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                        If you’ve seen the movie The Goonies (1985) then you have heard of Astoria, the setting for this film. I couldn’t help checking out the details of this movie as it’s been a long time since I’ve seen it.

What Rabbit Hole!

The cast is an essential Who’s Who of both veteran and up-and-coming very young talent.

The work of director Richrd Donner was complemented by a screenplay by Chris Columbus and producer Steven Spielberg.

I could go on and really plummet down this hole with all of the cast and other trivia but that’s not what this Post is about.

But…. it did put Astoria, Oregon on the map of its contemporaries around the country.

                        Astoria is the oldest city in Oregon and was named for one of the wealthiest men (and families) in the United States.

 You know… J.J.

As in John Jacob Astor.

(J.J. Astor IV perished on the Titanic)

J.J. owned the American Fur Company which was the parent company of the Pacific Fur Company which built Fort Astoria and used it as a base of operations.

That was in the early 1800’s as the city was founded in 1811.

The Lewis and Clark Expedition wintered down the road from here in 1805-06 and with the mighty Columbia River as its claim to fame, Astoria was primed for success.

                                    We arrived here mainly out of curiosity, The Goonies and a venerable museum, the Columbia River Maritime Museum, along with the coastal reputation for incredible storms and rough-surf conditions have made this location world-famous.

 Or should I say infamous.

This is where the Coast Guard comes and trains their members in rough water rescues using the incredible 44-footers, the standard around the world for endurance. These boats are self-righting and self-bailing which means that they can roll over, upside down, (hold your breath please) and pop back on top ready to plow through another giant wave.

We watched a film whilst there.

If you are so inclined, just Google “Coast Guard 44 mlb”, (mlb signifies Motor Life Boat) you will not be disappointed. And you will be able to witness how the training of the folks that operate these vessels makes them able to rescue people in seemingly impossible situations.

The Maritime Museum here highlights many of the obvious facets of this Columbia River port, but it does an exceptional job of showing and explaining fascinating specialties of the crews that work here.

                        One is the just mentioned Coast Guard’s National Motor Lifeboat School and the other is the Columbia River Bar Pilots Association. Now don’t be jumping to conclusion here…. this is not a social organization of pilots who do “bar crawls”, it is a team of highly trained individuals who possess the knowledge and understanding of how the sand bars that form and constantly shift in the mouth of the Columbia River confound the masters of visiting ships. The Bar Pilots ensure the safe passage of any commercial ship that needs to enter into the river system from the ocean.  There are not many Ports around the world that require Bar Pilots (although they all do require Harbor Pilots) and of those that do, the Columbia River Bar is considered to be the most dangerous in the entire world.

                                    They have a video of this also.

 One of the things that it shows is how the Pilots actually arrive at the incoming ship and then transfer to the same. And that was the easy part!

                                    The Crown Jewel of this Museum and one of the primary reasons that I wanted to visit here, is the nicely restored (just in the last two years) USCG Lightship, COLUMBIA. The Columbia and her predecessors have sat about five miles out at sea marking the entrance to the Columbia River since 1892. Think of a floating lighthouse and you will have this concept down pat. This Columbia is the fifth ship of this type and was launched back in 1951. She retired in 1979, replaced by a giant Light Bouy that only needed periodic servicing, not a staff of 18 sailors in rotating bi-weekly shifts.  

                        The integrity of these lightships is a testament to incredible design, engineering, and shipbuilding skills. These floating lighthouses don’t get to “run for harbor” when those fierce North Pacific storms come sailing in from Japan and points west. Eventually even that Light Bouy was replaced by more modern navigation tools, especially GPS and the like.

                                    I get the impression that one could make a lifetime study of all of the Maritime Museums around the world. The best part about that is that no two would be alike. Each location has a wonderful local angle attached to it that makes their homegrown seafaring folks proud to be a part of it.

                                    You and I get to watch from the safety of the shore.

                                    And have a nice lunch!

                                    Museum finished, time for lunch! And for the second day in a row, I had a really good meal! This time it was the Inferno’s rendition of a Philly Cheesesteak, using Tri-Tips instead of the usual shredded(?) steak. I took half home.

                                    The afternoon in Astoria was taken up with a trip way up top to a local monument simply called the Astoria Column.

The Column was erected in 1926 as the last monument (in a series) that the Great Northern Railroad erected from St. Paul, Minnesota to Astoria, Oregon. This series of monuments marked the trail and achievements of the Railroad on its way West. Someone wisely checked in with Vincent Astor (the great-grandson of J.J.) and asked if he’d like to “contribute” to his family’s legacy here in Astoria. His answer was obviously “Yes” as the monument erected is nothing short of a work of art. They hired the best designers and craftsmen, including one of the top Italian artists familiar with the process of sgraffito, a method that utilizes paint and plaster to create a frieze. There are twenty-two such friezes depicting the important dates and events that led to the eventual discovery and settlement of Astoria.

                                    This series of events and discoveries eventually led to Paula and Steve climbing the 164 steps to the top of the 125’ monument just so they could wave down at Sandi and me.

