GREAT LAKES SHIPWRECK MUSEUM (Whitefish Point, MI)

Of the 6,000 ships lost on the Great Lakes, the legend of the Edmund Fitzgerald remains the most mysterious and controversial. Folksinger Gordon Lightfoot inspired interest in it with his 1976 ballad, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald." The Edmund Fitzgerald was lost with her entire crew of 29 men on Lake Superior November 10, 1975, 17 miles N/NW of Whitefish Point, Michigan.

On July 4, 1995, the 200-pound bronze bell was recovered from the wreckage, and is now on display in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum as a memorial to her lost crew. In place of the recovered bell, they left another bell inscribed with the names of all the men who lost their lives that day.
(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Artifacts recovered from the Edmund Fitzgerald
There were many other displays of
shipwrecks in the museum

Whitefish Point Light Station

The rudder from the M.M. Drake (1882 - 1901)

Beautiful Lake Superior

MACKINAC BRIDGE (Mackinaw City, Michigan)

While watching the History Channel one night, they were doing a documentary on the Mackinac Bridge in northern Michigan.  I was enchanted by the building of this masterpiece and decided one day I would have to go see it.  Well, here I am.  If nothing else, I am persistent when I want to see something!

The Mackinac Bridge is an awesome sight! It is the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere (and the third longest in the world). Construction on the bridge began in May of 1954 and the 5-mile bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957, despite the many hazards of marine construction over the turbulent Straits of Mackinac.

Bob Seeger mentions Mackinaw City in one of his most famous

songs - it was only fitting to play it while crossing the Bridge.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

This is the Lake Huron side
 

Rare human sighting!

This is the Lake Michigan side

A statue honoring the 4 men who died building the bridge

Driving across the bridge

The view from my hotel room as the

sun starts to set (definitely not a bad view!)

DETROIT, MICHIGAN

Detroit would not have been my pick of places to visit. However, sometimes you are on the losing end of a coin toss! I am actually glad I went. The weather was beautiful and Detroit is filled with alot of interesting history. Some parts are nicer than others, but all-in-all it was a cool town.

In a musty old hall in Detroit they prayed
In the Maritime Sailors' Cathedral
The church bell chimed, 'til it rang 29 times
For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald
The name of the Church is actually the Mariners' Church of Detroit.

It has been designated a national historical site with its 160 year-old

building. The building has magnificent stained glass

and is a big part of the history of Detroit.

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

MOTOWN MUSEUM

Detroit has a lot of beautiful buildings

And, some are not so beautiful I thought this was a very pretty little Church

Of course, there are a lot of historic sites with

regard to the automobile industry

The bridge over to Canada

Canada across the water

I stopped for a bit and walked around Greektown

I had an amazing lunch at this Greek restaurant

I liked that Rosa Parks had a street named after her!

I have never seen a black squirrel before (I have

seen brown ones and a white one). Either this

is a black squirrel, or maybe just a big black rat!

Beautiful flowers all over the city!

As I drove around, I saw a lot of very cute little houses.

I loved the beautiful tree in this front yard

And, of course I loved the movie 8 Mile so I had to

drive down 8 Mile Road

Supposedly, this house is one that Academy Award

winner Eminem grew up in. It was very near 8 Mile Road

Some of the houses could definitely stand to be

on an episode of Extreme Home Makover!

This one would be fine with a coat of paint and a few flowers!

The glow of the sunset on the trees over

Northern Michigan

My day started out with a quick drive down on Main Street through downtown Ann Arbor, Michigan (Bob Seeger lived in Ann Arbor and the Main Street there is the inspiration for his song Main Street).  This was a quaint, charming town.  Unfortunately, I only drove through and didn't get to spend a lot of time there.