Friday, June 7, 2013

Day 19 - Marquette & Mackinaw City


A re-visit before we leave Marquette. This is the house of Marge Sklar who kindly invited us for a social dance last night. We believe that this house was built in 1912 and was a "speakeasy" establishment during those days of prohibition


The first of three Great Lakes seen today - Lake Superior from Michigan


Lake Superior from Munising, Michigan. Canada is way beyond the horizon that the great waterway separates both countries


Going through the village of Christmas in Northern Michigan - thrives on a casino and naturally, yuletide business 


Our second Great Lake visit - Lake Michigan, near Manistique, Michigan


Lake Michigan near Manistique, Michigan


It's worth $4 USD to cross this largest single span bridge in the world - Mackinaw Bridge, Northern Michigan. The bridge is located on the strait that connects Lake Michigan and Lake Huron


A great experience crossing over the Mackinaw Bridge


A telescopic view looking directly to the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island - This island and the Grand Hotel was used extensively in the film "Somewhere In Time" starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeves


Mackinac City lighthouse, Michigan


The world's longest single span bridge - Mackinaw Bridge, Michigan - Lake Michigan to the left and Lake Huron to the right


A closer view of Mackinaw Bridge


This ain't a granny flat but a picture perfect mansion in Mackinaw City. The view from the back overlooks the Mackinaw Bridge and Mackinaw Island


We'll be on the boat tomorrow - the Shepler's Ferry from Mackinaw City to Mackinac Island. Also a view of Lake Huron our third Great Lake seen today


A monument to Chief Wawatam. Mackinaw City, Michigan


The ferry terminal at Mackinaw City, Michigan


Almost all city's and towns in the US have these bulbous structures - including Mackinaw City


A black tulip - in a Mackinaw City Park - for those who have unforgiving green-fingers


We are amazed at the world's best burgers advertisement - who says?? In Mackinaw City, Michigan

We saw three Great Lakes today - Lakes, Superior, Michigan and Huron. These great features on the earth are fresh water lakes that actually separate Canada and the US. We did stop at Lake Superior and yes the lake is fresh water - nobody could ever die of thirst around here. As we travelled along the southern aspects of Lake Superior we passed through a town of Christmas. A beautiful name for a village. Rightly we would have hoped this place to be some congenial little hollow focusing of that festive season - nope - there was a casino and a many souvenir shops. The weather was absolutely fantastic. Blue skies, the temperature was perfect and just great for the drive to Mackinaw City. As you can see in all the photos above blue is the predominate colour instead of the grey mass we have been experiencing. Approaching the town of St Ignace we paid the toll for the ride over the world's longest single span bridge and boy what a great experience. It was long and views of both Lake Michigan and Huron were evident. Even Mackinac Island was clearly recognisable. We arrived at our hotel at 2 pm and too early to check in so we left Ralph in the parking lot and walked around Mackinaw City. The trail passed under the Mackinaw Bridge and historical sites. The local houses were massive and grand. With the great weather the atmosphere was really invigorating - truly a memorable experience. After we checked in we made certain that Ralph had a full tank of petrol and tucked him in for a 36 hour break. Tomorrow we will go by ferry to Mackinac Island (pronounced Mack -in-naw) and stay the night on the island. Mackinac Island was made famous for the film "Somewhere in Time" starring the now deceased actor Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour. Many scenes of the Grand Hotel were used in the film. The Grand Hotel has the world's longest veranda. We have organised to have lunch in this hotel and also to take part in ballroom dancing which we heard has a huge dance floor. We are looking forward to that. To finish today's yarn we forget to mention back in the Rapid City restaurant when we had dinner - on the menu was "Rocky Mountain Oysters". Luckily Neil knew what they were and quickly rejected any offer by the waitress. These oysters are a delicacy in those parts - check out on the internet if any readers are curious of what they are? There may be no WiFi access on the island tomorrow, however we are back at Mackinaw City the following day, therefore the blogspot will be updated a day late if we have difficulty on the island. Cheers.

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