                        Their accomplishment is not memorialized in a friez

More photos…..

                      Mount Hood in North Central Oregon is a volcano.

                                    From up on its sloping sides, you can view its little sister Mt. Saint Helens, which is only about one hundred miles to the north. Both reside in the still scary (and active) Cascade Range. We all can remember the eruption of Mt. Saint Helens, (only forty-four years ago, a gnat’s life in geologic time) which measures its age with epochs and eons never mind years and centuries!

                                                Mount Hood is still venting, and the occasional whiff of escaped sulfur gases can be detected from time to time. The next eruption of this mountain is set for maybe some time next week, so we felt very comfortable visiting the old lodge and having a very nice lunch.

Only kidding!

Actually Mt. Hood is still monitored but Mt. St. Helens is considered the “Most Likely to Succeed” in an eruption any time soon.

Film at 11.

(I hope that someone in the class has noticed that I did not go into the Plate Tectonics of this region for fear of losing some newly acquired readers!)

                                                We are at our next stop after Spokane, and it is a bit further West. We are in both Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington which are directly across the HUGE Columbia River from each other.

We are visiting Steve and Sandi, friends from the World Cruise. You may recall we were with them this past February in Palm Springs where they stay in the winter. In the warmer weather they live up here directly on the Columbia River which provides a never-ending supply of passing ships, osprey sightings, and the occasional really fast speedboat!

Sandi and Steve have been our “Tours by Locals” tour guides for the past few days, and we keep joking about how many “Stars” they will be getting from us, the “Tourists”.

So far, so good!

This part of our country is dominated by a few notable natural features, namely, volcanoes, the combined river system of the Columbia and the Snake, and vast forested areas that are now prone to spontaneous combustion it seems.

                        We did visit Mount Hood, and it is quite impressive at over 11,000 feet in elevation. This elevation is more remarkable as the surrounding countryside has an elevation that is relatively low (about 1500’) and flat making Mt. Hood seem to just jump from the surrounding countryside. Mt. Hood also “makes” its own “weather” as evidenced by the stubborn clouds that hung just at the summit and quickly disappeared as they moved on. Still, seeing all-year-around-snow was impressive and this is the only spot in the country that offers skiing all year around. Many a ski-team ventures up here for a little practice in the off-season.

                        Clinging to the slopes is the Timberline Lodge which was dedicated by FDR in 1937. A combined project of the WPA and CCC, it was constructed using local materials, especially the giant wooded beams and posts. Local artisans weaved the rugs and sewed the curtains, it really was a labor of love that went into this exciting project.

A few years later, WWII broke out and of course the hotel deteriorated over that time. When the war was over and business resumed, bad management and questionable business practices brought the Lodge to its knees, and it was scheduled to be razed. Enter Richard L. Kohnst (RLK) a local guy who thought he could fix it all. Fix it he did because ever since that day in 1955 his company and family have guided this enterprise very successfully to international prominence. It’s interesting how one can tell that an establishment is not part of a “national” chain of management companies that vies for the business of running these great Lodges. That delicious lunch that I mentioned before was the key for me. The menu was not “cookie-cutter’ in any aspect and the offerings were unique enough to suggest that they were far from generic. I had a “French Dip” that was the best I’ve ever had, complete with that “dip” part being infused with a Bleu Cheese, which made it a tad creamy and very tasty. That’s how I could tell, and it was confirmed when I asked our waitress about the company that ran this Lodge.

                        There is nothing better than a family run operation.

                        The other prominent feature around here is the Columbia River. This thing is HUGE! We have over 2500 rivers in this country and the Columbia comes in at #8 for length at about 1240 miles but ups its game when calculating discharge…. It doubles its ranking and jumps up to #4!

                        The Columbia River Gorge is one of our Scenic Designations in the country. It was carved out a really long time ago when a really big inland sea suddenly lost its drain plug and carved its way out of Montana, Dakota, and Idaho areas and plunged down thru this expanse carving its way to the Pacific Ocean.

                        We plan on returning to the Pacific Northwest in the future. The opportunity to see the Snake River Gorge at over 8000’ deep is too tempting to miss. Plus, when we travel from Montana to Spokane we travel thru some really pretty parts of Idaho with beautiful lakes and pretty valleys all just waiting for us to set a spell in.

We’re here for two more days, so more to come!

                        When we looked at our route that would take us from Seeley Lake, Montana to the Vancouver, Washington/Portland, Oregon area and saw that we were a whiskers width away from Spokane, Washington, we knew that we needed to stop again and visit with Greg and Kim (May 7^th, 2022). We were here a little over two years ago and they graciously gave us a tour of their fabulous little city, Spokane. Here, “little” is not derogatory in any way. Spokane has all of the amenities that a “big” city has but it just feels just a tad more ‘cozy’ than those ‘others’. And that’s a good thing.

