LAKE SUPERIOR STATE UNIVERSITY AND SOO LOCKS

Wednesday, July 15 – Can you believe it's the middle of July already? Summer's flying by! This morning we began our sightseeing here in Saulte Ste. Marie, MI, with a stop at Lake Superior State University (LSSU). LSSU is situated on 115-acre campus making it the smallest state university in Michigan. Enrollment is more than 2,500 undergraduates.

It sits on a high bluff overlooking the St. Mary's River and the International Bridge to Canada. The area that currently makes up the campus of Lake Superior State University served as Fort Brady from 1894 to 1944. The military base used during World War II as a defense base for the Soo Locks.

The view from the Student Center…International Bridge.

The institution is one of only three universities in the United States to offer the robotics specialization in the ABET/TAC accredited manufacturing engineering technology, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and mechanical engineering bachelor of science degrees. LSSU is home to one of the best robotics educational facilities in North America. Also, Lake State was the first in the country to offer an accredited four-year Fire Science program and is one of three such programs in the nation.

College of Science, Crawford Hall.

Student and Conference Center.

They've converted and remodeled many of the military buildings into classrooms, offices, and dormitories. What a great use for a closed military installation!

From Fort to Future, former officer's housing is now multidiscipline housing.

The former Fort Brady barracks is now a men's residence.

Again, Marsha found the landscaping awesome. She said she has never seen so many varieties of lilies.

We enjoyed our walk around campus and found it very beautiful. If you are in the area, take a walkabout. We think you will enjoy it.

After the University visit, we drove a short way down the street to see freighters passing through the famous Soo Locks. The Locks are used to raise and lower ships in the different water levels between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. There are nearly 11,000 vessels that pass through the Locks annually hauling 90 million tons of cargo.

Administration Building.

The four Locks operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers - the Davis, Sabin, MacArthur, and Poe locks. From the time a vessel approaches the lock until the time it leaves takes between 40-60 minutes.  Once the vessel is secured inside the lock it takes 15-20 minutes to raise or lower the boat 21 feet (just over a foot a minute!). We watched vessels come and go from the brand-new observation platform situated at the Lock’s edge. It takes 22 million gallons of water to lift a boat.

Taken from a photo at the Soo Locks Visitor’s Center.

We watched a few freighters enter the locks from one end and exit the other. This tour boat came in from Lake Superior and travel through a lock to Lake Huron. The following photos will show how much the water level changes.

Tour boat entering from Lake Superior which is 21 feet higher than Lake Huron.

After the adjustment of the water level is made. Look at the back wall to see the difference in the water level.

Gates of the lock.

Ready to depart.

It's amazing to see these huge ships being raised or lowered in the Locks. This is another sight we really enjoyed and one we definitely recommend for fellow travelers.

Don’t miss the Soo Locks Visitor’s Center. It has excellent displays, information and pamphlets.

We will continue our tour of Saulte Ste. Marie in the next post. What a great area.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

SHORT AUTO TOUR OF SAULTE STE. MARIE, MI

Tuesday, July 14 – We moved North this morning to Saulte Ste. Marie, Michigan. We are again at a Kewadin Indian Casino. The campground is pretty welcoming although it only has 30 amp electric hookups. There is a place to fill our water tanks and a dump station is available.

Looking right.

Looking left.

We took a quick walk through the casino after checking in at the main desk. It is a very beautiful building. You can see the Indian influence in the architecture. It is one of the larger casinos we've stopped at outside of Las Vegas.

After getting settled in our campsite, we headed into town to do some auto sightseeing. It's overcast and windy today with a chance of rain, so we are putting off our sightseeing on foot until tomorrow.

Saulte Ste. Marie is the oldest city in Michigan and one of the oldest cities in the United States. It is located in the Northernmost part of Michigan's upper peninsula. It sits on the St. Mary's river, the main waterway between Lake Huron and Lake Superior. The main tourist attraction here is the famous Soo Locks that lift huge Great Lakes Freighters up into Lake Superior. The other attraction is the International Bridge linking USA to Canada. We won’t be going to Canada this trip. Marsha is thrilled that she doesn’t have to cross this 14,784' long bridge.

We did stop at one of the historical churches, Holly Name of Mary Pro-Cathedral Church. This church is also known as St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral. The historic church is one of the oldest Catholic parishes in the United States and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984. It is also the oldest Catholic Cathedral in Northern Michigan.

The Stations of the Cross are so simple and beautiful.

The ceiling is beautiful.

Time to stop at the store to re-stock our pantry and get a few odds and ends. Check back tomorrow and tour Saulte Ste. Marie, MI, with us.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!

A DAY OF REST & RELAXATION

Monday, July 13 – A DAY OF REST & RELAXATION.......yeah, right! Our intentions were to have a relative low key day of relaxation here in Hessel, Michigan. We stopped at the tiny town market for a cup of coffee and a muffin which was a good start for being casual.

From there, we headed to the Great Lakes Boat Building School in Cedarville, MI. This small 2-year college offers an degree in boat building. This is a non-profit educational center teaching the art and craft of traditional and contemporary wooden boat building.

They provide a comprehensive course of study in the methods, materials, and professionalism required of today's wooden boat builders. The first year prepares the student for a career in the wooden boat industry. The second year is geared to advanced boat building and the construction involved in a modern yacht. They have been in existence since 2006 and have over 90% job placement. They actually don't have enough students to fill the job opportunities. This upcoming fall they already have 20 of the 24 slots filled, three being girls and one guy coming all the way from France.

Two boats they just finished this past term.

Marsha makes sure the job was done right.

The first projects that the students work on is making a stool and a tool chest. Paul is admiring the wonderful work this student did.

State of the art workshop.

Paul is drooling. He would love to have a shop like this.

Marsha couldn’t get over all the 100’s of clamps they had.

One of the old wooden boats.

They also offer workshops in metal casting, building your own Northeaster Dory, Paddle Making, Pram building, building a Dinghy, Knots & Rigging, Kayak building, Marine Finishes, Photography and building your own paddle board. So if you're looking for a way to spend several weeks this summer, come on UP North and build yourself a boat! If you can’t build one, at least take the tour. It is very informative.

On the way home, we stopped at a couple gift shops, a Northern Spruce furniture store, a saw mill, and decided on taking a hike in the William B. Derby Nature Preserve. So much for a casual day of rest and relaxation.

The Derby Nature Preserve is a 200-acre preserve located right in Cedarville, MI. It includes a 3.5-mile loop trail that travels along the inner Les Cheneaux channel shore. This trail is a beautiful hike through fairly level terrain. It loops through a dense forest of predominately Northern Spruce trees. The trail is made up of the spongy material left over from falling spruce needles and is nice to hike upon but be careful of the Michigan limestone sticking up through the needles and especially the Spruce roots that frequently reach out to trip you.

This delicate fern grew all along the forest floor.

After that casual morning, we eventually returned to the RV to relax for the remainder of the day. On Tuesday, we head north to Saulte Ste Marie, MI, so stop back and travel along with us.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see y’all back real soon. Have a great day!