More Day Trips Out of St Ignace

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We finally decided to head across the Might Mac and check out some of the northern lower peninsula of Michigan. Mackinaw City is right across the bridge and there are many interesting sights at the water's edge.

The Mighty Mac

A Freighter Coming Through

The first attraction is Fort Michilimackinac. This is an old fort that has been (is being) restored. We looked around the gift shop a bit but decided we weren't in a mood for a history lesson today.  The park adjacent to the fort includes Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse. This is a pretty and well maintained lighthouse that is no longer in use other than as a tourist attraction.

We continued walking along the beach and then sidewalks all the way into the main portion of Mackinaw City. There are some very beautiful homes right on the water on the "Tip of the Mitt" as this place is also called. Surprisingly there were small little parks every block or so allowing access to the water and usually a great view of the bridge.

A Different View

Besides all the ferry terminals to give passage to Mackinac Island, there is a rather large marina and at one of the piers was a rather impressive looking boat. The US Coast Guard Icebreaker Mackinaw is docked there and since it isn't really needed in August, they sell tickets to tour the boat. We skipped this tour but did read about this boat. The ice breaking portion has a hull 1 5/8 inches thick and even has special rudder to permit it to break ice in reverse if it ends up getting stuck.

Icebreaker Taking a Break

We stopped for a great lunch of fish and chips at an old railroad station, right next to a large set of specialty shops. The Lego store was cool but decided the memory of playing with them as a kid would have to suffice.

Next we headed west of town to the another lighthouse. McGulpin Point Lighthouse was smaller than the other but was run completely by volunteers. The complete house was open to tour and was very nicely decorated as it would have been when in use many decades ago. This even included life size figures of the light keeper and his family which was only a little creepy when you aren't expecting somebody to be standing around the next corner.

McGulpin Point Lighthouse

You are also permitted to climb the tower and if you can crawl through the short hatch, you can go out onto the catwalk around the top. The view is very nice looking over the straits and the Mackinaw Bridge in the distance. A few geocaches were scattered about the property. But along all the well groomed trails are lots of interpretive signs with life size glossy color cutouts of various people associated with life here in the past.

View of Straits from McGulpin Point

From McGulpin Point

Just a couple miles south of this lighthouse is Headlands International Dark Sky Park. Since I have recently gotten into night sky photography, I wanted to check this place out during the day in case I want to come back some evening. Some of the property is closed due to the construction of what looks like a good size observatory being built. After the construction is complete, it might be worth another look on some other trip, but the setup in Pennsylvania at Cherry Springs State Park, another dark sky park, seemed more comprehensive.

Observatory Under Construction

Most the the areas we walked were right along the water line of Trails End Bay. At one point we noticed a flower that years ago we had found on our property - Fringed Gentian. When I had found it back home, I had picked one to bring up to the house to check our books, only to discover it is quite rare. Oops! Walking along the beach here, I doubt I could have convinced anybody that this flower is rare since it was growing everywhere along the paths we were on.

Fringed Gentian

Grass-of-Parnassus

We then headed back to Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse for sunset. The clouds were not cooperating very well to produce a sky with much interest but the lighting on the building was still pretty good.

Setting Sunlight on Old Mackinac

Some Clouds to the East of Lighthouse

The sun was just setting as we drove back across the Mackinaw Bridge. Chris drove so I could attempt some photos.

Setting Sun from the Bridge

Close to the First Tower

Another trip took us just north of town to a place right next to I-75. In fact it is hard to miss as you drive by. Castle Rock is a 109 foot tall chunk of rock that juts up over the expressway giving a great view in all directions. There is a souvenir shop at the parking lot with loads of your typical crap as well as all sorts of rocks - non of which really seemed to have any connection with the limestone formation right outside the door. Another oddity was the huge statue of Paul Bunyan and his blue ox Babe. Not clear why he is here other than to summon travelers to stop.

Closeup of Castle Rock from Below

Babe, Paul and Castle Rock

In a manner that is almost like a throwback to my childhood, it will set each person back exactly $1.00 to get to the stairs so you can climb to the top of the rock and onto the platform precariously mounted on top of the rock. Once up there and after caching your breath, the views are great although Chris seemed unwilling to get too close to the edge even though there is a fence surrounding the platform.

View from Castle Rock

Overlooking I-75

Don't Look Down Chris!

The Stairs had a Substantial Slope Left to Right

She Cannot Quite Pet Babe's Head

One remaining day trip was to the north east of St Ignace across Route 134 to the town of Cedarville with several stops along the way. The first side trip was down to Search Bay. The road there, if you want to call it that, was a good excuse to have the Jeep as our sightseeing vehicle rather than a sport car. Along the bay are a few primitive campsites and at one of them was a tiny old travel trailer somebody had managed to pull there.

View of Search Bay

We got out at Search Bay Nature Preserve with the intent of hiking to a couple geocaches nearly 1/2 mile away but on what appears to be a non-existent trail. We weren't in the mood for a bushwhacking walk so we passed. We did however discover another bumper crop of Fringed Gentian all along the shoreline. Apparently this area is great habitat for these "rare" flowers.

Ducks Taking Off After Chris Scares Them

Next stop was the Birge Nature Preserve. This place at least had a paved road and a small parking area with a nice trail and boardwalk back to an observation platform overlooking Loon Lake. Yet again of a place we likely would have missed except for a geocache calling to us to check it out. It was very peaceful back there and likely could have sat there for hours without seeing another human being.

View of Loon Lake

Tree with Unknown Growth 

Next stop Mackinaw Bay Nature Preserve. There is a decent observation platform but the view is of some tall shrub like plant growing well above head level obscuring any hope of a view. In the small town of Cedarville, we found a pizza joint with a very talkative owner and since we were his only customers, we got all his attention. But the pizza was very good and he gave us some excellent bread before the pizza arrived. So we had plenty of leftovers for another day.

Our last stop was Derby Nature Preserve. Okay, we had not set out this morning and challenged ourselves to see how many "nature preserves" we could see in a day, but it sure seems like that was our goal. There was a nice trail system in this preserve and since it was adjacent to some of the islands where many rich people live in the summer (at least according to the pizza man), these trails were well marked and maintained. The bench at the end of one trail overlooking a couple island with some expensive looking home was quite the nice setting.

Houses on One of Many Islands in Area

And finally on our last full day in this area, we went to the two parks just on the other side of I-75. Father Marquette National Memorial had some interesting. Displays talking about the explorer and missionary that visited and explored this and many areas centuries ago. There are also some trails to overlooks of the Mighty Mac.

Father Marquette's Journeys Floor Mosaic

Another View from West of Bridge

Ominous Clouds Over Lower Peninsula

Just below is another park at water's edge called appropriately enough Bridge View Park. We sat on the bench and watched traffic coming and going over the bridge. We weren't at the park more than 20 minutes but in that time we saw a state trooper pull over two different semis and even had the one back up the road and through the toll booth lanes! Hope we don't do what he did when we take the motor home across.