Living Our Dream

Mackinac Island

Mackinaw City - Events of Monday, August 15, 2011

Our plan to wait until after the weekend to take the ferry over to Mackinac Island paid off because the weather on Monday was gorgeous - a high of 76º and not a cloud in the sky.

There are three different ferry lines that run to Mackinac Island - Arnold Transit, the Star Line, and Shepler's Ferry. Arnold and Star seem to be owned by the same company because they honor each other's tickets and share the same brochure. We chose Arnold Transit mostly because they have high-speed catamarans which they claim have the smoothest ride.

There are no motorized vehicles at all on Mackinac Island. You can either walk or take a horse-drawn carriage tour (they have off and on privileges so you can stop and see the sights), or you can ride a bike. You can either take your own bike, which costs an extra $8 round trip on the ferry, or you can rent one on the island for $28-$30 a half day for multi-speed bikes. We took our own bikes.

In summer, the ferries all run every half hour, so getting to Mackinac and back is fairly easy. In the spring and fall, they run a somewhat reduced schedule. We caught the 9:30 AM ferry.

On our way over, we passed a ferry from the Star Line on its way back to the mainland. Star uses hydro-jet ferries that are propelled by a jet of water just like a jet ski. The water jet kicks up a big rooster tail. As impressive as the rooster tail is, however, the Star Line ferries aren't any faster. In fact, on the way back, a hydro-jet left Mackinac ahead of us, and we caught and passed them within a few minutes.

Since Mackinac is an island, everything must be shipped in by boat. As we approached the harbor on the island, we saw a cargo ferry with two trailer trucks loaded with food for the hotels and restaurants. As we said, motor vehicles are not permitted on the island, so cargo is unloaded at the dock (the ferry carries its own fork lift for that purpose), then the cargo is loaded onto horse-drawn wagons for final delivery to the individual stores, hotels and restaurants.

The next photo shows the ferry dock. Notice all the rental bikes.

As the ferry eased up to the dock, we had a little time to admire the picturesque waterfront.

It didn't take long to get everyone off the ferry and to unload the bikes. Then we made our way from the dock to Main Street. Even before 10:00 AM, it was already pretty crowded with bicycles and pedestrians.

 

We stopped at the visitor center in town and picked up a travel guide with a map of the island. It is well worth the $1 they charge. It has lots of history, things to see, and suggested routes to help you get around. There are no ads, which is the reason the booklet isn't free.

On the hillside across from the visitor center is Fort Mackinac. We had already learned about some of the history of the area when we visited Colonial Michilimackinac a few days prior, so we decided to start with the fort to continue with that history.

To recap, Fort Michilimackinac was built in the early 1700s on the south shore of the Straits of Mackinac at the site of present-day Mackinaw City to protect trade in the region. The fort was taken over by the British in 1761 after the end of the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution, the British realized they could not properly defend Fort Michilimackinac, so they dismantled it and hauled it to Mackinac Island where they rebuilt it as Fort Mackinac with walls partially constructed of limestone.

Civilians who used to live inside Fort Michilimackinac were relocated outside Fort Mackinac. The new fort had much more of a military purpose. The three blockhouses around the perimeter of the fort have limestone walls that are three feet thick.

The United States took over Fort Mackinac after they won their independence from Britain, but the British didn't go very far when they left Mackinac. They went north only about 40 miles into Canada where they built another fort to help maintain their presence in North America.

It wasn't very long after the end of the Revolutionary War that America found itself at war with Britain again in the War of 1812. Under the cover of darkness, the British came back down from Canada and landed on the north shore of Mackinac Island, and they set up their cannons on high ground behind the fort. The Americans were so taken by surprise and so outnumbered they surrendered the fort without firing a shot.

The war with Britain was over in 1814, and the Treaty of Ghent that followed returned control of the fort and the surrounding area to the Unites States.