                        Spokane (spoke-ann) has obviously been lived in for thousands of years starting with those folks that trudged all over the North American continent, the hunter-gatherers. For our purposes we will fast-forward a few thousand years and drop in here during the late 19^th century, 1881 to be exact, as that is the time that (here it comes….) “the railroad came to town.” Yes, the Northern Pacific Railway arrived that year and two years later, in 1883, gold, silver, and lead were discovered in the area and (here comes another one of my favorite sayings….) “the rest is history”.

                        Now firmly established and growing at a fantastical rate, Spokane found itself building and burgeoning over the next twenty years or so. The Town Fathers (and I’m presuming that quite a few Mothers were kicking them forward at the time) were concentrating on making Spokane the capital of what was referred to as “The Inland Empire”. Railroads, minerals, timber, and furs were all important ingredients to this claim. Hastily built wooden structures from the early 1880’s were just ripe for a devastating fire which presented itself exactly 135 years and 15 days ago. On August 4^th, 1889, a fire started and when it was finished it had destroyed 32 blocks of downtown Spokane.

                        So, that’s where we come in for today.

                        There was a construction boom in Spokane which defied description. More “modern” masonry and steel edifices were becoming the norm which gave the city a more upscale feeling with those accompanying industries following suit.

                        Enter Mr. Llewellyn Marks (Louis) Davenport in the Spring of that fateful year. At just twenty-years old, he came to town from San Francisco to work for the summer in his uncle’s restaurant, The Pride of Spokane.

                                                Fire.

                                                Most of the City went poof!

                                                Young Louis salvaged what he could.

                                                Then he bought a tent.

                                                Davenport’s Waffle Foundry opened.

                                                And flourished!

                        Recognizing an opportunity, Louis quickly leased a brick building on a popular corner and expanded his menu to over a hundred items.

Within a few years, Davenport’s Restaurant was described by a critic as “the finest thing of the kind in the country.” Business was so good, Davenport expanded into an adjoining building within a decade. He hired up-and-coming architect, Kirkland Cutter to make the two buildings appear as one in 1904. Cutter offered a Mission Revival style theme. The white stucco walls and green tile roofs stood in marked contrast to every other building downtown. This remodel added the finest ballroom in the West on the second floor, the Hall of the Doges (modeled after the Doges Palace in Venice). The delicious Crab Louis salad was born here and is now world-famous.

The City recognized a talent when they saw one. Some of the Local Tycoons got together and presented their idea of a what they thought the City needed, a world-class hotel where groups could meet and have outside business partners stay when they came to town.

And they wanted Louis Davenport to run it.

And have his moniker placed upon it ensuring that a highly recognizable, and very successful name would be attached to it.

In the design, Kirkland Cutter was instructed to make sure “no more money than necessary was squandered on exterior ornament”, which resulted in a building with a relatively simple exterior with strategically placed ornamentation but an extremely extravagant interior. 

They built lavishly it in the Renaissance and Spanish Revival styles, the 406-room Davenport Hotel cost two million dollars to complete and included new technologies at the time of its opening in September 1914, such as chilled water, elevators, and air conditioning!  Cutter and Davenport shopped the world for ideas and furnishings for their new hotel. Cutter designed the space drawing inspiration from the great architects of France, England and Spain and decorated the interior with luxurious appointments with fine art and tables dressed in Irish linens from Liddell and set with 15,000 pieces of silver (said to be the largest private commission for Reed and Barton). 

The tower went up in just eight months (with only one construction related death, a rarity at that time) and the hotel opened for business on September 1, 1914.

  Ever since then, the hotel has promoted itself as “one of America’s exceptional hotels.”

And judging by what we saw and the fact that it is now owned by KSL Capital Partners (who also own The Grand on Mackinac Island!) we could not have agreed more.

                                    The hotel offers visitors a pamphlet entitled “Historical Walking Tour”, and it guides you around the ground floor and second floor where the Lobby (now part of the hotel’s restaurant) and the Ballrooms, where a wedding was taking place at the time. Someone was having a “ball” 😊 because they were using all of the ballrooms for their wedding……  Ceremony, Photos, Pre-Dinner Snacks, Dinner, Dessert, and Dancing were all spread out amongst the different rooms! Not sure what that event cost but the Guests seemed to be having a grand time!

                                  However, the entire history of the Davenport is not so grand. As with many of our older establishments, times and proprietors change quickly over the years, and with each new owner visions and operations change, and not always for the best. Eventually, the Davenport fell onto hard times and was just about to be demolished after being closed for about fifteen years. This was in the early 2000’s. Along came a local couple with more than a couple of bucks because they bought the place (they spent $40,000,000 of their own money) and proceeded to put it all back the way it was, and then some! The results are obvious!

                                    During our last trip here two years ago, Kim and Greg toured us around town and showed us some of the other wonderful aspects of downtown Spokane. These are found in the Post aptly entitled, Spokane (from May 7, 2022). Go to the Archives and scroll back. I’m quite sure that you will be as impressed with this “little city” as we were!

                                    Thanks for reading!

                                    We are nestled nicely thank you in our spot in Seeley Lake, Montana courtesy of Steve and Phillis. This will be a time of “west and wewaxation” as Elmer Fud would say. Our Reserved Pad is right next to the runway here at the airport in Seeley Lake. Steve and Phillis have a Home/Hanger here and we get to tag along.  

