Tag: Lake Michigan
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Mitten Accomplished
I got a unique opportunity to visit counties in a corner of the Midwest I hadn’t touched much when my older kid decided to go to college in Michigan. But it didn’t offer a lot of time for my quest, just a four year window before graduation. Even so, I set what I thought was…
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Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 6 (Mackinaw City)
We drew ever closer to our ultimate target. Only a fifteen minute ferry ride separated us from Mackinac Island today, a place we could see quite clearly from the mainland shore. However, we focused on Mackinaw City and its immediate surroundings so the island had to wait. Mackinaw City is nothing like Mackinac Island despite…
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Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 5 (Eastern U.P.)
Staying in St. Ignace for a week was a whole lot cheaper than staying on Mackinac Island. It was also a lot easier to use as a base for exploring the eastern end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Once, many years ago, I drove along the southern edge of the U.P. and stayed overnight. Other than…
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Mackinac’s Orbit, Part 4 (Petoskey)
One day we decided to explore Emmet County, at the northwestern tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Prior to that, my only exposure to this place happened along a brief segment of I-75 barely clipping the county line before crossing the Straights of Mackinac. My entire elapsed time in Emmet lasted mere seconds. However I’d completely…
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Exploring the Mitten, Part 2 (Two Great Lakes)
The upper tier of the mitten sits between two of the Great Lakes: Huron and Michigan. That means the farthest someone needs to travel to hit an immense body of water is maybe 75 miles (120 kilometres). Generally, unless situated directly atop the midpoint, a given location will sit even closer than that to at…
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Beaver Island Travel Index
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan and the third largest in the Great Lakes, at about 6 miles wide and 13 miles long. It is located 18 miles from Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas. Native Americans settled Beaver Island originally and Irish immigrants began arriving by…
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Scenic Lakeshores of Beaver Island
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) While Beaver Island displayed amazing lakeshore scenery from practically every angle, three places stood out in particular Mount Pisgah Mt. Pisgah is an overgrown sand dune at the island’s northwest corner (map). It rises to 730 feet just a quarter mile from shore and it’s an obligatory climb. We…
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Rural Scenes from Beaver Island
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) One small town existed on Beaver Island — St. James — and barely a couple hundred people lived there. The remaining several hundred residents spread broadly across the island. Essentially, almost every view involved a rural scene around here. Hiking Miles of hiking trails literally covered Beaver Island. Many…
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Inland Lakes of Beaver Island
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) Beaver Island contained seven major interior lakes and several minor ones. Many of them were accompanied by marshes, bogs or drainage basins so the most direct route to them might not have always been the easiest. The major bodies of water from north to south were Font Lake, Round…
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Cana Island Lighthouse
Door County, Wisconsin (September 2000) Door County, Wisconsin attracts large numbers of visitors because of its natural beauty and its ease of access from large population centers such as Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago. One of the loveliest spots was Cana Island with its impressive lighthouse (map). One can reach Cana Island by walking across…