Nineteenth Lighthouse Expedition

July 2 – 7, 1994
Western Lake Superior

Saturday, July 2, 1994

8:20 am: Left home.
12:45 pm: Arrived at Lighthouse Park and the Old Mackinaw Point Light in Mackinaw City. We had lunch in the truck as it’s a little cool outside. The fence has been taken down around the lighthouse so we took pictures. We have been to this light on previous trips. Left 1:25.
3:15 pm: Arrived at Seul Croix Point Light. (Seul Croix is pronounced "Sush’wa") This is our second visit here. There is now a museum and the house has been refurbished and will open in a couple more weeks. (Again, our timing is off) They will also have a gift shop. Left 3:30. We stopped in Gladstone and took pictures of the new United Methodist Church which was a former pastorate of our pastor, Dale Miller.
5:15 pm: Arrived in Escanaba and checked into the Hiawatha Motel.
5:50 pm: We found the lighthouse downtown. This is the restored Sand Point Light. We had dinner at The Ranch and then drove back to the Point and Aronson Island. We did some walking at each spot. Beautiful cool evening.
9:00 pm: We returned to the motel.

Sunday, July 3, 1994

8:30 am: We left the Hiawatha Motel in Escanaba.
12:15 pm (CDT): We arrived in Bayfield near the Apostle Islands and chartered a boat to see 4 of the 7 Apostle Island lighthouses: Raspberry Island Light, Sand Island Light, Devils Island Light and Michigan Island Lights. The water was very choppy and it was an exciting (and expensive) 4 hour ride. Our skipper was Brad, a nice young man. We missed a special evening Lighthouse cruise last evening. (What did I say yesterday about timing?) On that trip we would have seen Outer Island Light but not the Michigan Island Lights. We had dinner at the Pier after walking around town a bit and doing some shopping.
7:30 pm: We left Bayfield and drove back to Ashland. From the Best Western, where we were staying, we were able to see the Ashland Breakwater Light. We returned to the motel after a brief drive through Ashland.

Monday, July 4, 1994

Happy Bithday America

8:00 am: We left the Best Western Motel in Ashland.
9:55 am: Arrived at Two Harbors Light. Rather cool today. We climbed the rocks along the beach to take pictures of the lighthouse. Also photographed the Two Harbors Breakwater Light located nearby.
10:00 am: The museum opened at the lighthouse. We took more pictures. We did not take the tour.
11:10 am: We arrived at Split Rock Lighthouse. We toured the lighthouse area and took pictures from many locations. We hiked to the lake to take pictures from that level and had lunch in the state park picnic area. The museum here is excellent. There is a wonderful video show telling the history of the area and the building of the lighthouse. This is an incredibly beautiful light on a spectacular cliff. We bought several gifts in the gift shop.
2:05 pm: Left Split Rock area.
3:25 pm: We arrived in Grand Marais. Don took pictures of the Grand Marais Breakwater Light and Diana shopped.
4:30 pm: Left Grand Marais.
5:00 pm: We took pictures at the Cross River Waterfalls. Father Baraga was blown across Lake Superior in a storm while in a canoe and was rescued at the mouth of the river where it empties into Lake Superior. A granite cross is now erected on the spot to replace the wooden one he put there. We stopped at a wayside park near Split Rock on our way back south to take some more pictures of the Split Rock Light from a distance. We went down to Duluth and walked along the Lakewalk and saw a little of Canal Park and had dinner at Grandma’s Diner. Saw lots of neat places we’d like to visit tomorrow. Lots of people were gathering for the fireworks.
9:00 pm: We went back to the town of Superior to the Best Western Baywalk Inn. Very nice. We went to Barkers Island and watched the fireworks in Duluth and gave up waiting for anything to happen in this town. They started just when we were 2 block away from the park!! (Timing is everything!)

Tuesday, July 5, 1994

9:25 am: We left the Best Western in Superior. It was very foggy and rainy. Still very wet as we head to Wisconsin Point.
9:55 am: Arrived at Wisconsin Point Light. It is very windy and cloudy but has stopped raining. Don braved the elements in 2 locations to take pictures.
10:30 am: Left the point and stopped at a few shops at Barkers Island. We spent the rest of the day in Duluth MN. We saw Duluth South Breakwater Outer Light, Duluth South Breakwater Inner Light and Duluth North Breakwater Light several times and took various pictures with fog, with not as much fog, etc. We saw the Aerial Bridge go up and down and walked across it. We shopped, walked to the Depot Museum, and ate dinner at Little Angies Cantina. We drove out Minnesota Point and then through Duluth to the Miller Hill Mall. The fog cleared about 2:15 but rolled back in and we could see nothing looking down upon the city. At one point we looked out and saw a big ship anchored in the water which we could not see a few minutes earlier – then it disappeared again!
8:00 pm: We returned to the Best Western Motel in Superior.

Wednesday, July 6, 1994

8:15 am (CDT): Left the Best Western in Superior.
2:00 pm (EDT): Arrived at the Marquette Lighthouse. (Ridge Street at the United Methodist Church off of Front St.) The U.S. Coast Guard wouldn’t let us on the property to take pictures from the lake side as we had hoped. We found one of our favorite spots – Jean Kay Pasties on Presque Isle Ave at Center St. They open at 11:00 a.m. (this is for our future reference!) We bought some pasties and took them to Presque Isle Park for lunch, where we could view the Presque Isle Harbor Breakwater Light. Left at 2:40.
3:00 pm: Left the Welcome center. We stopped in the town of Christmas, MI and took pictures of Grand Island West Channel Light.
6:00 pm: We crossed the Mackinaw Bridge. (an 8 hour drive from Superior.) and headed down Hwy 23.
6:35 pm: Arrived at the Best Western in Cheboygan. (Note to Don: next trip here take picture of Fourteen Foot Shoal Light with 2x extender.) We checked in and then went down to the beach. We had dinner at Pizza Hut and a DQ. Went back to motel about 9:00 p.m.

Thursday, July 7, 1994

9:15 am: It is very foggy this am. Left the Best Western in Cheyboygan heading south on 23.
10:00 am: NOTE SIGN Presque Isle County Lighthouse Park to Forty Mile Point Light. (much easier than our first trip back in 1987 when we took the wrong road and hiked along the beach with rocks and flies.) Left 10:15.
10:50 am: Arrived at the Presque Isle Lighthouse and Museum. The tower has been repaired since we were here in 1987. One of the best gift shops for lighthouse stuff we have found! We then went to the Old Presque Isle Lighthouse. Left 11:33.
12:20 pm: Arrived at marina in Alpena to eat lunch and take pictures of the Alpena Light. We talked to some Wisconsin "lighthouse" people and left at 1:15.
2:20 pm: We arrived at a roadside park just north of Oscoda and spent an hour on the beach enjoying the sunshine. Headed south toward home. We tried to eat at Tony’s at Birch Run but they didn’t have power. We ate at Salvatore Scallopini’s on Miller Rd. in Flint.
7:25 pm: Arrived home.

Trip Totals: 19 Lighthouses (14 new), 1866 miles, 6 days

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Lighthouses: A Photographic Journey
Conceived and Developed by David S. Carter
Photographs by Donald W. Carter
Text by Diana K. Carter, Donald W. Carter & David S. Carter

Copyright © 1995-1998 David S. Carter, Donald W. Carter, & Diana K. Carter. All rights reserved. Reproduction by any means, physical or electronic, in part or in full, without the express permission of the authors, is strictly prohibited.