June 4

We took it easy this morning and didn’t get in a rush. It was nice to sleep and relax for a while before climbing back into the car. We enjoyed a hot, buffet style breakfast at the hotel restaurant this morning followed by pool time. The guys enjoyed a couple of games of pool before taking a dip in the heated pool. 

We hit the road again headed for Cheboygan and Mackinaw City. It was only about an hour and a half to get to Cheboygan where we were able to get out and stretch while the boys dipped their toes in Lake Huron. We discovered more lighthouses here as well.

Moving on we pulled into Mackinaw City, and found tons of things that caught our interest. In order to make the best use of our time today, we began with a visit to Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse which was first used in 1889. This lighthouse has not been used however since the 60’s when the bridge was built. The bridge is equipped with lights and a foghorn, so the lighthouse is no longer a necessity. This time Caleb was tall enough to get to go the top, but it looks like we’ll have to tour some lighthouses again in several years because Andrew was too short.

We had our first experience today with midges. What pests!! We initially thought we were under attack by swarms of mosquitoes. We were frantically killing them all in the van and shooing them out of windows in Cheboygan. By the time we made it to Mackinaw, even Andrew had learned how to pull his shirt over his nose to keep from inhaling these invasive critters! They appeared in clouds near the lighthouse. It gave me a better appreciation of what the Egyptians must have felt like during the plagues. (I’m thinking this may have been what we were combatting in Saco, ME at the drive-in back in 2010.) They look exactly like mosquitos, but as one local told us “they are missing one vital part!”

After leaving the lighthouse, we were able to visit Colonial Michilimackinac (say that 3 times fast), an 18^th century fur-trading village and fort, and witness the firing of cannons and muskets as soldiers kept watch over the fort. Out in the village, the boys got quizzed on the animal pelts.

Our last stop of the day was Sault Ste. Marie in the Upper Peninsula to visit the Soo Locks. We drove north on 75 for about an hour and pulled into town just in time to see a large ship pulling into MacArthur Lock (80 ft. wide). We watched as the gates closed and the water was lowered to allow the ship to transition through St. Marys River from Lake Superior to Lake Huron – a drop of 21 feet. We spoke to the men aboard and were told that they were carrying wheat to England, Italy, or Thailand. (We all heard something different! Ha-ha)  Just as the ship closer to us was released into Lake Huron, another larger ship in Poe Lock (110 ft. wide) was lifted to be released into Lake Superior. It was fascinating to see the locks in action. The boats coming through are so large that the ships only have about 2 ½ feet clearance on either side. It takes these ships an average of 9 hours to travel the 63 miles of the Great Lakes. Before pulling out, the boys wanted to exchange some of their money for Canadian money. Nathan had considered trying once again to cross the Canadian border, but we decided that we wouldn’t take that chance this time and found a gas station right at the border that would exchange some of their cash.