Just Like Gilligan, We Took a 3-Hour Tour

Unlike Gilligan we make it back safely!

We went on a three-hour boat ride on Lady Michigan to view shipwrecks through glass windows on the bottom of the boat.

Only a few minutes after we left, we came to a bridge on one of our main city streets. All the cars have to stop  to wait for us to go through this bridge.  I have been one of the cars waiting before and it's a big pain. It was much more fun to be on the boat going through. :)

 Prior to  Lady Michigan coming to town, this bridge was almost never lifted...maybe once a year, just to make sure it worked.  Now it's lifted 4 times a day and townspeople are not really thrilled to have to sit and wait!  I think we will all just have to get used to it. We happen to live in an area  with a rich maritime heritage. We have over 200 sunken ships in our area and have become the only protected fresh water nature preserve in the country.  I think over the next decade our little town will be experiencing many changes due to this distinction.

It's  a gorgeous morning as we head out to the  shipwrecks. The waters are calm at 11:00 a.m. and it is 58 degrees.

Before long we come to our first sunken ship.
 There are three windows on each side where you can see the wrecks.

The green color is caused from all the algae this time of the year.  The ships who have met their demise in this area have been underwater for over a 100 years.

On our way back from the shipwrecks we came across our one and only local commercial fishing boat . We passed her just as she is being unloaded with the daily whitefish catch that will be served to diners at local restaurants this evening. The captain of our boat, toots the horn (I am sure there is a better nautical phrase) and tells us all to yell out, "hey Mr. fisherman show us a fish."  The guy on top obliges by holding up a huge whitefish that flops right out of his hands on to the floor.  We give him a big round of applause and continue on.

  That big covered pile behind the boat is salt for the roads this winter.


The tour included pulling up close to our local cement plant and the captain talked about its history, etc.

 When I was 17 years old, I worked at the restaurant  in this plant (one summer). All the men would come in to buy coffee, doughnuts in the morning, sandwiches at lunch and cigarettes.  I used to ride my mother's motorcycle to work every morning.  I wonder if the old "Canteen" is still there.

This factory provided a good living for my family (and hundreds of others) as my father worked here for over 30 years. It is still providing him with a nice pension retirement and health insurance.


This big ship is waiting to load up with cement.

I don't often see my town from the water. I am amazed how beautiful it looks viewed from the bay.

I even caught a glimpse of my brother (who works for the city) as we passed by the senior citizen complex he works for.

Here we are  back where we started--another lovely view.

All in all it was an interesting boat trip, but not the best day to view the shipwrecks. Because of high winds the past week, there was a lot of dredged up silt and we could not even see many of them.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed seeing the town from a different perspective.

Now I am busy cooking & cutting down my gardens. I will tell you about that tomorrow.

I hope you are all having a great weekend.