                                           Last year was our Year of Discovery here in Montana and while there is still plenty to do and see, we’re just taking it easy. We do, however, have a Mechanical Problem of Significant Proportions to report.

                                    Our large Slide-Out is partially fritzified (yes, there’s that new vocab word again!) This issue does not affect the driving of the motorhome unless it gets stuck in the “Out” position, and if that happens we’d need those accompanying Flag Vehicles that travel with the Wide Load crowd! We are not sure why this problem occurred, the candidates are some significant potholes that we encountered back at a campground and /or the fact that we “Full Time” with this rig. Explanations below:

                                    First one is a ‘out of whack” situation.

Imagine a shoe box.

Now imagine trying to slide another just slightly smaller shoe box into the first one. Now slightly torque the first (larger one) ‘til it’s slightly kanked and now try and slide the other one into it.

Instead of the “Wailing and gnashing of teeth” (Matt13:49-50), we get the “grinding and gnashing of gears” (Don9:30-54) which makes everything bind up and grind to a proverbial halt.

The second issue may be the fact that these motorhomes, travel trailers, etc. are not built for full-time use. The average family uses their units a few times a year for long weekends and a vacation or two.

That’s all they use it.

We, on the other hand, are constantly using ours and we put exponentially more use on the components than that average family does.

                        Either way it adds up to our very large slide out having issues and these issues and their consequences are non-negotiable. Although we can survive nicely with this slide tucked into the “In” position, it’s much nicer being able to move it in and out.                                               

                        The other factor here is that not everyone works on these puppies. And…. even if we were able to find one that does, their wait times for service stretch out several months. I know of just two places that I am positive that they: 

A.) know what they’re doing and

B.) are capable of completing the work.

One is Winnebago up in northern Iowa (we’ve been there before) and Country Classic Auto Body in Sussex, New Jersey who only work on motorhomes and other RV’s.

So…. it looks like we’ll be tracking back to the East Coast after this Western Swing because we couldn’t get into Winnebago until the middle of November at the earliest!

Tommy, clear out our Parking Spot…. We’re comin’ home!

(One word says it all.)

This could be the ultimate “Final Jeopardy!” question of all time.

                                                Answer: “This destination resort was designated as the second National Park in the United States in 1875” (three years after Yellowstone)

                                                Question: “What is Mackinac Island.”

                                    “Now just hold on there Donny, everyone knows that Sequoia in California is our second oldest National Park! (1890) Besides…. no one even knows how to spell or pronounce Mackinac/Mackinaw! And on top of that, what’s the deal with the no cars thing?“

                                    No worries mates!

                                    All of these queries and observations will be handled in this Post as you all will become Mackinac experts by the time that we’re finished here.

                                    Let’s deal with the obvious first.

                                    Mackinac? or Mackinaw?

            Both are correct spelling depending on which side of the huge Mackinac Bridge you are on. The Lower Michigan folks spell it Mackinaw and the Yoopers (the phonetic contraction for U.P. short for Upper Peninsula) spell it Mackinac, but still pronounce it with the aw sound at the end.

                                    Confused?

                                    So were the early French explorers that came here in the late 1600’s and conversed with the local Anishnaabek folks that resided here. To confound this entire phonetical pronunciation problem is the original name of the Island….. Michilimackinac.

                                    Ha! Easy for you to say!

                                    But the translation of which, while it may be easier to say, it is not that easy to use, it is…. “Land of the Great Turtle”.

And while we all love turtles, and yearn for the days gone by, it is just better to refer to this island as Mackinac. (The marketing folks were also quite happy with it)

                                    Let’s settle that question about the second national park. Yes, it is true that Mackinac Island was the second National Park, but it lasted only for twenty years and was then turned over to the State of Michigan which in turn made it a State Park. But that Jeopardy! question still stands!

                                    Now we’ll tackle the “No Cars” restriction on the Island. Not only are there no cars, but there are also no motorcycles, scooters, delivery vehicles, buses, street cars, golf carts, skateboards, roller skates, or wheelchairs. (only kidding about the wheelchairs!) Here’s the backstory:

                                    The year is 1898 and the horseless carriage is becoming a more frequent sight wherever you go. Someone was “zooming” along the main drag on Mackinac and scared someone else’s horses attached to their carriage. A petition to ban said “horseless carriages” was hastily drawn up and presented to the Village Council who approved it. Ever since that fateful encounter there have been no motorized vehicles allowed on the Island. In fact, Mackinac has the only State Highway in the nation, the M185, that bans all motorized vehicles! Now, let’s be a tad practical here and readily admit that some powered emergency vehicles are a good idea, so fire trucks and ambulances are tucked away for their use if needed.

                                    I have to admit that it was a little strange when disembarking on the Island to find only horse drawn carriages and carts along with 15 billion bicycles to rent, as the only transportation.

                                    Quiet?

                                    You bet!

                                    Better?

                                    In this case I would have to agree with that 1898 Village Council and their ban. Mackinac Island has a mission and that is to provide a resort experience that is a throwback to the late 19^th century, that is replete with the customs and service of that era.

