Twenty-ninth Lighthouse Expedition

July 9-12, 1997
Sand Hills Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast

July 9, 1997., Wednesday

8:25 am

Left home.

10:25 am

Stopped at Tanger Outlet in West Branch and then at McDonalds for cinnamon buns and left at 10:55.

12:50 pm

Arrived at the Old Mackinac Point Light for a picnic lunch with the lighthouse and Mackinaw Bridge as our view. Left at 1:20 and crossed the Mackinaw Bridge. It is sunny, clear and we can see forever. We saw St. Helena Island and Round Island Lighthouse from the bridge.

1:25 pm

Arrived in the Upper Peninsula.

3:40 pm

Arrived at the Munising Range Lights in Munising.

3:50 pm

Visited the Dairy Queen. Left Munising at 4:00.

4:05 pm

Passed the Grand Island West Channel Light in Christmas, MI.

4:40 pm

Arrived in Marquette and we can see the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse across the bay.

6:50 pm

Checked into the Holiday Inn Express in Houghton. Walked to the nearby Perkins Restaurant for dinner.

July 10, 1997, Thursday

9:45 am

Left the Holiday Inn Express in Houghton.

10:50 am

Arrived in Copper Harbor and checked on boat tours and charters. Drove out onto tip of peninsula, foiled again! (we still couldn’t find the lake to see the lighthouse)

1:00 pm

Arranged for a charter boat trip at 2:30. We bought smoked fish for lunch and ate at a picnic table and then visited a few shops.

2:20 pm

Our charter boat left the marina (behind the Fisherman’s Daughter gift shop). Our captain was Kraig Funkey. His uncle Jim Funkey and Jim’s son Kevin (age 11) went with us. Jim works for the U. S. State Dept. in Madagascar and is home on a 6 week vacation.

2:30 pm

Took pictures of the Copper Harbor Lighthouse as we passed by.

3:40 pm

Arrived at Gull Rock Lighthouse. It is in much better shape than we expected, as it has been painted in recent years. It is a very picturesque site. There are lots of sea gulls on and about the lighthouse and rocks (hence, the name). It is powered by solar panels.

4:15 pm

The boat took us on to see the Manitou Island Light which is also solar powered. The two lights are so remote, it is hard to imagine keepers being stationed here in the past.

6:00 pm

Returned to the marina.

6:15 pm

Got pasties at the Country Lane Bakery – can’t visit the U.P. without getting pasties!

6:35 pm

Took the Brockway Mountain Drive – beautiful views.

7:05 pm

Saw the Eagle Harbor Lighthouse.

7:15 pm

Saw the Eagle River Lighthouse.

7:25 pm

Arrived at the Sand Hills Lighthouse Bed & Breakfast. Mary gave us a tour. We saw most of the 8 guestrooms and they have done a marvelous job with the redecorating. We went to the tower. They still have renovation work to do here. The view from the walk around the lantern room was BEAUTIFUL. Mary took our picture from this spot. She explained that the lighthouse is at Five Mile Point which means the ships must stay 5 miles off shore at this point. We did see a few ships while we were there. We walked around the grounds and took more pictures. We met another couple from White Lake, Michigan (our home town), Mitch & Jamie Spring. We have many mutual acquaintenances. Nice to know there are more lighthouse nuts in White Lake. We also enjoyed listening to Mary play the piano, the sunset from the tower and meeting the Sterlings from Grand Rapids, Barb, Ken and daughter Vicky. The seven of us enjoyed conversation after dark in the living room.

July 11, 1997, Friday

9:00 am

We were up and outside taking more pictures.

9:30 am

Breakfast was FANTASTIC. It was a full course meal. We both had the opportunity to talk to Bill Frabota. He bought the lighthouse in 1961, but it’s only been operating as a B & B for a few years when the Lighthouse craze hit. There have been articles in newspapers and the lighthouse magazines about his experiences with Sand Hills.

11:10 am

Left the Sand Hills Lighthouse. We returned the same way we came and saw the same lighthouses on our return trip.

2:35 pm

Stopped at the Dairy Queen in Munising for our lunch.

5:15 pm

Arrived on the lower peninsula again.

7:10 pm

Had dinner at a Burger King in West Branch.

9:50 pm

Arrived home.

Trip Totals: Two new lighthouses and several revisited, 1289 miles, 3 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.