In the early 1800s, the fur trade around Mackinac flourished. When we visited Prairie du Chien back in July, we learned about Hercules Dousman, who was a fur trader from the American Fur Company on Mackinac Island. Click here to read about our visit to Prairie du Chien and about Hercules Dousman and the mansion built by his son, Louis.

From the visitor center, we headed up the hill to the fort. The hill is so steep we had to push our bikes most of the way. Partway up the hill, we saw the old American Fur Company store on the corner of a side street.

Once we got to the fort, we had a terrific view.

Following the War of 1812, the importance of Fort Mackinac decreased. As the frontier of the United States moved west, there was little need for the fort. When the Civil War broke out, the soldiers from Mackinac were sent farther south where the fighting was. The fort was left with one lone caretaker.

After the Civil War, Mackinac Island began to flourish as a tourist destination. The island was named the country's second national park in 1875, just three years after Yellowstone. The primary activity of the fort's garrison was to act as caretakers for the national park.

Today, the fort is primarily depicted as it was in the 1880s and early 1890s. The photo below shows the parade ground inside the fort with the barracks to the left.

The next photo shows a scene inside the barracks.

 

There are several officer's quarters in the fort, including one high on the hill that housed two families.

These quarters were very nicely furnished, so they must have been for the top brass.

The post hospital was built in 1828. The most common treatments were for broken bones, influenza, intestinal disorders and delivery of babies. Fort Mackinac was never involved in an active battle so there were never any battle injuries.

In 1895, the federal government removed the soldiers from the fort and transferred the fort and the national park to the state of Michigan. Michigan's created it's first state park to include the fort and about 80% of the island.

After visiting the fort, we went on to tour some of the other parts of the island. We'll tell you all about it in our next post.

Colonial Michilimackinac

Mackinaw City, MI - Events of Friday, August 12, 2011

The main reason we stopped in Mackinaw City was to visit Mackinac Island. However, when we arrived on Thursday, the weather forecast for Friday was calling for a chance of rain. We decided to wait to take the ferry over to Mackinac Island until the beginning of the following week in the hope of missing the weekend crowds and of having better weather.

In the meantime, when we got up on Friday, the chance of rain was gone from the forecast. Even though the sky was still somewhat cloudy and hazy, we decided to drive into Mackinaw City and check out the town and Colonial Michilimacinac (pronounced MISH-il-ah-MACK-in-aw).

While we're on the subject of pronunciation, if you remember from our last post, Mackinaw is the British spelling, and Mackinac is the French spelling. Regardless of the spelling, however, it is always pronounced Mackinaw.

As we drove through downtown Mackinaw City, we decided to park and have a look around. The downtown area is attractive, and the main street is filled with shops that sell the usual tourist items like T-shirts and souvenirs. However, we must say that in all the areas of the Michigan UP we have visited, the supply of sweatshirts far exceeds the t-shirts. What do you think THAT tells us?!

Fudge is also big in Mackinaw City. Fudge, which is almost synonymous with Mackinac Island, is also sold in the tourist shops on the mainland.

Although similar confections existed in Europe, the first written evidence of American-style fudge containing chocolate dates back to 1886. One story says it started with a batch of carmels that went awry. Following the Civil War, visitors from cities in the Great Lakes region began flocking to Mackinac Island; and by 1889, fudge had found its way to the island as a treat that could be sold to the tourists.

After a brief walk around a few of the shops downtown, we stopped at Old Point Mackinac Lighthouse. The lighthouse operated from 1890 to 1957 to guide ships through the treacherous Straits of Mackinac.

Almost anywhere around the water in Mackinaw City you can see the Mackinac Bridge, and the lighthouse was no exception. The view of the bridge from the area around the lighthouse is shown at the top of the post.

From the lighthouse, we headed a couple of blocks west to Colonial Michilimackinac. Michilimackinac is the name Native Americans gave to the area around the Straits of Mackinac meaning "place of departure." The French were the first Europeans in the area in the early 1600s. They established trading posts and missions on Mackinac Island and on the north shore of the Straits of Mackinac.