                                    And they do it nicely.

                                    Even the deliveries that go to all of the hotels and restaurants here have to be delivered by a horse drawn cart. I watched the local Sysco delivery come in on a barge, to be met by the cart, and then proceed on a delivery route as if it was a hundred years ago. Even the garbage trucks are the horse drawn carts!

                                    Our original plan was to rent some bicycles and pedal around the Island, but I ended up with some old knee issues flaring up, which ixnayed the pedaling around. So, I hired a horsedrawn carriage (no fringe on top), and Melanie, Trigger, and Daisy spent two hours driving us around to the most popular sights, which also included Melanie’s running commentary. The back carriage roads of the Island are gorgeous and wind their way through many a wooded area of Mackinac Island which is over 80% covered by that Mackinac State Park.

                                    Trigger and Daisy are just two of the over five-hundred horses that are on the Island. That is a one-to-one ratio as the full-time population of the Island is just over that five-hundred number. With all of those horses comes the inevitable results of eating lots of hay and transitioning that hay into fertilizer. No worries there either as there were innumerable Manure Magnets pushing their little carts around sweeping up the evidence of horses gone by.

                                    We did not see any flies either!

                                    (I think they were banned with the cars!)

                                    Mackinac Island has been on my Bucket List for as long as I can remember mostly because of seeing images of the Grand Hotel. I’m afraid that those wonderful images, no matter how great they were, cannot do the real Grand Hotel justice.

We were only able to ride by and see it up close as they certainly restrict access to their guests only. This ensures that a return visit is in the offing for another trip here in the future.

                                    And the next time will include a stay at the Grand.

Our ferry ride back to St. Ignace was as nice as the one outbound in the morning. We really did not know what to expect with regards to our visit. My only previous experience were some photos of The Grand and the movie Somewhere in Time which given the nature of the timelessness of this Island was filmed in the perfect location. I will tell you that not one aspect of this venture disappointed and only whetted our appetites for a return visit that will last a bit longer!

                        Over the last few days, we’ve visited any number of historic sites and museums, some of which really deserve a Post of their own. But for many reasons (one of which is just beating you guys over the head with Museum Minutiae) I decided to give you a brief overview of the same. The Post from two days ago, Sault Ste. Marie, was one of the hardest that I’ve written only because there was too much information and the culling of which became tedious (in a good way!)

                        So….. here are two Museums that we visited that if included in the other Posts, would have been smothered and would not have received the distinction that they deserve!

                        I present now, for your Museum Musings….

                        Two collections of regional interest…..

                        One is of airplanes (No! Really?)

                        And the other is ships (Gasp! What a surprise!)

            Well, both are vital to this area. If Canada has anything, it has trees. And lots of trees together become forests. And when it gets hot and dry they like to show off what a spark can do and ignite into raging infernos. We all, as of late, have seen and smelled (even as far away as NYC) the effects of the huge wildfires in Canada. These places are hard to reach as there are not a lot of roads that cris-cross these vast arboreal areas. This is where this particular museum comes in as it highlights and documents the efforts of Canada’s Bush Planes and firefighting services.

            We poked over the Border to the city in Canada with the same name as the one in the USA, Sault Ste. Marie. The border crossing was uneventful in both directions, they just took a while as the lines were significant but not extensive. It took probably an average of twenty minutes to cross over. This was not the time for levity. No joking with the Border Patrol folks, just answer their questions politely and hopefully move on. You could tell that they are trained…. Small questions about where we’re from, the answers, if given hesitantly, may have morphed into a more serious discussion.

                        The Bush Plane Museum is in an old giant hanger that was used for seaplane service back in the day. It afforded a realistic space for all of the planes in their collection, which were many.

There were also two movie features, one on the firefighting process itself and the other was on Jane Goodall and her positive attitude towards what we can do to help our planet recover from abuse and further survive in the future.

Jane is a World Treasure.

The Maritime Museum, Great Lakes Freighter, Valley Camp

The next day we went to an old (1917) Great Lakes freighter that has been converted into a Maritime Museum, both inside her hull and out. The exhibits were quite extensive and very informative.

The exhibits were so well done that Paula (who I drag to every maritime/aviation museum we find and is not particularly drawn to same) was fascinated by the stories of these ships which did include a detailed timeline and narrative of the demise of the Edmund Fitzgerald.

The Great Lakes and their accompanying inclement weather are nothing to be trifled with. The evidence of these mishaps is overwhelming as evidenced by the exhibits in all of the Maritime Museums of this area.

                                    Today is your lucky day!

                                    It is time for another Class Trip and fortunately the weather is beautiful because today we’re all going on a Boat Ride!

You all may not be as excited about this as I am (as I will entertain any excuse for a Boat Ride) but I can assure you that this one is VERY interesting!

