The Tawas Lighthouse from the Air

 I continued up the coast.  I wanted to get some drone pictures of the Tawas Lighthouse.

Unfortunately, the wind started to pick up and my drone protested as I got her higher in the air.  So I couldn't fly as high as I wanted.

But still got some pretty nice shots of the lighthouse and the Tawas Bay.

I went for a couple other angles.

I like this one with the colored forest in the background.

One more shot before recovering my drone.

Going to the Pine River

 So after catching the Cuyahoga, I decided to head up the east coast of Michigan for a little bit.  It was still a nice day and I didn't want to head home.

My first stop is a place that my mom used to go to paint every so often.  This fishing shack used to look more ramshackle and cooler.

A couple fishing boats.

Another fishing boat.

I decided to get my drone out.  I thought this would look pretty cool from the air.  I bet it looked cooler when it was older though.

I ended up taking my drone up higher.  You can see the river feeding into the Saginaw Bay.

A shot from above.

It turns out that the boat in the back is more of a barge.

I took one more shot.  It was starting to get windier and my drone was starting to complain a little bit.

Catching the Herbert C. Jackson

So I decided to head back by way of Alpena.  I was thinking that the F-16s were parked at the Alpena airport and I was hoping to catch another glimpse of them.  That wasn't the case.  So headed south on US-23.  I actually like that drive because it is pretty nice.  I was amazed at the amount of water I saw and I'm hoping we don't get much more rain because it could get ugly.

As I looked out on the water, I saw a ship.  So I had to find a spot where I could pull off to get a picture of it.  I think I caught it around Alabaster, so this is the point where Lake Huron become the Saginaw Bay.  The ship in question was the Herbert C. Jackson and she was heading to Bay City.  If it weren't so late, I would have tried to catch her coming in.  It was still pretty neat to catch her on the Lake.

A Sunset on the Saginaw Bay

After catching the Callaway, I decided to take M-25 for a trip around the thumb.  I was hoping to make it to Fish Point before it got too dark.  When it didn't look like I was going to do that, my pointed out a place where I could catch the sunset.

 She was right, it was a pretty nice spot.  I kind of had to wait for the sun to dip below the horizon though.  You should never take direct pictures of the sun.

I think it would have been a nicer sunset if there were more clouds in the sky.

And the Point Aux Barques Lighthouse

So I ended my photographing day at the tip of the thumb at Point Aux Barques.

 The sun was rapidly leaving me but I had some time to get some pictures of the lighthouse.

 I kind of like the sunset hitting it, I just wish I had more light.

 I don't think I noticed this building before.  This belonged to the Life Saving Station and I think it was a boathouse but I'm not sure.  I'm not sure where they moved it from but it's cool that they are trying to restore the grounds to that point.

One more shot of the lighthouse.

I ended up eating dinner at a place in Bay City called Blossoms.  It was an Asian fusion restaurant and pretty good.

Point Aux Barque Lighthouse

My lighthouse continued to the Point Aux Barque lighthouse.  This is another one I've been to in the past, so I'm not going to post the history here but just a link.

 The lighthouse itself is pretty much at the tip of the thumb and is a pretty nice looking one.

 Although it does look similar to the other lighthouses in Michigan.

 From one side of it, you can see the Saginaw Bay.  On the other, you can see Lake Huron.

 Another view looking at the tower.

 Probably my favorite view of the lighthouse.

 It was pretty busy when I was there, so it was difficult getting shots without people in them.

 An overall shot of the ground.  The red structure is where they stored the oil for the light.  I think the house to the left is the original keeper's house.  There is another house that would have been behind me in the this picture.

One last shot of the tower before moving on.

Port Austin Reef Lighthouse

So as I said in my last post, I decided to take a lighthouse tour of sorts around the thumb.  I've done this before, so this isn't really new ground although when I did it, there was quite a bit of fog so the pictures weren't as clear.

The Port Austin lighthouse has appeared on this blog in the past, so I'm not going to go into her details.  It's pretty much the same picture, I think.

On the Horizon

Yesterday, my mom and I took a lighthouse tour around the thumb.

As I am off to the Cleveland Air Show today, I wont have much of a chance to post those pictures, so I figured I would leave you with a picture of the Port Austin Lighthouse hugging the horizon.  The Port Austin lighthouse is one of the few reef lighthouses in Michigan and pretty neat looking.  So enjoy the horizon and anticipate what's coming down the pipe.

The American Mariner at the Mouth of the Saginaw River

So yesterday as I was heading to my mom's, I noticed that the American Mariner was docked but she was docked in a spot that I wasn't able to get pictures of her.  I was kind of bummed but as I was looking for a place to try and get a picture of her, I noticed that smoke was starting to come out of the stacks and then I saw that she was moving.  So I went to the mouth of the River to try to catch a picture of her.

 Well at anyrate, the American Mariner has appeared on this blog in the past, so no need to go into her history.

 I should spare you all my running joke based on this picture.

 Since Bay City was having their big fireworks tonight, there was also a bunch of other boat traffic.   It was amazing watching them almost not get out of the way until they realized that ships don't exactly turn on a dime.

 As she starts to pass the Karn-Weadock Plant.  I would love to catch one of the 1000 footers here one of these days.

 But I guess this will do.  She almost reminds me of a smaller version of a 1000 footer.

 A shot of her bow.

 An almost closeup of her pilothouse.  For some reason, it almost reminds me of the pilothouse on one of the 1000 footers.

 A shot as she passes the plant.

 A closeup of her pilothouse.

 Another one from a different angle.

 And she starts to head out to the Saginaw Bay.

 Another boat in the foreground.

And an almost clean shot as she makes it past the River.  This was the last shot I could get because of all the trees.

A lone ship making the turn into the Saginaw Bay

While I was at the lighthouse, I looked out into the water and saw this ship. Again, it isn't really clear enough to identify. I think it is another ship of the American Steamship Company (the colors seem to match). Oh well, it is still cool to see.