Lights along Lake Huron
ALPENA, Mich -- My "spring break" -- a drive north along the Lake Huron coast of Michigan -- was more like a break from spring.
The farther north I went, the more ice littered the stark beaches and filled the empty harbors of the tiny coastal towns.
Despite the weather, the majestic lighthouses and scenic overlooks along the way provided a refreshing -- perhaps I should say bracing -- excuse for a journey.
Adding to the enjoyment, for me at least, was the presence of my two older sons. Their high-school and college breaks happened to coincide, and, though not possessing much of an interest in lighthouses or maritime history, the boys agreed to keep their old man company while driving scenic roads and walking sandy beaches.
Alas for my sons, there were no bikinis on these beaches. There weren't even any hooded sweat shirts, except for ours.
The coast was waking from winter, barely, like the earliest hellebores and snowdrops in the gardens back home. But the many lighthouses along Michigan's Lake Huron coast are perennial, of course. And my quest was to track down as many as I could.
Several are on rocks too far into the lake for a good view from land or are inaccessible for other reasons. But land-bound visitors can examine and photograph many, several of which are open to the public in warm weather. Several also still operate as automated navigational beacons, but the lighthouse keepers, alas, are long gone.
Like all the Great Lakes, Huron is subject to violent storms. The second-largest of the Great Lakes, it has claimed more than 1,000 sailing vessels.
Port Huron to Bay City
Our journey started at Port Huron at the lake's southern tip, where spring had arrived in earnest.
Although pleasure boats were yet to be seen in this popular summertime destination, there was no snow or ice remaining at the town's pleasant waterfront, where we dined at a microbrewery.
Port Huron is home to several attractions, including the restored train station where a young Thomas Edison once worked. Today it sits under the huge Blue Water Bridge, which connects Port Huron to Canada at the mouth of the St. Clair River.
Here the river looked amazingly blue, like the water in a newly painted swimming pool.
At Port Huron, we also found the first two lighthouses on our journey.
The first is actually the lightship Huron, now a small, permanently docked floating museum. In warmer months, guests can climb aboard and tour the ship, which once sailed to trouble spots to help with navigation in times of need. The ship was retired in 1970 after a half-century of service.
Our first real lighthouse is Michigan's oldest. The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse was built in 1829. Today it's located on a small Coast Guard station next to a public park.
The park provides a great spot for viewing the old brick structure, a classic conical tower that rises 82 feet above the lake. The Coast Guard is negotiating with the city of Port Huron to take title to the still-working lighthouse, which potentially could hold a museum.
Leaving Port Huron, we drove up Mich. 25, a two-lane stretch of scenic highway that hugs the coast for the entire length of the state's "thumb."
Our immediate destination was the Port Sanilac Light, a unique octagon-shaped tower built in 1886, with attached keeper's quarters.
From there, we hit lighthouses at Harbor Beach, Pointe aux Barques and Port Austin.
Unfortunately, we were weeks too early for the opening of the many small museums that dot the coast and celebrate the area's heritage. We did nose around a few sites, though, including the restored old buildings at the Huron City Museums near the tip of the thumb. On Fridays and Saturdays in July and August, visitors can tour a collection of 11 restored buildings, including a general store, a rooming house and a coastal lifesaving station, which date from 1881.
Today there's not much left of Huron City, originally a lumber town, except for the museum.
We ended our day in Bay City, once a lumber and factory town that today caters to tourists. Many of the historic buildings in downtown Bay City have been preserved and have a number of shops and restaurants.
Be sure to see the State Theatre, a beautiful art deco gem built in 1930 and featuring an Aztec temple decor that captures the whimsy of the heyday of downtown movie palaces. The theater hosts many events and the interior box office is open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Although I got up early, watching the sun rise over the chemical plants on the Saginaw River (which can be surprisingly lovely), I never located the historic navigational light there. The light is easily visible from boat tours -- during summer, of course.
Bay City to Tawas City
Next we headed north from Bay City on the very same U.S. 23 that becomes Columbus' High Street farther south. The route hugs the Lake Huron coast all the way to Mackinaw City.
There are many small parks, beaches and harbors that provide public access, and the scenery was magnificent. The bare trees, which made it easier to see the lake, are one bonus of this time of year.
Most of the coastline is private property. Thousands of homes and summer cottages, from tiny fishing shacks to veritable lakefront mansions, line Lake Huron. In some locations, the shacks and mansions even share a beach.
I was moved to think of all those summer folk, from all walks of life, soothing their souls with panoramic, sunrise views of that brilliant, powerful body of water.
At one stretch north of Bay City, the pride of ownership has manifested itself in myriad decorative signs identifying property, with names such as "Cleerman's Cottage," "The Mirandas' Decision" and "Rainbow's End."
Decorative lighthouses, used as mailboxes, business signs or just lawn ornaments, also dot the coast.
Tawas City to Cheboygan
Our first example of the real thing north of Saginaw Bay was the Tawas Point Lighthouse, built on a dramatic spit of land arcing to form the natural harbor at the town of Tawas City. A state park surrounds the lighthouse and includes a small museum and gift shop.
The Alcona Historical Society maintains a small warm-weather museum at the Sturgeon Point Lighthouse, another old beacon set on a point with a dramatic view of the lake. Several fishing vessels dating back almost 100 years and other mementos also can be seen on the grounds, which are open year-round.
We stopped for lunch in Alpena, first visiting the wonderful little Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, which also is open all year.
The museum sits adjacent to the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, a large stretch of Lake Huron where more than 200 vessels have met a watery fate.
The weather being a bit too cold to dive (and we're not divers anyway), we contented ourselves with perusing the many shipwreck exhibits.
The museum also contains a very cool semicircular video screen about 7 feet high. Visitors can step inside to view life-size videos of Lake Huron shipwrecks, as if they were seeing them from inside a diving helmet. The effect was a bit disorienting -- I'm glad I ate my big lunch after our visit.
Speaking of seasickness, the museum also contains a mock-up of a wooden sailing ship of the late 19th century, complete with painted backdrops of raging waves, audio of a storm and creaking planks, and lanterns "rocking" with the "rolling" ship. Fortunately, it actually stands quite still.
Next, we continued on to the two lighthouses at Presque Isle, which date from 1840 and 1870. Each is open to the public beginning in mid-May. I found it fascinating to note how much more "modern" the later lighthouse, lithe and tall, looked compared with the short, squat older one.
Forty Mile Point Light marked the point where winter almost beat me. I had to wade through banks of plowed snow to access the structure, built something like an old brick schoolhouse with a beacon light on top.
We ended our day, and our journey north, at Cheboygan.
The Cheboygan Crib Light, built in 1884, was once on a pier 2,000 feet out in the lake. Today it's still located on the water, but it has been moved to a city park at the entrance to Cheboygan Harbor. After getting a couple of pictures, we retired to our motel on the banks of the lovely Cheboygan River.
Sitting on my room's balcony, we watched as a swan floated down the river toward Crib Light and the open lake, and took heart that spring was, indeed, on the way.
The drive along the mighty lake had been beautiful, even inspiring.
Still, I vowed to my sons that the next time they traveled with me, it would be to warmer climes. (I made no promises about bikinis, however.)