                                    Seeing as we are here at the Soo Locks, and even though we all saw them from the Observation Deck yesterday, what better way to experience these marvelous engineering works of wonder than to actually get into them and be raised and lowered the twenty-one feet that is the difference between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

                                    We chose for our outing The Original Soo Locks Boat Tour which started in 1934 with a wooden cruiser named Bide-A-Wee. No one (banks) would loan Captain Beechgood the capital that he needed to start this venture up, because the Bean Counters did not think that anyone would want to go through the locks as everything was visible from land. So, the Beechgoods mortgaged their home and bought a boat. 90 years later we sailed on Bide-A-Wee III (built in 1953!) and there were two sister ships at their dock ready to go also. The family still owns and operates these boats 😊

                        Our two-hour tour consisted of a trip up to the American side of the locks, then we returned by the Canadian side. The Canadian side was once much larger and was the original, but when the American side was built and started operations, it took most of the business away from the Canadian side. The Canadian locks were eventually shortened and modernized to accommodate tour boats, pleasure craft, jet skis, and even kayaks. There is no charge to use any of these locks, even on the American side.

                                    Ok, it’s time to board, please watch your step!

So, what happens to the old ships? Some are sunk on purpose to create artificial reefs, the lucky ones become Museum Ships, but by far the most end up at the “breakers” to be torn down and turned into scrap metal.

I am uncomfortable talking about this.

We hope that you have enjoyed your Boat Tour of the Soo Locks, and we hope to see you again on one of our Tours of just about anything that we come across! Remember admission is always free and virtual snacks can be had for the asking!

Stay tuned for some diagrams of how the Locks work. If you have been bored to tears, feel free to exit now before we get really technical!

The absolute “End”

                                   

The legend lives on

From the Chippewa on down

To the Great Lake they call

Gitche Gumee…

If I were to select one theme that is pervasive here on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, it would be that of the maritime thread that sews this region together and binds everyone to the history and drama of the ships and sailors that ply these waters.

                                    There are many others, but I’ll start here.

                        We are up here in Sault Ste. Marie in Michigan which as you can surmise by the spelling of the name, was founded by the French in the early 1600’s making it one of the oldest permanent settlements in the country. But, for us folks who took Spanish, etc. in High School, it’s pronounced Soo St. Marie and that’s evidenced by another accepted way of spelling it because when the Brits took over, they morphed it phonetically.

                        The Great Lakes do provide the bulk of the traditions of this area, and no one minds at all. This tiny area of the Soo is the home to the Soo Locks, a project started way back in the 1800’s and carried on by the indomitable force of the Army Corps of Engineers to this day. All of the ships that transport the commodities of this region have to transit through these locks in order to get around the elevation difference between Lake Superior and Lake Huron and the rest of the world. Lake Superior lies about six-hundred feet above sea level and unless you want to watch a giant ore freighter try and navigate some Class V rapids or go over Niagara Falls, then a system of canals and locks is quite necessary!

                                    We started our day with Darla and Sandra, our friends and tour guides, with a stop at a Native American cemetery. This particular one belongs to the Bay Mills Tribe, one of five recognized Tribes on the UP. These tribes have their histories intertwined with the Chippewa, Menominee, and Dakota.

                                    Our next stop was out on a point jutting into Lake Superior that had one of Michigan’s 129 lighthouses on it. Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state, coming in second is Maine with almost one hundred less!

Our primary objective of the day was a visit to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum way out on Whitefish Point, near what is aptly monikered as the Graveyard of the Great Lakes. This area, just off of this point is, in fact, the site of the foundering of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which for better or worse brought the ever-present possibility of catastrophe on these waters to the forefront.

I am one-hundred percent sure that my opening lines of this Post were familiar to you. Gordon Lightfoot considered The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald to be his finest work. He wrote and recorded it just weeks after the Edmund Fitzgerald went down in November of 1975. This song is obviously used at the Museum as this is the organization that spearheaded a dive to the site (over 500 feet down) to bring the bell of the ship up to the surface to be used as a memorial. The families of the crew were all involved in this endeavor, and they replaced it with an identical bell inscribed with all of the names of the twenty-nine men that perished that day.

                                    We watched a film documenting this entire (very dangerous) process which ended with a ceremony where family members came up one by one and rang the actual bell in remembrance of their lost loved one. It was an ending that most families don’t get to have when there is a tragedy at sea. Mr. Lightfoot’s lyrics rang particularly true at this point…

                                    The church bell chimed ‘til it rang twenty-nine times

                                    For each man on the Edmund Fitzgerald

We could have spent a lot more time here as the Museum had an exhibit on most of the ships that have gone down over the past hundred or so years. I would not hesitate to return to this area!

                        The Upper Peninsula is mainly composed of large swaths of forests and waterways. Bogs filled with blueberries and cranberries work their way in from the shoreline where the beaches are as sandy as the Jersey Shore, and the water looks like it could be in the Caribbean!

We drove long stretches of roads that had absolutely nothing on them until a small settlement would appear and then just as quickly disappear behind us. At the end of one of these roads was our next destination and lunch! We were headed to Tahquamenon (which rhymes with phenomenon) Falls State Park, the home of the falls and a local brewing company of the same name, and their accompanying restaurant.

