Tahquamenon Falls from above
The falls from the viewing platform
While standing on the viewing deck, you could feel the vibration from the force of the water. It would have been so easy to just sit and watch it all day. Back up the steps and then down river a little, you could view the falls from the other side.
You can see the viewing platform to the right
where we were standing for the second picture.
To get to the Lower Falls, we got back in the car and drove the 4 miles downstream. They are a series of five smaller falls cascading around an island. To get to the island, you could rent a row boat. During the summer, people like to play in the falls.
Part of the Lower Tahquamenon Falls
Another view of the Lower Falls
We made a stop in Paradise, Michigan for gas. I just couldn't resist a picture. Can't say that the town really looked like paradise!
Our next stop was at the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum in Whitefish Point. Thousands of ship wrecks have occurred on the Great Lakes. Between the years of 1816 and 1975, the Whitefish Point area alone has claimed at least 240 ships, including the Edmund Fitzgerald in 1975. I loved this museum. There were several items from each ship that has been found. There were pictures of each ship and storyboards that told what happened and how many lives were lost and/or rescued.
An example of one of the storyboards
An example of things that were salvaged from a ship
Another shipwreck
The bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald
salvaged in 1995.
The picture below isn't real good but you can see why so many ships wrecked in this area. Whitefish Point is pointed out where the lighthouse is shown on the far right.
The Whitefish Point Light Station was first lit in 1849 and shares honors with the lighthouse at Copper Harbor for being the first lights on Lake Superior. It stands guard over the entrance to Whitefish Bay, sometimes the only shelter to be found for a ship trying to escape the fury of the lake, and is the oldest active light on Lake Superior. The present light tower was constructed in 1861. Whitefish Point is known as the Graveyard of Ships as more vessels have been lost here than in any other part of the lake. The lighthouse marks the end of an 80 mile stretch of shoreline known as Lake Superior's Shipwreck Coast.
Whitefish Point Light
Before leaving here, we walked down along the water. It was beautiful! Some of the people were saying the water was pretty warm and we saw some people (mostly kids) swimming. The water was so clear and there were lots of pretty rocks.
Whitefish Point
Whitefish Point
The next stop was at the Point Iroquois Lighthouse. It was first illuminated in 1857. It's fourth order Fresnel lens shone over one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world from the entrance to the St Mary's River and the Soo Locks. It was deactivated in 1965. The grounds were beautiful! We loved all the rock work.
Point Iroquois Lighthouse
Back of the lighthouse showing rock and the boardwalk
Beautiful rock work
The water was so clear. There were lots of rocks
around. All were so smooth. These rocks are
in the water.
The last stop was in Sault Ste Marie, the oldest city in Michigan and the third oldest city in the U.S. It is the home of the Soo Locks. Conrad wasn't real excited about the locks since he worked around them his whole career but I thought they were so interesting. We walked around some that night after eating dinner at The Antlers. We had all kinds of animals watching us while we ate.
Dinner at The Antlers
The next morning we got our tickets for a boat ride through the locks. Unfortunately, we didn't get to lock through with one of the huge freighters but it was still fun. First though, some facts about the locks. The locks have been in continuous operation since 1855. There are over 7,000 passages during the 42 week long navigation season. Over 22 million gallons of water move through the Poe Lock (the largest) every time a boat is raised or lowered. (We used the MacArthur Lock and it only used 15 million gallons of water!) The Poe Lock was designed for the 1,000' Super Freighters now sailing the Great Lakes. It is 1,200' long and 110' wide. It takes a freighter about 9 hours to pass through the 69-mile long St Mary's River, navigating a series of right turns. There is a 21' difference between Lake Superior and the St Mary's River. There is no charge for anyone using the locks. Of the 4 locks on the U.S. side, The Poe and the MacArthur are used consistently. One other is rarely used except by a few pleasure boats and government boats. The fourth is closed. There is only one lock on the Canadian side and it is used for pleasure craft only.
A picture of the locks from a magazine we have.
These 4 locks are on the American side.
Our boat ride was about 2 hours. We went through the MacArthur Lock. We passed under the International Bridge that connects Sault Ste Marie, MI with Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, Canada. Our captain took us to the Canada side and along shore where the Algoma Steel Plant is located. We locked through a smaller lock on the Canadian side and it was easier to see how it all worked.
Algoma Steel Plant
Rolls of steel, ready to be shipped
The next picture is the Cloverland Electric Power Plant on the St Mary's River. When it was completed in 1902, it was the second largest hydro facility next to Niagara Falls. The plant is a quarter mile long, 80 feet wide and has 74 horizontal shaft turbines located on the generation floor level. They didn't offer tours but I think Conrad really wanted to tour the plant!
Cloverland Power Plant
Later that day, we watched a few freighters go through the locks from the observation deck.
Observation deck - the river is to the right
The back side of the observation deck
This is one of the super freighters going through the lock.
We walked through the park by the locks
several times. It was a really nice park.
We had wanted to take an all day train ride in Canada but couldn't get reservations. So, we did the next best thing......we drove! We just drove around town and stopped at a Walmart. It was a nice town but lots of traffic. Our GPS didn't have maps for Canada and we were kind of afraid of getting lost!
Entering Canada
We did walk through this park along the St Mary's
River. One thing we've noticed when we've been
in Canada before is how clean it is and all the
beautiful flower gardens.
Coming back to the U.S. took about twice as long
as going in to Canada. The border patrol guy was
much friendlier too!
The morning before we left Sault Ste Marie, we went to the Tower of History. It was built in 1968 by the parish of St Mary's Cathedral as a shrine to the Catholic missionaries who served the community. It was designed to be a part of a larger complex that was to include a community center and a new church. Parish priorities changed and the structure was sold to Sault Historic Sites in 1980. The tower was intended to be a bell tower.
The tower is 210' tall and has three viewing platforms. One is glassed in and the others are open. On a clear day, you can see for 20 miles! Displays told the story of the areas origins.
The Tower of History was built by St Mary's Cathedral. It is one of the oldest Catholic parishes in the U.S. It is the oldest Catholic Cathedral in Northern Michigan. This building is the 5th for the parish, and was built in 1881.
St Mary's
The Tower of History
A view from the top
A view from the top
The International Highway Bridge and the
International Railroad Bridge
The International Bridge, completed in 1962, is 2.8 miles long.. At the highest point, it is 145' above the ground. The International Railroad Bridge crosses the canal above the 1st and 2nd lock and has a lift bridge. Above the 3rd and 4th lock is a jackknife bridge. The Canadian lock has a swing bridge. There are still 2 or 3 trains a day that cross this bridge. I sure wish we could have seen one and watched all those pieces work!
This tiny lighthouse below was built in 1881 on Frying Pan Island, a tiny island about 2 miles upstream from the mouth of the St Mary's River. In 1988, the Coast Guard removed the long abandoned Frying Pan Island Lighthouse from the island and took it back to their base in Sault Ste Marie. Someone we met at the Tower pointed it out to us. They had talked to a local resident who lived on this street. She said she remembered this lighthouse from when she was a small child who could see it from her house. As an adult, she moved to this street and it was several years before she discovered the lighthouse had been moved to her street!
Frying Pan Island Lighthouse
Time to move on again! Up next....the Mackinac Bridge and beyond!
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