Later, the French built a fort they named Fort Michilimackinac on the south shore of the straits. The fort was taken over by the British in 1761 after the end of the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution, the British realized they couldn't properly defend Fort Michilimackinac, so they built a limestone fort over on Mackinac Island. Then they dismantled the buildings from Fort Michilimackinac and in 1780-81, hauled the pieces to the island by sled across the ice in winter and by boat in summer. The British burned what remained of Fort Michilimackinac so the Americans couldn't use it.

In 1857 when Mackinaw City was platted, the area around the old fort was designated a park. In the 1930s, there was a reconstruction of the fort palisade on the site. In 1959, the first professional archaeological digs began; and in 1960, an accurate reconstruction of the fort was started based on archaeological evidence. The palisade and about half the interior buildings have been completed. The fort is being rebuilt to the time the British occupied it in the 1770s.

The digs have continued every summer since 1959, and there was digging going on the day we were there. Archaeological teams from the University of Michigan painstakingly sift the soil looking for evidence of past activity. In addition to the charred and rotted remains of timbers and logs, they find shards of pottery, buttons, and bits of glass and rusted metal.

There is an interesting exhibit called "Treasures from the Sand" that shows some of the artifacts that have been recovered from the fort.

Margery is checking out another display.

The original fort built by the French was not for military purposes as much as for protection of trade. This area was important for trade among Native Americans even before the French arrived, and there is a small Indian village set up outside the fort.

When the French controlled the area, large canoes loaded with European goods arrived from Montreal every spring. Fur traders would load those trade goods onto sleds and go out in the winter and trade with the Indians for furs. When the canoes arrived the next spring with more goods from Montreal, they would take the furs back with them.

When the British took over the fort after the French and Indian war, they continued trade with the Indians. The next photo shows the King's Storehouse and some of the types of goods that would have been traded including glassware, pottery, knives, guns, pots and blankets. There is even a cast iron stove, but that would have more likely been bought by one of the white residents of the area.

 

After the French and Indian War, the British trade policies were not nearly as favorable to the Indians as the policies of the French. In fact, the British practices eventually led to a Native American uprising known as Pontiac's Rebellion named for the Ottawa leader, Pontiac. The British modified their policies to be more like those of the French, and peace eventually returned.

As we said, about half the buildings in the fort have been reconstructed. Traders lived inside the fort in row houses like the one shown below.

The British not only allowed French traders to remain after the French and Indian War, but they also let them keep the Catholic church in the fort.

The next photo shows a beehive oven that is used for baking demonstrations.

We got to sample bread from the oven topped with fresh-made apple butter. The wood fire had given the bread a nice, crispy crust.

There are demonstrations of colonial crafts going on at the fort. We seemed to hit a day that featured cooking. Another costumed interpreter was cooking over a wood fire.

The barracks have been reconstructed...

...as has the commanding officer's quarters.

Throughout the day there are also cannon and rifle firing demonstrations. We heard the cannon boom a couple of times while we were there, but we never got the timing right to get to see it. There are also walking tours throughout the day and other reenactments. We enjoyed our visit to the fort, and we enjoyed learning about its history.

We spent the weekend hanging around the motor home relaxing, catching up on laundry and doing some chores. On Monday, we headed over to Mackinac Island, so look for our next post.

Sault Sainte Marie, MI to Mackinaw City, MI

Mackinaw City - Events of Thursday, August 11, 2011

We took our time getting on the road because the travel time to our next stop in Mackinaw City, MI was only about an hour. We usually just leave the motor home where it is and take a day trip in the car if the distance is that short. However, since there were several things we wanted to see near Mackinaw City, and since the campground in Mackinaw City had full hookups available, it made a good home base for our next series of sightseeing outings.

Our route took us over the Mackinac Bridge. The photo below shows our approach from the north. There was some construction/repair work going on, but there were no tie-ups.

