MACKINAC VACATION PART III –– THE FORTY MILE POINT LIGHTHOUSE, A PLEASANT SURPRISE

Fifty Miles south of Mackinaw City is the Forty Mile Point Lighthouse

And so we left Mackinaw City. Tired and happy to be heading home after a great vacation and content that we'd seen and done everything we wanted to, we pronounced this vacation over, put our cameras away and settled into the drive down US 23. But about an hour south we spotted a sign for the Forty Mile Point Lighthouse and thought we'd stop, just to use the restrooms. 

What we found was a lovely park––So nice that we dug those cameras out of the suitcase. Vacation wasn't quite over, not yet.  

The Calcite

There was the pilot house from The Calcite a 1912 steamer, and a short walk down the beach were the remains of a shipwreck...but the lighthouse? Amazing.

There are hundreds of lighthouses on the Great Lakes but this one was beautifully restored from 1896. Furnished with antiques, it was a snapshot of life at the turn of the 20th century.

 

Parlor

Dining Room

Kitchen

Laundry Room 

 Stairs to the Lighthouse

The Fresnel Lens casts light twenty miles out.

 View of Lake Huron

Remains of the SS Joseph S. Fay. As it sank in the great storm of 1905, Lake Huron suddenly decided to cast this ship and the doomed crew ashore, saving their lives. 
Its story is on the lighthouse website 

Fortunately this was not the restroom

We spent over an hour at the Forty Mile Point Lighthouse talking to the docent (a very knowledgeable man), and taking pictures. This place was a pleasant surprise, and if you are ever in the Rogers City area, it's definitely worth a stop. 

Vivian  : )

PS: Bathrooms are nice too.