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. 

WHY DO YOU THINK THEY'RE CALLED "GREAT" LAKES? Part four, Lake Erie

Thanks to rabesphoto for this photo of a Frozen Lake Erie   

Throughout most of the 17th century the Iroquois tribes settled along Lakes Erie and Ontario prevented exploration of the the lower lakes. These fierce warriors meant torture and death to any Frenchmen who tried to pass through. Instead explorers used the rivers out of Lake Ontario and portaged into Lake Huron sending new explorations North to Lake Superior. It was not until 1669 that Louis Jolliet explored Lake Erie.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beaver_Wars#Great_Peace_of_Montreal

http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh/page-40-eng.asp

http://www.cmhg.gc.ca/cmh/page-39-eng.asp 

There are thirty one islands in Lake Erie from the island village of Put in Bay Ohio, known as a "party" island for young people, to the Canadian Pelee Island where there is a "fragile and unique ecosystem" with plants rarely found in Canada, and two endangered snakes, to Kelley's Island which offers beaches and hiking and biking and glacial grooves left in the limestone. There are also reports of a Lake Erie Monster seen in its waters. :)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lake_erie

At an average depth of only 62 feet, winds over Lake Erie quickly kick up strong waves and storm surges, leaving the Lake's floor littered with shipwrecks, that are perfectly preserved in the salt free, cold water.

 Thanks to Mtbangert for this photo of West Pierhead Lighthouse, Cleveland OH  

Thanks to Nicholas_T for this photo of Lake Erie bluffs, David M. Roderick Wildlife Reserve, Erie County PA

Erie carries the waters of Superior, Michigan, and Huron eastward across three states, and 241 miles later all that water suddenly plunges 173 feet into Lake Ontario, at a place called Niagara Falls. The most powerful waterfalls in North America, Niagara shrouds itself in a perpetual mist and rainbows. Expect a bad hair day if you ever visit them. 

At number six on Travel and Leisure's list of the World's Most-Visited Tourist Attractions, Niagara Falls' annual 22.5 million visitors beats out the Grand Canyon, all the Disney World Parks and even the Eiffel Tower in Paris France for tourists. 

Niagara is a spectacular sight and even the photos below cannot do it justice, so check out this link to a video of the Maid of the Mist––boats that carry tourists to the foot of the Falls. 
Niagara Falls Maid of the Mist  Thanks fiftytwopence.

View of the American Falls at Niagara 

Photo by Pluma of Niagara Falls from the Canadian side––Horsehoe Falls   Vivian