The next photo shows us going over the high point of the bridge.

 

Before we go any further, we feel we should explain the pronounciation of Mackinaw and Mackinac. We were really confused when we were researching the area, but once the pronounciation was explained to us, it's really quite simple. Mackinaw it the British spelling, and Mackinac is the French spelling. However, no matter how it's spelled, it's pronounced the same - MACK-in-aw.

The Mackinac Bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac at the junction of Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, and it connects the Upper Peninsula of Michigan to Lower Michigan. The bridge was opened in 1957 and at a span of 3,800 feet between towers, it is the third longest span in the United States behind the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge in New York and the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The Mackinac Bridge was a welcome replacement for a fleet of 9 ferries, which could carry up to 9,000 vehicles a day. When the ferries were the only way across the Straits of Mackinac, traffic sometimes backed up almost 16 miles all the way to Cheboygan. Today, the bridge usually carries over 11,000 vehicles a day.

We learned some interesting facts about the bridge while we were in Mackinaw City. It takes 7 years to paint the bridge, which means by the time the painting is done, it's just about time to start again. The clearance under the center of the bridge is about 155 feet, and the water is 250 feet deep at that point. The tops of the towers are 552 feet above the water. There are 42,000 miles of wire in the main cables.

We pulled into Mill Creek Camping in Mackinaw City around noon. Mill Creek Camping is a large campground with about 600 sites. About 200 of the sites have full hookups (some with 30-amp electric and some with 30/50). The photo below shows our full hookup, 30-amp site.

 

Although some of the water-view sites are a little close together, most of the sites are generously-sized as you can see from the next photo. In addition, most of the sites have trees and shrubs between them for added privacy. Many of the sites are very shady, but the campground was accommodating and gave us a site in the section where the trees are not that big so we could get satellite reception.

 

There are some smaller RV sites with water and electric (30 amp) and some with electric only (20 amp).

There are also lots of nice, shaded tent sites with no hookups, some with a nice view of the lake.

Although most of the main campground roads are paved, there are a few that are somewhat dusty gravel. Sites are mostly sand and dirt with a little grass. This seems to be a very busy campground in summer, so it's probably difficult to keep grass growing on the sites. Some of the hookups are shared. There is Wi-fi available for a fee.

We were only two sites from the end of the row, and we had a fairly nice view of the lake from our windows.

We could walk over to the water's edge where we could see Mackinac Island.

The next photo is a little closer view of the south end. We planned to visit Mackinac Island while staying in Mackinaw City, so we'll have more information in an upcoming post.

The campground has a swimming beach...

...plus a pool, a rec hall with pool tables and lots of video games, a well-stocked camp store, two large playgrounds and a spa.

The campground was about half full when we first arrived on Thursday, but there was a steady stream of RVs arriving Thursday evening and all day Friday. Other than the usual sounds of a nearly-filled campground (kids, dogs, vehicles coming and going, etc.), the campground was fairly quiet - there were no trains and only a minimal amount of traffic noise during the day.

As we said earlier, we had several things we wanted to do while in Mackinaw City, including a trip over to Mackinac Island. Stay tuned.

Whitefish Point

Sault Sainte Marie, MI - Events of Monday, August 8, 2011

Whitefish Point, which is a sharp peninsula near the eastern end of Lake Superior, is about an hour and a half drive from Sault Sainte Marie. There are several things of interest in that general area, so we decided to take a day trip to check it out.

As we found out on our hike at Au Sable Point when we saw the remnants of shipwrecks on the beach, the area from Au Sable Point to Whitefish Point is known as "shipwreck coast." There were at least 550 major shipwrecks on Lake Superior, and 200 of them were in the vicinity of Whitefish Point. This area is treacherous because of the amount of boat traffic (the lake funnels down at Whitefish Point into Whitefish Bay, then narrows further to the St. Marys River), and because of weather (Lake Superior is the largest, deepest, and northernmost of the Great Lakes, so it gets more than its share of rough water).

