August 10, 2015

  • International Lighthouse Day

    I'm late to the party, as usual. I was about to shut down my computer Friday night at around 12:15 AM when I noticed a friend had posted a photo of the lighthouse in Holland, Michigan for International Lighthouse Day. Here I am with photos of the lighthouses my cousin and I saw during her visit, already loaded and ready to post, and I missed International Lighthouse Day. Story of my life!

    My cousin Ginny and I, as you may recall, went to visit our cousin Debbi at Washington Island, which sits in Lake Michigan on the Wisconsin side and very near Michigan's Upper Peninsula. Ginny and I came back to The 'Duh the long way, through the U.P. and down the lake shore. Since we drove to the island by way of Chicago, we ended up driving all the way around the lake by the time we got home. Ginny is from the Yosemite region of California and the four-year-old drought has dried up all the lakes, rivers and reservoirs in her area. She was amazed by the size of our beautiful lake, and how green everything is, and how the lakeside towns look so similar to the seaside towns on the Pacific coast. When I was telling her my plan for our little road trip, she mentioned that she would like to see a lighthouse and I told her that would be no problem. You can't throw a rock around here without hitting a lighthouse! We didn't even begin to see all of the lighthouses along our route. Here's a map of Lake Michigan lighthouses I found at lighthousefriends.com

     

    lighthouses lake michigan

    As you can see, there are quite a few lighthouses in and around the lake! In fact, there are so many, they couldn't fit them all on this map! Washington Island is in Door County, Wisconsin. Here is the map for Door County area lighthouses.

     

    lighthouses door county area

    We crossed the Mackinac Bridge over the Straits of Mackinac on our way home. Here is the map for lighthouses in the Straits of Mackinac area.

     

    lighthouses mackinac area

    If we'd tried to see every lighthouse, we'd still be out there somewhere along the lake shore. Here are the five lighthouses we saw. I had intended to stop at the Frankfort Breakwater, but time did not allow it on this trip.

    PILOT ISLAND LIGHTHOUSE

    Pilot Island Lighthouse

    This lighthouse is in Door County, Wisconsin. I took this photo from the ferry with my lens zoomed all the way out. All those white specks are seagulls.

    PLUM ISLAND REAR RANGE LIGHT

    Plum Island Rear Range Light

    Another Door County light and another shot from the ferry, although we passed much closer to Plum Island than we did to Pilot Island.

    PETOSKEY PIERHEAD LIGHT

    Petoskey 1

    This small pierhead light is located in the beautiful town of Petoskey, Michigan, in the Straits of Mackinac area. If you squint, you can see it in the background. That's my cousin Ginny in the foreground. People who see us together think we're sisters.

    ST. JOSEPH NORTH PIER LIGHTHOUSE

    North Pier SJ

    This is the one (techincally, the two) in my area. The inner light is getting some much needed TLC and the North Pier is closed. I'm happy I chose to take Ginny to the South Pier for the view of the lighthouse and a ride (okay, two rides) on the Silver Beach Carousel while we were there.

    MANISTIQUE EAST BREAKWATER LIGHT

    Manistique lighthouse

    I saved my favorite photo for last. To get to this lighthouse, we had to take a long stroll down a boardwalk, leave the boardwalk and hike down a dune, scramble over large cement slabs, climb up onto the pier and walk at least a quarter-mile on the pier, which makes a 90-degree turn along the way. You can't tell from the photo, but the lake was very choppy that day. The waves weren't big enough to crash over the pier, but they were crashing against the side of the pier and splashing up onto it. I deliberately chose a dry spot to take this photo, thinking the angle of the waves was such that that they weren't splashing there. I was wrong, of course; it was just windy enough to dry the puddles quickly between splashes. (In other words, I got wet!) The lighthouse looks black in this photo, but that's just the lighting - it's actually red.

    It's been a very busy time at my house; there's no telling when I'll have time to post next; I'm only posting now because I don't feel well and am resting. Next time I get overheated and feel faint, I'll tell you about the Stavkirke.

Comments (4)

  • Better late than never! I like the photos - especially the last one and the one with Ginny! She does look like you could be sisters!

  • Wow, that is a lot of lighthouses, but saftey is important.
    I do see the family resemblance between you and your cousin.

  • The lighthouses are so interesting to me because my Uncle John wanted to visit all of them. I don't know how many he got to before the brain aneurysm that changed his life forever. He had a lot of light house stuff that got passed on to his family. I hope you are feeling better now. God bless.

  • Love all the lighthouse shots! Ginny does look a lot like you!

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