Lighthouse Adventures: September 2009

So last Thursday night, I told my husband that I was craving the U.P. to which he replied, "Let's go!" I love my husband! Anyhow, on Friday we drove as far as Manistique. On Saturday morning, we walked across the street to the boardwalk and enjoyed a beautiful morning walk to the pier light. From there we headed over to St. Ignace because Jon really wanted Emmaline to see the Mystery Spot! He has fond childhood memories! As long as we were there, we stopped and viewed the bridge (because we didn't see it enough in July, lol). Of course, this time the weather was waaay better--upper 70's and sun versus 50's and rain in July!

After St. Ignace, we drove up to the Soo to catch a freighter going through the locks. Once we enjoyed a nice lunch overlooking the St. Mary's River, we drove over to the Crisp Point area because that is one of my favorite lights. I say area because this time I was a little stupid. In the past, we always used the directions from the website and followed the handy-dandy signs. This time, I got cocky and decided to use our GPS. I figured that since it has been so helpful in geocaching, it should be great for this too! Well, while it did take us to within a mile of the coordinates, the "roads" it selected turned out to be ATV trails. Now, we do have a Dodge, so it is "Ram tough," but it couldn't cross the river or squeeze down the final narrow trails! We got very muddy, and once we put it in four-wheel drive and were safely on the way out, I put on Brad Paisley's "Mud on the Tires" on my mp3 player! Oh, and when I read the directions on the website later that night, they said that others had reported that GPS units do not always get you to Crisp Point. No kidding!

Once we completed that adventure, we checked into our hotel in Paradise, which was right on the water. Emmaline and I went swimming on the beach--it was wonderful! That evening, Jon and I sat on our balcony and looked at the stars over Lake Superior, saw the lights of the Canadian windmills blinking in the distance, and much to our delight, enjoyed the blinking of the Isle Parisienne Lighthouse in the distance!

On Sunday morning, we enjoyed breakfast on our balcony while watching eight loons on the lake, a freighter in the distance, and viewing Whitefish Point through the binoculars. We then headed to the Point and collected rocks while enjoying another favorite lighthouse. Of course, the mp3 player was cued up to a little Gordon Lightfoot for that leg!

From there we went to Tahquamenon Falls--I never tire of its beauty. Then, using the directions this time, we went to Crisp Point and ate pizza in the shadow of the lighthouse. They build a beautiful new bathroom building since the last time we were there--red brick with a red metal roof. Almost looks original! : ) While there we picked up a quick geocache and played in the sand. It was a gorgeous day to be there!