With all the shipwrecks in the area of Whitefish Point, it is a fitting location for the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. The latest shipwreck on Lake Superior was the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. The Fitzgerald went down, and all 29 hands were lost in a storm about 17 miles north-northwest of Whitefish Point.

The Shipwreck Museum was built in 1987 on the site of the Whitefish Point Light Station and Coast Guard Lifeboat Station, which are also inbcluded in the admission to the museum.

It was a long drive all the way out to the Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point, so we were surprised to see so many cars there.

When we arrived, the 15-minute video about the Edmund Fitzgerald was just about to start, so we went to see that first. We'll have more information on the Fitzgerald a little later in this post. After the video, we took the boardwalk over the dunes to the beach at Whitefish Point. The boardwalk protects the dunes from foot traffic.

The quiet, blue water the day we were there belied the potentially violent nature of Lake Michigan.

The U. S. Coast Guard operated a lifeboat rescue station on Whitefish point from 1923 until 1951. There is a replica of an 8-man surf boat on display. The brave rescuers would often row out into heavy storms to rescue sailors whose boat was in trouble.

If the boat was closer to shore, they could use a small cannon to fire a special projectile out to a boat that was in trouble. A light line would be attached to the projectile. The sailors on the ship could then use the light line to pull a heavier rescue line from the reels on the cart shown in the next photo. The sailors had to fasten the rescue line to a high point on the ship so they could slide down the rope in a sling.

The first light house at Whitefish Point was first lit in 1849. It was one of the first lighthouses on Lake Superior. The current light station was built in 1861 from iron and steel.

The light keeper's house is furnished the way it would have been back in the 1920s when Robert Carlson was light keeper. Carlson served from 1903 to 1931 and was Whitefish Point's longest-serving keeper.

From the light keeper's house, we headed to the Shipwreck Museum itself. On the way, we paused for a photo by the huge rudder from a wooden steamship, the M. M Drake. The Drake sank in a storm 6 miles west of Whitefish Point in 1901.

In addition to showing old footage of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald and telling the story of how she sank, the movie we saw when we first arrived at the museum showed how the Great Lakes Shipwreck Historical Society participated in a dive to bring up the bell of the ship in 1995. The wreck is in Canadian waters 530 feet below the surface. The pressurized dive suit used in the recovery is called a "Newt Suit," and it is on display in the museum.

The expedition brought up the ship's bell, which is also on display.

 

A replica of the original bell engraved with the names of the 29 crew members who were lost was placed at the site of the wreck as a memorial. The original bell was used in a memorial service before being placed in the museum.

The museum also has artifacts and information on dozens of lesser-known shipwrecks from Lake Superior.

One of the most noticible exhibits in the museum is the second order Fresnel (pronounced frey-NEL) lens from White Shoals about 20 miles west of Mackinac Island in Lake Michigan.

The Shipwreck Museum was very interesting and very well done. We spent much more time there than we anticipated. From the museum, we headed south about 10 miles to the little town of Paradise, MI, then about 10 miles west on M123 to Tahquamenon (pronounced tah-KWAH-men-on) Falls State Park. Tahquanenon Falls State Park is a 50,000-acre park around a series of waterfalls on the Tahquemenon River.

Although the state highway runs right through the park, there are two day-use areas in the vicinity of the Upper Falls and the Lower Falls that charge an admission of $8 per vehicle. The pass is good all day for both areas. We came first to the Lower Falls area, so we made that our initial stop. Like Amnicon Falls State Park we visited about a month ago in Wisconsin, this river also divides and forms an island. The Lower Falls area has falls on both sides of the island.

The trail to the falls to the left of the island (below) is only accessible by renting a boat and rowing to the island. Unlike Amnicon Falls, there is no bridge here. We passed on the rowboat, so we can only show you a telephoto shot of the falls on the left side of the island.

