Herbie the Love Boat Passes Through My Hometown

One of the places that I wish I could catch ships more often is my hometown of Bay City.  three are quite a few places that make a nice backdrop and sometimes I see that the Saginaw River is almost glass smooth and it makes for a nice shot.

 Anyway, AIS showed that the Jackson had a destination of Bay City-Saginaw.  I figured that meant she had a split load for the stone docks in both towns so I took a chance to go catch her.  When I arrived in Bay City, she was docked at the Wirt Stone Dock and there wasn't a good spot to catch her.  I ended up going in the office to ask if I could take a picture of her from the dock but they told me no.  So then I asked when she was leaving and the person at the desk wasn't sure.  When I got back in the car, I saw that she was leaving.

 So I drove over to Veteran's Park because I figured that would be a good place to catch her and based on these pictures it was.  She is passing through the Liberty Bridge in this shot and she is passing by the railroad bridge (but I'm not sure what railroad).

 The Liberty Bridge was completed in 1986 which is the year before I graduated from high school.  It built to replace the Third Street Bridge which collapsed in 1976 after a freighter hit it.  (The freighter is believed to be the Niagara but it was never officially determined).  The Third Street Bridge was a two lane swing bridge and the replacement required four lanes so it couldn't be built in the same spot.  The Liberty Bridge is three blocks to the north.

 The Liberty Bridge is a bascule bridge and if I remember correctly it is radio controlled.   I think there are plans to make it a toll bridge in order to get much needed repairs.

 The Jackson had just unloaded some stone at the Wirt Dock which is near the Independence Bridge.  The Independence Bridge was built in 1976 to replace the Belinda Street bridge which was nearby.  The Independence Bridge is also a four lane bridge and I think there are plans of making it a toll bridge in order to get much needed repairs (I'm sensing a theme here).

 The Jackson would be heading to the stone dock in Zilwaukee which is near the Zilwaukee Bridge.  When I-75 was built, the Zilwaukee Bridge was a draw bridge.  On busy weekends, the traffic on I-75 would get backed up for miles if a ship had to pass.  The drawbridge was replaced by a bridge which was tall enough to allow ships to pass underneath.  If I remember correctly, that bridge was one of the first to use epoxy in construction.  Because of that, there were several delays in its construction but once they worked the kinks out it would probably be one of the strongest bridges in the state.

 I think she is passing a new development in this picture.

 Another shot of that.

 A surprisingly clean  shot.

 She approaches Wenonah Park.

 If you look in front of her bow, you can see a band shell which is in the process of being built.  There used to be a fairly nice band shell before but I think it was falling to disrepair and had to be replaced.  It was being replaced by a more traditional band shell.  In the summer, they will play all sorts of concerts in the park.  With all that is happening, this is probably a good summer to be replacing the shell.

 The building behind the pilot house is the Jennison Building.

 Another shot.

 A shot of her bow.  You can see some flags flying behind the pilot house.  The top flag is the Interlake House Flag.  Below that is the US Merchant Marine Flag.  Below that is the POW/MIA flag.

 Another shot of her pilothouse.

 Her deckhouse.  If I remember correctly, her crane was added at Defoe Shipyard in Bay City.   I think some other things happened to her.

One more shot.