                        Lunch over, we walked down to the Falls, which are quite impressive as these falls are second only to Niagara Falls in volume. In the Spring over 50,000 gallons per second drops over the edge of the falls on the river of the same name. I think they just like to say “Tahquamenon” 😊

                        We arrived “back in the Soo” just in time for ice cream and a walk across the street to visit the Soo Locks Visitors Center run by the Army Corps of Engineers. This viewpoint was multi-level, had loudspeakers which explained what ship was coming through, and was situated just a few feet from the edge of the Locks. The inside of the Center provided an incredible amount of information about shipping, lock technology, history, and the current ships and marine traffic at any given time. It was very well done!

                        One of the best parts of traveling around our country is discovering things that we never knew existed but are in fact very important and interesting. We are only one day in on our visit to the UP and this has already been exemplified well beyond our expectations.

                                                And there’s still more to come!

The Great ‘Back to Texas’ Western Migration by Way of Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Washington, Oregon, Utah, and Colorado has begun!

Our first day on the road was thankfully uneventful, Miss Biggie ran like the champion that she (presently 😊) is. It’s a good thing that we had all of that AC work done as the temps were in the 90’s and with our big, clear, “Greenhouse Effect” front window in full sun all day makes for some uncomfortable temps inside our version of the Space Shuttle. We have definitely come to realize that products are made for averages and when one gets to the extremes of the ranges from which those averages are extracted….. well, let’s just say that the design envelopes tend to stretch a tad and things can be a bit dicey. I cannot report that it was cold in there. Maybe just tolerable?

            But just in time our Walmart of Oregon (Ohio) came into view and our chosen spot for the night had some fortuitously placed trees that helped to shade us as the sun went lower on the horizon.

So Don, why ‘Oregon’ in Ohio?

I’m glad you asked that Cartography Class!

                        Here’s my theory….. back in the day, Leroy loaded up the Conestoga Wagon with the missus, Abigail. The rest of his family, Jeremiah (his oldest), Hank, Clara, Daphne, Lucas, and his youngest, Tillie, piled in after her except Jeremiah whose job it was to herd the little livestock they brought with them along the way.

                        Leroy was a dreamer and ever since he had heard of the West and all of the adventures that could be theirs for the taking, he had that migration mantra plastered in his brain, Oregon or Bust!

                        Well, let’s just say that the rest of the family did not really share Leroy’s enthusiasm for this adventure, but like the good, obedient family that they were, they followed him out of the yard, down the road and hit the trail westward.

Now Leroy lived in northern New Jersey and according to Google Maps it takes 44 days and 16 hours to walk from there to Pacific City, Oregon. That’s without stopping to sleep, eat, or take numerous ‘Go behind the bushes’ breaks. Then add in the herding of the sometimes-errant critters that were accompanying them and the occasional stops for repairing a wagon wheel, fighting off bears and villainous waylayers, and of course, Interstate 80 was still a hundred-plus years in the future.

                        So it was no surprise that after just two weeks on the trail with everyone asking, “Are we there yet?” (especially little Tillie) that Leroy, in exasperation, finally gave up when they hit this section of Ohio, turned to his dragged-along family and shouted, “Yes! This is Oregon! And looking out across what was Lake Erie added, “See! There’s the Pacific Ocean! We are here!”

                        Everyone cheered (except Tillie who was napping) and was happy.  Leroy opened a General Store along this route and quickly named the place Oregon so as to stake his claim that they did, in fact, get to Oregon anyway.

                        Eventually the General Store expanded, added a line of clothing and household goods, some frozen foods and a shop where you could have your wagon wheels changed. This enterprise was eventually re-named Wall-Mart by Lucas (who followed his father into the business) because they had built a wall around their little compound to thwart evildoers.

                        That is where were are presently staying the night.

                                    The End.

                        Today we should be pulling into Sault Ste. Marie (pronounced Soo Saint Marie) way up on the tippy-top of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Excursions to hopefully include a trip to (Bucket List!) Mackinac (Mackinaw) Island where the Grand Hotel (!!!) (of Somewhere in Time) along with some great local State Parks on the shores of Lake Superior. Plus, our campsite is directly across from the Soo Locks which all of the giant ore freighters use on their way to and from the “mills in Wisconsin” (Ballad of the Edmund Fitzgerald). To sweeten this trip, we get to visit Darla and Sandra who we met on the World Cruise. The live in Sault Ste Marie.

                                    More to follow as the Adventures continue!

                        We are down the Jersey Shore for our annual Beach Haven Stay–A-While courtesy of my sister Kathy and her husband Denny. I think we’re somewhere around ten years or so into this wonderful ritual.

                        This also means that you are in for a travel-tidbit concerning this great destination! You may feel that there is a lesson soon to be foisted upon you. You would be correct! I promise that this may be the most practical Blog Post that I’ve ever sent to you, as it is ……

                        Not about the history of this area.

                        Not about the attractions of this area.

                        Not even the geologic makings of barrier islands.

            (All of which you have suffered through before!)

This is the Tastiest Travel Tidbit that I’ve ever posted!

Let’s talk about ….   Food!

