Day 4 - 9/3/2019 - Up the Coast to Mackinaw City
Today there was rain off and on, but we lucked out at our planned stops to see more lighthouses which were prettier today. We first visited the New Presque Isle Lighthouse, where the tower connects to the keeper’s dwelling. It was built in 1870 and is the tallest tower accessible by the public on the Great Lakes.
40-Mile Point Lighthouse is unlike many Great Lake lighthouses because it doesn’t mark a significant port, but was built so that ships would never be out of viewing range of a lighthouse. It was built in 1896 to assist ships through the dangerous shoreline where open water, hidden shoals and false bays had claimed a number of vessels.
In the town of Cheboygan we took a short walk down a wooden boardwalk along the beach to the Cheboygan Crib Light and pier. The Crib Light is called a “light” rather than a “lighthouse” because it does not contain a structure in which a keeper lived.
Mackinaw City is at the south end of the Mackinac Bridge aka “the Mighty Mac” and the northern tip of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula. Notice that Mackinac Bridge, Mackinac Island, Straits of Mackinac all end with “c” and Mackinaw City ends with “w”. Both spellings have the same pronunciation, but the difference in spelling is thanks to the British and French influences. The French built a fort in 1715 and named the area Mackinac. In 1761, the British took control and changed the spelling to Mackinaw. They also changed the name of the fort to Mackinac when they moved it from the mainland to Mackinac Island! Then in 1857 it was renamed to Mackinaw City so that the spelling matched how it sounds! Confused yet??
A point in the storm and a guiding beacon since 1889, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse helped passing ships navigate through the treacherous waters of the Straits of Mackinac. It is a great place to view the bridge and water. Mackinac Point marks the junction of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan.
We crossed the Mackinac Bridge which connects Upper and Lower Michigan. It is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere and the 3rd longest in the world at nearly 5 miles in length. Bridge construction started in 1954 and was completed and officially open November1, 1957.
As we drove over the bridge going north, Lake Huron was on our right and Lake Michigan was on our left, the only place where you can see two of the Great Lakes at once.
St. Ignace is on the northern end of the bridge and gateway to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. St. Ignace has existed for over 300 years. It is the third oldest city in the US that has been lived in continuously. We first stopped at Bridge View Park, where the storied history of the bridge is told through interpretive panels and photographs. It was a unique vantage point of the bridge with beautiful flowers along the walkways.
