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. 

GREAT LAKES MAKE WEATHER CHANNEL'S TROPICAL UPDATE?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sandy_Oct_28_2012_16.00(UTC).jpg

Hurricane Sandy 

Our thoughts are with the people on the East Coast who were hardest hit by this superstorm.

 Donations 

Never thought I'd see the day when the Great Lakes made the Weather Channel's Tropical Update and Hurricane Central, but Sandy was 900 miles wide. Her swath hit from New York and New Jersey all the way to Chicago and north to the Arctic Circle. Her fringes spawned 74 mph winds kicking  the Great Lakes into waves two stories high that called a halt to shipping for two days.  

11am Update on Post Tropical Cyclone Sandy

Below are some links to Hurricane Sandy's affect on the Great Lakes.  

Lake Michigan waves in Chicago 
Lake Michigan 32 Ft. waves 
Lake Michigan storm surge
Chicago lake front
Great Lakes shipping
Lake Huron shipping
Lake Huron waves Sarnia Ontario

WINDS KICK UP HUGE WAVES ON LAKE HURON

Port Sanilac - Oct 29, 2012 -- Don-Sharon Frisch 
Great slideshow at WNEM Mid Michigan TV
Superstorm Sandy makes its mark on Mid-Michigan 

We live in interesting times. :)

Vivian

WHY DO YOU THINK THEY'RE CALLED "GREAT" LAKES? Part Three, Lake Huron

Welcome to Michigan's "Sunrise Side"––The shores of Lake Huron. Much quieter and just a teensy bit nicer than the heavily traveled shores of Lake Michigan––Lake Huron is where you go for true relaxation. Walk its sandy beaches for miles, enjoy a bonfire on the beach, and it begins to feel as if you have its entire 3,827 miles of coastline to yourself.

The residents like it this way, so I'd appreciate you not telling anyone about this gem of a Great Lake, please. : )

The early French explorers called this body of water La Mer Douce or Fresh Water Sea, though it was called "Lac des Hurons" on their early maps. It is 183 miles from the Michigan shore to the Canadian side. Huron carries the waters of Superior and Michigan, from the Straits of Mackinac, 206 miles south, where it suddenly narrows into the St. Clair River at Port Huron Michigan (a great place for ship watching). From there it flows into beautiful Lake St. Clair, then into the Detroit River and on into Lake Erie.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_Huron

Lake Huron

I could mention where this is. But then everyone would know 

Under the Blue Water Bridge to Canada, ships enter the St. Clair River at Port Huron

Lake St. Clair boat traffic for Detroit's 300th Anniversary July 2001

Sharing the channel on Lake St. Clair

On into Lake Erie

Vivian : )