However, we took the boardwalk approximately ½ mile to the falls to the right of the island so we were able to get a closer look. Like Amnicon Falls, the water is stained brown by tannin that comes from the swamps at the headwaters of the river.

The largest falls on the Tahquamenom River is the Upper Falls. The parking area for the Upper Falls is 4 or 5 miles farther down the road, then it is about a ¼-mile walk on a wide, paved path. The river does not divide here so all the water goes over the Upper Falls.

On the way back to the car, we stopped by the DNR display for a photo.

We didn't spend a lot of time hiking at Tahquemenon Falls State Park because we were already tired from tromping all over the grounds of the Shipwreck Museum. It was also late, and we were hungry. We knew we would be gone all day, and we deliberately didn't pack a lunch because we planned a stop for the 2011 Zeller Foodie Tour at a restaurant in Paradise, MI called Brown's Fisheries and Fish House. We had heard from fellow RVers that Brown's has excellent Great Lakes whitefish.

The fish at Brown's is about as fresh as you can get. The waitress, whose grandfather started the business in the 1920s, said her father and brother were in the back cleaning fish caught that morning. Once the fish caught that day is gone, the restaurant closes. They sell several varieties of smoked fish by the pound as well as eat-in and take-out restaurant meals.

We both had two-piece, fried whitefish baskets that included fries or baked potato (we had fries) and slaw for $10. We had heard the smoked fish dip and the fish chowder were excellent, but they were out of both. We hear that frequently happens by mid-afternoon.

The fish was outstanding. It was firm and mild-flavored. The batter coating was light and crispy, and not at all oily.

After our early dinner, we headed back to the motor home. We had a couple of very busy days in Sault Sainte Marie, so we just enjoyed the rest of our time hanging around the motor home watching the big ships go by the campground.

Soo Locks

Sault Sainte Marie, MI - Events of Thursday, August 4 to Friday, August 5, 2011

We woke up only somewhat refreshed from all our hiking at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore the day before. We probably only walked a total of 5 miles, but a lot of that walking was in soft sand on the beach and on the dunes. Our feet and legs still hurt, but at least we would be sitting while we drove to our next destination of Aune Osborne Campground in Sault Sainte Marie, MI.

Aune Osborne Campground is operated by the city of Sault Sainte Marie. There are about 100 sites with water and electric. The roads are paved, and the sites are gravel. Most of the sites are back-ins with only a handful of pull-throughs, and only a few sites have 50-amp electric. We lucked out and got both - an extra-long pull-through with 50 amps.

The site spacing isn't bad, although a few are a little close together. The campground is right along the St. Marys River...

...where you can watch all the freighters pass by on their way to and from the Soo Locks during the day...

...and watch them sail toward the sunset in the evenings.

The name of the city Sault Sainte Marie comes from French "Les Saults de Sainte Marie" meaning "the cataracts of the Saint Marys River." The Saint Marys River drains Lake Superior into Lake Huron, and there are rapids at Sault Sainte Marie where the river drops 21 feet.

In 1798, the North West Trading Company, which was headquartered in Montreal, dug a canal around the Saint Marys cataracts and built the first lock to enable ships to navigate between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The locks were destroyed by U. S. forces during the War of 1812. We'll have more about the locks on the Canadian side shortly.

The United States built its first iteration of the Soo Locks in 1855. There are currently four locks on the U. S. side, but only two of them are being used today. A "super lock" has been planned to replace the two idle locks since 1986, but funding has not yet been approved. Given the current economic situation, it is unlikely the funds will be in the near future.

The Soo Locks Boat Tours offers lunch, dinner and regular sightseeing cruises on the Saint Marys River that include going through the locks. We thought it would be a interesting to see some of the sights along the river and maybe to get to see a freighter close up.

One of the docks for the cruise is a couple of blocks down the road from the campground, so we went down the morning after we arrived for the 11:00 AM cruise. A short time after our arrival, the tour boat showed up and we were on our way.

