Lighthouses

Mom--Hattie Dinda--liked lighthouse pictures. I was trying to capture a sense of the large, open room at the heart of Mom's house. The light was perfect....

Joan and I spent her birthday walking the beach and wandering around town. As you can see, the water was a little choppy.

Whitefish Point Light Station, civilization's outpost against the inevitable storm.... I've taken dozens of Whitefish pictures, most of which are unsatisfactory in really obvious ways. This is probably the best; it has the right mood. Taken August 1, 2003.

This is the delightful lighthouse at Seul Choix, near Gulliver, at the north end of Lake Michigan. I'm not sure why the place has a French name, but that name reflects that this is the only place between Mackinac and the Garden Peninsula where it's feasible to locate a lighthouse. Most of the intervening waterfront is swamp, or blowing sand, or sheltered. So here we are. Seul Choix marks the harbor for Port Inland, where Inland Steel's boats load limestone for the mills at the far end of the Lake. Except for the channel to the loading facility, this harbor's surprisingly shallow. Think I took this photo in 1993.... Camera: Chinon Genesis III

For Joan's birthday last year we spent the weekend in and around Traverse City. Checked into our hotel in the afternoon, then headed out Old Mission Point to see the lighthouse. This was Joan's first visit ever, and my first in a dozen or so years. Pretty little lighthouse; now a private residence in the middle of a public park. On our way back down the peninsula, we ate at The Boathouse on Bowers Harbor, where we watched the sun set over the bay and the hills. Far too expensive for regular dining, but truly wonderful meals. Addition 10/1/05: Again to TC for Joan's birthday this year, and another wonderful meal at The Boathouse. Highly recommended, but quite expensive.

This photo shows the old Grand Traverse Light--it's peeking through the trees on the left--and the ugly steel construction which made it obsolete in 1972. Leelanau State Park includes these lights and a nearby campground; several miles away the park has a small wilderness area we can also recommend. There's a good museum in the lighthouse, and there's often a variety of birds in the trees.

S/S William Clay Ford--once Walter A. Sterling, now Lee A. Tregurtha--passes under the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge on a grey August day in 1988. We were in Duluth to attend the annual convention of the Missabe Railroad Historical Society. The Ford had been loading at the DMIR docks earlier in the day--I have more photos--and we made a point of being at the Duluth Ship Canal when she left for points south. Notable: This is the second ship to bear William Clay Ford's name and is not the ship whose pilot house overlooks the Detroit River at the Dossin Museum on Belle Isle. Camera: Minolta Freedom 100

A gull floats over the water at Grand Haven's pier lights on November 13, 2004. Shot from Grand Haven State Park. Scanned from a negative.

Joan, looking at all the ice....

Old Mission Lighthouse on February 27, 2005. Notice that the snow's high enough to mostly hide the ugly fence they've built around the yard. I don't blame the folks for building the fence; the building's a private residence in the midst of a public park. But it's such an unattractive fence that I feel obliged to remark it....

There's a scenic turnout on US-2, a few miles west of St. Ignace, which overlooks St. Helena lighthouse. Everything came together quite nicely for this picture....

Despite numerous trips to Port Huron over the years, last weekend was the first time I found my way to the navigation light at the foot of Lake Huron. Not sure why that is, but here's the view of the tower from the beach at Lighthouse Park. That's the Blue Water Bridge in the background. Since the light's within the security perimeter of Port Huron's Coast Guard Station, this is pretty much the only readily available picture unless you're out on the lake or are willing to include the fence in your photo. Neat place, regardless.

Explored! #171 on Flickr [February 9, 2008] Thanks! Your classic postcard shot of the delightful light at Eagle Harbor, on Lake Superior in Michigan's Copper Country. Now a museum of local history, and well worth the visit. Yes, I pushed the color a bit. The light is still functioning.

Turns out you can see the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse complex quite well from the Sarnia side.

Since the waves regularly wash over the pier, the Coast Guard built this catwalk so the keeper could maintain the light in foul weather. The light's long-since been automated, so the catwalk's planking has been removed. South Haven, Michigan.

Explored! #147 [June 27, 2013] Thanks! The fisherman's listening to the Brewers/Astros game. This catwalk, by the way, seems to still be in use. It's definitely still being maintained, and there's an active Coast Guard Station (and another light) at the other end of the pier. December 30: Slightly changed--frameless--version posted today....

This lighthouse is on a pretty little island near Bailey's Harbor in Wisconsin's Door County. Signs along the road to the place warn that there is no parking and that there are no facilities; nonetheless, there's a $4.00 charge. Turns out that there is parking (after a fashion), and that there are porta-potties--and that the island is connected to the mainland by a causeway. At least most of the time.