 But….

                                     Not the boardwalk versions of Disco Fries.

                                     Not Saltwater Taffy.

                                     Not even some incredible local Clam Chowders.

We are going directly to the little town that sits at the northern end of Long Beach Island (LBI for short), that of Barnegat Light which is also the home of the eponymous Barnegat Lighthouse. This location is the link between the travel and the tasty……

                        Most of us like seafood.

                        But we’re not going to talk about swordfish.

                                                Not even Flounder.

                                                Nope, not grouper either.

                        We’re going to go straight to the tippy top of delectable morsels of the cornucopia of underwater treats that our oceans supply for us…..

                                    That of the Sea Scallop (preferably pan-seared!)

                                    You know, the one that looks like the Shell Petroleum logo, the one with ‘scalloped’ edges!

                        Imagine, if you will, an extremely hot skillet, a perfectly seasoned cast-iron one is preferred (but not mandatory) and onto its 400-degree surface you gently place a well-oiled Atlantic Sea Scallop, on one of its two flat sides. Don’t hurry it. Don’t pry it off of the surface (it will release itself when ready) but definitely pay attention because when it does release itself, that is the time to flip the little guy (or gal) over and finish it off. Not as much time is needed on the second side because the LAST thing that you want to do is over cook our new best friend.

                        When ready flip it back to the original (well caramelized) first side and serve immediately.

                        Your friends will hold you in the highest esteem and probably name a holiday after you!

                        Sounds great Don, but where do we get these tasty treats?

                        I’m glad you asked that Mr. Marine Biologist!

                        You will need to be a little forward and come across as a Scallop Snob, but the final outcome is hanging by the proverbial adductor muscle (which is that tasty part of the scallop that we crave).

                        Modern harvesting and especially transportation methods have helped make the procurement of these puppies a lot easier than it was in the past.

                        Let’s go the absolute best place on the Planet to get them.

                        The docks of Barnegat Light where the scallop boats come in daily and unload our dinner.

                        Yes, I have driven down to Barnegat Light just to buy scallops, but in reality, that is not needed, for all of the aforementioned reasons. But you need to now turn into that Scallop Snob that I mentioned and quiz your local seafood department.

                        Here are the questions..

                                    Are these previously frozen?

                                    If Yes, stick out your tongue and wave good-by.

                                    If No, proceed to the next question.

                                    Are these wet or dry scallops?

                                    If Wet, (‘wet’ scallops have been soaked in tri-polyphosphate to whiten them and pump them up with water) stick out your tongue, shake your head in disgust and stamp out of the store.

                                    If No, (‘dry’ scallops have not been treated in any way) then you’re in safe territory and the rest is just for further satisfaction…..

                                    Are these Day-Boat or Diver Scallops?

                                    If the answer is Yes to either one, Nirvana is nigh, and you will need to contain your excitement as not to make a fool of yourself.

                                    So Don, what do all of these different features mean and what difference does it really make?

                        I’m glad you asked that one Ms. Jeopardy Contestant!

                        We’ve already said that ‘dry’ is better than ‘wet’ but the reason is manyfold. ‘Wet’ scallops will never ‘sear’ because when heated, all of that wetness comes out and turns into steam. You cannot get a caramelized surface when its being steamed. Plus, even though the price is less for ‘wet’ they will shrink about 30% when cooked and be yucky! ‘Dry’ scallops won’t do that and it’s even better when you can just tap them with a paper towel a bit before oiling them up.

                        ‘Day Boat’ scallops are just that, they come in daily instead of being out for several days and are generally fresher. ‘Diver’ Scallops are the best as they have been hand-harvested by a diver with that tank on his back and a bag at his side, picking only the biggest and best just for you (and me!) But beware, the term Diver Scallop has been utilized on menus where it is impossible to be certain (because of obvious seafaring conditions) that the scallops are indeed true ‘Diver Scallops,’ but in that case they are at least usually ‘dry’.

                        So now we’re ready for dinner!

                        Since we are already down here we will be driving up to Barnegat Light to kidnap some of these beautiful bi-valves and proceed to convince them that are destined for greatness courtesy of that well-seasoned frying pan.

                                    I will wait to post this in order to include the appropriate photographic evidence of an epic local seafood experience!

(Five hours later…… see below!

When you arrive at Scallop Mecca be sure to spend some time at some of this location’s other sights and sites! The trip up to the top of Old Barney is tremendous in its views. At its base you will find that short trail that walks you through one of the only virgin dune ecosystems left around here (check out the Blog Post of 7/29/23). Kelly’s ‘Old Barney’ serves breakfast and lunch and is about as an authentic old-school eatery as it gets, and Viking Village utilizes the old historic seamen’s shacks, re-purposed as quaint little shops. This row of shacks once sheltered the men as they repaired their nets and other equipment, readying them for another day at sea.

So, off with you now! Go to your local legitimate fish market (even the seafood department at Shop-Rite) ask your Scallop Snob questions and get ready for a treat! Better yet, make a day of it and visit Barnegat Light and you’ll really have a Dinner to Remember!