The waterfront in Sault Sainte Marie is a working waterfront. We passed a floating dry dock where they were repairing a boat...

...and a supply company that has a boat that can pull alongside a freighter to load supplies as the freighter slows to approach the locks.

We also passed the quarter-mile long Edison Sault Power Plant that was completed in 1902. 

The SS Valley Camp is a museum ship similar to the SS William A. Irvin we saw recently in Duluth, MN. The Valley Camp was launched in 1917 and served as a Great Lakes bulk freighter for Republic Steel until 1967.

It was a busy day at the locks. Since both locks were in use, and since there was also traffic waiting to come through the other direction, the narrator informed us we were being diverted to the Canadian lock. However, the captain took the tour boat right up to the U. S. locks so we could get a good look at them. That is an ocean-going freighter in the lock to the left.

After making a loop at the entrance to the U. S. Locks, we headed back out into the channel and made our way over to the Canadian side of the river.

As we said, the first Canadian lock was destroyed during the War of 1812. The lock wasn't rebuilt until 1895. At 899 feet long and 59 feet wide, it was the largest lock in the world at the time, and it was the first electrically-operated lock.

The Canadian lock stopped functioning in 1987 when it was severely damaged by ice. The walls of the  lock were threatening to collapse, so a new, smaller lock was built within the old lock. The current lock is only 253 feet long, 51 feet wide and 10 feet deep. It is used by smaller boats and pleasure craft. All big freighters go through the U. S. Soo Locks. There is no charge to use any of the locks. The photo below shows our entry into the Canadian lock.

The next photo shows our view of the 1896 administration building once we got into the lock...

...and the photo below shows our view of the administration building after the lock was closed and we were raised 21 feet.

After we exited the lock, our boat headed down a side canal past a Canadian steel mill. It was interesting to see some of the materials we learned about when we were in Duluth actually being used. The light-colored piles on the left in the next photo are limestone, the dark piles on the left in front of the limestone are coal, and the reddish piles on the right are taconite (iron ore) pellets.

It should be noted that even though we were in Canadian waters, since passengers do not disembark from the tour boat, passports are not needed for the tour.

From the steel mill, we started heading back over to the other side of the river to the U. S. Soo Locks. The narrator informed us we had been cleared to lock through with the Canadian freighter, the SS Pineglen. Originally launched in 1985 as the SS Paterson, the vessel was renamed when it was sold in 2002. The Pineglen is 736 feet long and has a cargo capacity of up to 32,600 tons. The Pineglen hauls grain. We passed the freighter...

...and moved up into the lock. We eventually took our place near the front. You can see how much bigger this lock is than the one on the Canadian side. This lock was built in 1968 and is 1200 feet long and 110 feet wide. It is the only lock that can accommodate the largest of the Great Lakes freighters.

Freighters heading for Duluth or other ports around Lake Superior often drop off laundry here at the Soo Locks. They will pick it up again on their way back through.

With the Pineglen traveling at the speed of a slow walk, it took quite a while to get her 736-foot length into position in the lock behind us. In the photo below, you can see the smokestack belching smoke as the captain uses the bow thruster to move the ship closer to the wall.

With the freighter finally in place behind us, it only took 15 or 20 minutes to lower the water 21 feet so we could be on our way back to the dock.

On our way out of the lock, we passed the freighter Presque Isle waiting to enter. The Presque Isle is 1000 feet long and can carry up to 57,500 tons of cargo.

Our cruise was a little longer than scheduled because we had to wait for the Pineglen to get situated in the lock, but we're glad we had the experience of going through the lock with a large freighter.

With a weekend coming up (and with rain in the forecast), we decided to make a much-needed trip to Walmart (yes, Sault Saint Marie is big enough for a Walmart, and they also have two Dairy Queens). We also got our cleaning chores done and watched the NASCAR race. After the weekend, we had more sightseeing planned so stay tuned.