iaK's Travels: A Traveler's Tales of People, Places, Photos, Pools... and CHOCOLATE! 