All posts by paula

136-Michigan - upper peninsula

Upper Peninsula of Michigan

While in the upper peninsula (locals call it the UP) of Michigan, we visited Tahquemenon Falls on the Tahquemenon River. It’s a beautiful area and the falls, while not tall, are very splendid. The water is a unique copper color due to the large amount of tannic acid in the area which leeches into the river and shows wonderfully in the falls. There are two areas with falls, one is larger and has dug a gorge just below the falls, and the other area is around a bend of the river with an island at the center and several short falls around both sides of the island.

The viewpoints are a short distance from the road and an easy walk. At the gorge you can go down 116 steps to view the waterfall and gorge, but then you have to come back up those 116 steps. We decided to bypass that.

Then, we travelled to a northern point of the UP called WhiteFish Point, where Lake Superior narrows to a point at the eastern end. This area is called the Shipwreck Coast because of the fog, storms, and how close the ships must pass to each other in the narrow area. There have been many shipwrecks in this area, the first in the early 1800s and the latest one in 1975 when the Edmund Fitzgerald went down quickly and all 29 crew were lost in a storm.

The Shipwreck Museum has information and artifacts from several wrecks that have been visited by divers to bring up artifacts. The Edmund Fitzgerald was visited in 1995 and the ship’s bell was brought up. A replacement bell inscribed with the names of the 29 crewmembers was taken down to replace it at the wreck to serve as a permanent memorial. All 29 are still entombed there.

Here are pictures we took of the falls, the museum and whiteFish Point:

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135-Michigan - lower peninsula, northwest area

Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes National Lakeshore

While in the northwest part of the lower peninsula of Michigan, we visited a popular national park called Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. It’s rather unique because the sand dunes are right up against the shore of Lake Michigan and are very steep.

The national park is really a national lakeshore. There are a few areas of the dunes that you can visit, and a few hiking trails through the dunes. The vegetation on the dunes is very fragile so they don’t want people walking around except where it’s allowed.

One area where you can see how steep the dune is right down to the shoreline was very pretty. The water is shallow for a ways out and the sand makes it very green. Then, as it gets deeper the water turns to blue. There are signs saying you should not climb on the dunes because they are so steep and if you fall you go right into the water and then have to be rescued. Also, some people get down and cannot get up because of the loose sand. But, even so we saw several people climbing around on this very steep sand dune.

Along the shore there are several small inlets, but all of them are being closed off to the lake because of the sand building up a dam. We could see one from an overlook and took a picture.

There is an area where there is a dune that is set aside for people to climb on. It’s a popular place for kids and families, and has a playground, water fountains etc. We did not climb the dunes, we left that for the younger people. Plus we had Laddy and dogs are not allowed in the climbing area.

The area is called Sleeping Bear because of an old native american legend. While none of our pictures showed it (it was getting hazy) there are two small islands off the shoreline from this area. Legend has it that a storm on the western coast of Lake Michigan drove a bear and her two cubs into the lake to try and escape it. They swam and swam and the two cubs got very tired and couldn’t go any further and they because the two small islands. The bear made it to the eastern shore of Lake Michigan and sleeps on the shore where she can see her two lost cubs.

Nearby there’s a real pretty lake that has a sand bar that almost separates it into two lakes. There’s a causeway built across the sand bar and it’s not very long at all. This lake, Lake Glen, has homes built pretty much all along the shoreline and they all seem to have piers and docks and boats. We’ve noticed during our time in Michigan that water sports are really popular here, and for good reason since there’s so much shoreline!

Here are some pictures we took of Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes and Lake Glen:

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134-Michigan - lower peninsula east coast

Beautiful Area of Michigan – east coast on Lake Huron

The lower peninsula of Michigan is shaped like a mitten. It’s actually called a mitten, and Tawas City, where we stayed for several days is at the upper part of the hand section of the mitten near the thumb area.

Bay City is at the bottom of where the thumb joins the hand on the mitten. We drove down there one day to see the coastline and scenery. Bay City is pretty, right along the Saginaw River where it empties into Saginaw Bay. Much of the riverfront is parkland with walking trails, grassy areas etc. It’s really beautiful.

I’ve attached a map of Michigan showing where we stayed on the east Coast (Tawas City), where we took the shipwreck tour (Thunder Bay), and where we drove one day (Bay City).

 

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134-Michigan - lower peninsula east coast

Shipwreck Boat Tour on Lake Huron

While on the east coast of Michigan which is on Lake Huron, we took a boat tour to view some shipwrecks in Thunder Bay. The Great Lakes have many, many shipwrecks over the years due to heavy shipping through the 1800s and early 1900s together with the bad weather and storms in the area. Over a dozen are in the Thunder Bay area and some of these are in shallow water and visible from a glass bottom boat.

We saw two shipwrecks on our tour, the first was the New Orleans which was a side wheel steamboat used to bring passengers and freight from the New York area to the Michigan area. All the passengers and crew were rescued from this shipwreck. It sits in just 7.5 feet of water so it was quite visible from the boat.

The other ship was the Monohansett which was a cargo ship. It sunk in 1907 in under 10 feet of water.

Also on the tour we saw forested coastline and a couple of beautiful islands, one with a lighthouse and house for the keeper and his family.

The tour boat docks on the river and we passed under a drawbridge to get into Thunder Bay. We had a good time on the boat; here are some pictures:

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133-Michigan - lower peninsula, southwest area, View from Front door

View from our front door at Meinert Park Campground in Michigan

Our first stop in Michigan is at the Meinert Park and Campground in Montague which is on the lower peninsula west side about halfway up. We are staying in a county park and it’s just lovely here. We got, I think, the best site in the park, in a corner with trees and ferns and grasses on the two sides that our big windows are on.

