Point Iroquois Lighthouse

When we left Tahquamenon Falls, we spontaneously decided to take a road that somewhat followed Lake Superior's shoreline.  We were so glad we did because it gave us a chance to see the Pt. Iroquois lighthouse, an unexpected bonus.
 

We were excited to be able to go up into the lighthouse, as well as visit the home attached.  The girls read something inside the house that said that three families lived there at the same time.  I've always thought of lighthouses as being maintained and run by one family so that was quite surprising to me.

I think it was 94 steps up to the top of the lighthouse.

The view was worth the climb.

We planned to visit a lighthouse in Mackinaw City (and we did, the next day) but this one was a completely unplanned side trip that we really enjoyed.

Tahquamenon Falls

We left for Mackinaw City after Clarence got home from work and we ate a quick dinner.  That got us there by about 10 PM, just in time to settle in for the night.

The next morning, we headed for Tahquamenon Falls.  My parents took us there when I was a kid but my memories of it were pretty sketchy.  I was quite glad to have a chance to see the falls again.



We visited the lower falls first. 

We found this little bridge in the woods on our way to the lower falls.  We joked that the little creek running under it was a warm up act for the actual falls.

They have installed a boardwalk to the falls-I don't think it was there 35-40 years ago when my parents took me.

We opted not to walk the 4 mile trail between the upper and lower falls.  During tourist season, they have a shuttle to return you to your car but we would have had to turn around and walk back.

The brownish color of the water is caused by tannins, not minerals.  I can't quite wrap my brain around that-that's a lot of tannins!

The day warmed up nicely into the 60's, with nice, bright sunlight so it ended up being a perfect day to explore the falls. We were so glad we had this opportunity!

Off to da U.P, eh?

It recently came to our attention that although the girls have lived in Michigan their entire lives, we had never taken them to the Mackinac Bridge or the Upper Peninsula.  I really had not realized this.

Kind of spur-of-the-moment, we decided to remedy this oversight.



We reserved a cheap room in Mackinaw City.  When we arrived, they gave us a free upgrade to a beach-front room, which gave us a very nice view of the bridge...

as well as a lovely view of the sunrise in the morning.

We packed a lot of driving and sightseeing into 48 hours but we all agreed that it was a fantastic trip.

I've got some pictures of some of the things we did but I think they deserve their own posts, so stay tuned.