Whitefish Point Lighthouse - Michigan

Another one of my favorite places to visit in the Upper Penninsula is Whitefish Point. It is at the edge of Whitefish Bay and has a pretty neat looking lighthouse. The light is still in operation.

Despite it's modern appearance, the current tower was built during the Civil War. The structure was meant to improve it's wind resistance. The first lighthouse was the first on Lake Superior.

This tower is 76 feet tall.

I love doing the looking up shots.



This is a shot looking at Lake Superior in Paradise. Still frozen solid.

Thank you Captain Obvious

Actually, I love the Smoky the Bear signs. But sometimes you just have to say...D'uh...

Point Iroquois Light - Michigan

Going between Sault Ste. Marie and Tahquanemon Falls is a road that runs along Lake Superior. I don't remember the first time I rode down it but it is a pretty road. It is well worth the extra time it takes to travel it though.

About halfway along this road is the Point Iroquois Light House. It is no longer used as a lighthouse but you can go into it and look around (not in the winter though...go figure).

The first lighthouse was built there in 1855 it was a wooden structure. In 1870, that was torn down and replaced by the current tower. In 1902, the house was added for additional keepers. In 1962, the station was deactivated and replaced by a Canadian operated station.

This is a view from the parking lot.

Looking up at the tower. This view was a pain to get as the snow was still pretty deep.



A view from the highway.

A view of the tower from the highway.

Chippewa County Courthouse - Sault Saint Marie

Sault Ste. Marie is one of the oldest cities in the United States. It was settled some time in the 1600's by French Traders. This is one of the buildings there, it is the Chippewa County Courthouse and was built in 1877. It is the oldest continuing courthouse in the state of Michigan.


A front shot of the courthouse. Not the greatest picture though.

The statue of Justice.



The Crane of the Sault. This statue is based on an Chippewa legend about two boys who flee their cruel mother. They reached the north shore of the St. Mary's Rapids and they were met by a crane who flew them to the south shore. The crane then met their mother, picked her up and then dropped her on the rocks and her brains became the whitefish.


A statue of Romulus and Remus.



It's a pretty cool looking building.

The Soo Locks

The Soo Locks were built so that ships could get from the higher Lake Superior to the lower Great Lakes. They were built in the St. Mary's Rapids which are between Sault Sainte Marie, Michigan and Sault Sainte Marie, Ontario. The original locks were built in 1855 and were eventually replaced by the Davis lock in 1914. The Sabin Lock was next in 1919. Then the MacArthur in 1943 and finally the Poe Lock in 1968.

The locks still see about 10,000 ships per year and they are closed in the winter.

Recently, I had a chance to go up to Sault Ste. Marie. Never been up there in the winter.


The locks are run and maintained by the US Army Corps of Engineers.

This is the administration building.

The first lock you see is the MacArthur Lock.

The locks were mostly empty as they were working on them. If a ship is going from Lake Superior to Lake Huron, the lock is emptied so that the ship is lowerd to Lake Huron. If it is going the other way, the lock is filled. It's pretty cool when a ship is going from Superior to Huron because you can nearly get on the deck when the water is lowered the all the way. Sadly, the observation posts are glassed off now so you can't yell hello to the crews.

Eventually they are going to replace the two older locks with one wider and deeper lock.

The Mackinaw Bridge in Winter

It was a nice day, so decided to go up to Mackinaw City and points north. There is still quite a bit of snow and ice. Never really been up to Mackinaw when there was so much. Looks kind of cool.


The water is almost completely frozen over. Saw a couple spots of open water as we were driving over, but not many.





A nice shot of the overall bridge.

One of my normal shots of the bridge.

The Old Mackinaw Lighthouse



The lighting was perfect.

Ice Break Up in Bay City

I don't recall this happening before, but apparently if the wind conditions are right, the ice can start breaking up. I'm not quite sure how it works, but I think it might have something to do with the floes sliding other pieces of ice. At any rate, it looks really cool. Sadly, I couldn't get a picture earlier in the week because according to my mom, they were much bigger.


Some leaves I found laying on the ground. I liked the way the frost was on them.


Despite the breaking up of the ice...Some folks still need to go ice fishing. And if they fall in, some brave folks will have to go rescue them.




Some idea of the ice.


Out in the back look like icebergs

I kind of liked how the ice looked colorwise.



You see a greenish tint here.