Grand Island is one of the newest assets in the National Forest Service inventory. It was added in the early 1990s. It was formerly a private game preserve and privately owned. Today, one can explore the miles of roads, trails and many beaches. I joined an excursion of the Fortune [...]
Local Travel
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Da Viking takes the Zodiac Thor across the lower St. Mary's River to Harbor Island for an evening with our "yachting friends" in a remote anchorage. We will see a forward section of a freighter that is a summer cottage near DeTour and a freighter that has been laid up [...]
We take a couple of days to visit a place removed from the modern world - Bois Blanc Island. We visit John Dillinger's alleged hideout, old industry, a lighthouse, an almost 200 year old survey stone, and more. Bois Blanc is a quiet place. It has always been in the [...]
The Discovery The bones of Sister Mary Janina (Ya-nina) were unearthed from the basement cellar of Holy Rosary Catholic church in late 1918. It had been 11 years since the nun had gone missing. Father Edward Podlaszewski was the new priest who wanted to build a stylish church on the […]
We visit the Champion Mill Ruins at the Freda, Michigan ghost town. The ruins are situated on the shores of Lake Superior with lots of dispersed camping available with a couple of miles. The mill started operation in 1901 and was the last producing mill in Copper Country in [...]
As we hiked around the Keweenaw peninsula in upper Michigan we came across copper mining ruins. How did they mine copper? When did this industry cease production? How rustic were the mining towns? It was fascinating discovering the secrets of copper mining! 40,000 years ago two mile thick ice sheets […]
I take a trip on Lake Michigan, 7 miles off shore to a remote island called Ile Aux Galets. The original name was given by French Explorers. It means "Island of Pebbles". Over the years, mispronunciation by English speakers evolved the name to Skillagalee Island. Although both names are used, [...]
We explore the ruins of an abandoned factory - formerly the Rowe Manufacturing Company - in rural Newaygo, Michigan. The internal power plant's structure still exists over a century later. The ruins have two, still flowing, water races. They used to provide power to a large manufacturing plant which produced [...]
In our zodiac rubber boat, which I affectionately call a “dinghy,” we wobbled over the waves of the St. Mary’s River to Lime Island for our annual family camping trip. Charlotte (8 -10) and Noah (3 -5) endured this ride differently. Charlotte embraced the splashing waves while Noah hunkered down […]
Walking up the stone stairway into the castle-looking prison a young family wearing pajama pants followed. Their four year old girl was leashed and their one year old was in mom’s arms. As we waited in line for our tickets to tour the Ohio State Reformatory I noticed the adults […]