Our Memorable Journeys

Day 5 - 9/4/2019 - Whitefish Point & Tahquamenon Falls

Today was a beautiful sunny and clear day for a drive up to Lake Superior. Wow! The Lake Superior shoreline looks like the ocean rather than a lake with rolling waves and driftwood washed up on shore. At Whitefish Point on Lake Superior, shipping lanes converge, visibility is poor and northwesters reach full fury, building up over 200 miles of open water. Hundreds of wrecks lie near the point, earning it the title “Graveyard of the Great Lakes”.

Edmund Fitzgerald Monument

Somewhere out there lies the Edmund Fitzgerald

The lighthouse, the oldest operational light on Lake Superior, is part of a complex which includes the keeper’s quarters and the shipwreck museum. The museum has many displays containing the history and artifacts from many of the shipwrecks that happened near Whitefish Point. The most famous wreck is the Edmund Fitzgerald, whose bell recovered in 1995, occupies an exalted spot in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. It was definitely worth the drive for the maritime history, the beautiful & well-kept lighthouse and view of the Lake Superior shore.

We had lunch in Paradise…..Paradise, Michigan, that is… and visited Tahquamenon Falls State Park which encompasses close to 50,000 acres and stretches more than 13 miles. Most of the park is undeveloped and the park’s centerpiece is The Tahquamenon River and its waterfalls. The Upper Falls is one of the largest waterfalls east of the Mississippi. The amber color is caused by tannins leached from the cedar, spruce, and hemlock in the swamps drained by the river.

We also walked the trail to view the Lower Falls, located 4 miles downstream, which consists of a series of five smaller falls cascading around an island.

When we returned to our hotel at St. Ignace, today’s great weather provided us with a clear view across Lake Huron of Mackinac Island.

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