We’re under half a mile to a beach and sand dunes as well, so we can walk there. No dogs on the beach so we’re limited to walking around in the parking lot.

THe downsides here are that our wi-fi is really poor and we barely have phone reception. But, it’s just for 5 days. Another downside is that someone in the area shoots a gun several times at night. We’ve woken to the sound of gunshots almost every night. Makes me think we’re in East L.A.!

Here’s a picture of the woods just outside our front door:

133-Michigan - lower peninsula, southwest area

A beach on Lake Michigan

While on the western side of the lower peninsula of Michigan we visited a beach in Muskegon. It was a small beach with a boardwalk through the sand dunes that were covered in grasses.

There was surf today! A storm is heading our way from the west and it’s creating quite a good surf, which a local told me only happens when there’s a high wind coming from the west. THe rest of the time it’s very calm.

The beach has very fine white sand. The section we went to is a dog beach so Laddy got to enjoy it too.

We saw lots of windsurfers up by the lighthouse.

Here are some pictures:

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132-Chicago area, IL

Frank Lloyd Wright’s home and studio in Oak Park, IL

While in the Chicago area we visited another Frank Lloyd Wright home – this one he built for himself and his family. This is an earlier house than the others in the area. He was young and just starting his family when this house was built, and it was added on to several times over the years as his family grew – he and his wife had six children.

This house showed that he was starting to design in the style that became so famously unique to him. The decorative windows, decorative panels covering lights and skylights, the wood detail all show in this house.

The six children shared two fairly small rooms and there was just one bathroom in the house. But, the children had a separate playroom that is the largest and most beautiful room in the house. The ceiling was barrel shaped and had beautiful skylights as well as several other windows. It had a large fireplace and an interesting mural on the wall. It had bookshelves and lots of cupboards for games and toys. It also had a grand piano – Wright didn’t like the idea of a grand piano taking up so much floor space so he built an alcove for it in a wall that had a staircase behind the wall. The back of the piano was actually suspended over the staircase and you had to duck a little to get past it. I’ll bet when someone was playing that piano the sound in the stairwell was deafening!

When he first built the house Wright took the elevated train just a couple of blocks ago into the city, but as his business grew he built a studio on the property and worked from there. As with all his designs, the studio was beautiful, with skylights covered in decorative panels, lots of wood, etc.

I didn’t like the style of this house and studio as much as I like the prairie style, but it was still a wonderful example of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture style.

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132-Chicago area, IL

A beach on Lake Michigan

When we visited the Emil Bach house we saw that it was just a couple of blocks from Lake Michigan, so we walked down to the lake shore. There is a small beach and park there where people can enjoy the sand (ugh!), the water and the breeze from the lake, which really did cool things down a bit.

The lake is huge, except for the lack of waves I could have been standing at the ocean. We didn’t see any large ships, there were a few small boats. But, on a day that hit 90 degrees, there were lots of people!

Here are a couple of pictures:

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132-Chicago area, IL

The Emil Bach house in Chicago – another Frank Lloyd Wright masterpiece

Another Frank Lloyd Wright house in the Chicago area was built in 1915 for Emil Bach and his family. The Bachs were not rich as so many of FLW clients were, so their house is smaller and has fewer leaded glass windows, just 2 in each bedroom. But, the design and attention to detail are still very visible.

This house has less emphasis on the horizontalness than the Robie House; it was built on a small city lot and therefore is a much smaller house. The front of the house faces west and also the street which was a busy street even in 1915. The windows on the west side are recessed which really cut down on the traffic noise and hot afternoon sun.

The entrance is not visible from the street. You have to walk along the path past the side of the house and actually to the back of the house. The entrance in this house isn’t as cramped vertically as some of FLW houses, but it’s small and narrow and once you are escorted into the house you must turn, go up some steps, turn again and then turn again to get into the great room. FLW liked to have entrances and hallways be places where you feel a lack of space so when you enter a room you are impressed with how the space opens up and invites you in.

This house is unique in that it is privately owned. It was heavily renovated in the 60s and all the beautiful woodwork and nooks and crannies were covered over so the rooms were plain and squared off. Also, while a few pieces of furniture were given to a museum, most were sold or tossed. In the 90s when the current owners purchased the house they renovated it back to as close as original as possible, tearing out the covered over walls to expose the original color and woodword, and replacing cabinets, windows and furniture as closely as possible to what shows in old photos. They did a beautiful job! One reason is that this house can be rented out for a weekend…they only do tours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and the rest of the week the house can be rented, totally furnished. It’s not cheap! Depending on the season, it might be as high as $1,800 per night with a 2-night minimum!

Here are some pictures we took:

 

132-Chicago area, IL, View from Front door

Among the cornfields here in Marengo, IL

We’re staying about 1.5 hours west of Chicago this week, in a small town called Marengo, IL.  Even this far out there are a lot of subdivisions going up and large malls with Lowes, Walmarts and all the smaller shops that pop up in suburbia.

But, the RV park we’re staying in, Lehman’s Lakeside RV Resort, is quite rural.  There’s a freeway just past the cornfield in the photo, but from our site you can barely hear it.  As we drive to and from this place we see horses, cattle, lots of cornfields and old houses with huge barns and silos.  Just a few miles away is suburbia which is nice for shopping etc., but we can come home and watch the corn grow!

Here’s a picture: