We sadly leave Milwaukee. Mary Jean and Trena could have talked for another month and still wouldn’t say everything! They have known each other since 1960! Sisters!So Milwaukee has a bronze statue of The Fonz. Heyyyyyy!Downtown Milwaukee on the Milwaukee River.Milwaukee skyline
Wisconsin State Capitol, Madison WI
The Capitol sits at the top of a hill so it dominates the landscape.The Capitol looks like this on all four sides; it is shaped like an “X”.A different entrance.Looking up at the rotunda.This is the entrance to the Senate chambers. The entrance looks exactly the same for the House of Representatives and the Supreme Court. The doors were all locked so I was not able to see inside.An interior view.Downtown Madison was celebrating Taste of Madison, which drew several thousand to the Capitol. Good timing for us – we had to park about 10 blocks away, down hill!
Dixon IL
President Ronald Reagan grew up in this town. He worked as a lifeguard here, and graduated high school here, prior to leaving for Eureka College.
We stayed at this B&B in Dixon IL. It was built in 1854, and it is likely that Abraham Lincoln slept here at least a couple times, and Ronald Reagan as a child may have had friends who would have lived here.This is a beautiful house.Our room was exquisite!The parlor. It looks like we stepped back into the 1890s!Ceiling medallionThe LibraryDowntown DixonWe ate dinner here, a very nice Italian restaurant.The Dixon arch at night.
Whitefish Point Coast Guard Station in the early morning as we left. Lake Superior winds blew very loudly all night long, even though there was no storm – just wind, lots of wind! It sounded like a blizzard!This bumper sticker is pretty funny. We know what they mean.Dawn over Lake Superior.Lake SuperiorLake SuperiorLake Michigan. Both of us have seen Lake Michigan before, numerous times. In fact this was the only Great Lake we had seen prior to this trip. No one was around who we could ask to take our picture, so we had to do two singles…… this view of Lake Michigan is in Manistique MI.Lake MichiganManistique East Breakwater Lighthouse on Lake Michigan.We didn’t see any real live moose(s), but we saw these…… this one was wearing a tuxedo!Lake MichiganLake MichiganLake MichiganLake MichiganGreen BayGreen BayGreen BayLambeau Field, Green Bay WI – legendary home of the Green Bay Packers.Lambeau FieldLambeau FieldWe made it to Milwaukee to Trena’s (Mary Jean’s sister-in-law)! Here we all are: me, Trena, Rick (Trena’s son), Adrian (Rick’s daughter) and Mary Jean. We had a relaxing overnight visit with a steak cookout, and late night talking about the good old days.Rick and Mary Jean
After Mackinac Island, we headed north to Whitefish Point MI, which is home to a Coast Guard station, and the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. This point on Lake Superior is where ships from the west turn south toward the Sault Ste. Marie canals to enable passage southward. Many shipments of iron ore have passed through here on the way to Detroit.
Our first view of Lake Superior.Whitefish Point Light StationSo here we are on the shore of Lake Superior! Our fourth lake this trip!When we arrived, it looked like a storm.Two hours later, the sky had cleared quite a bit. Here is a ship turning southward.Sunset on Lake Superior (we woke up to sunrise on Lake Huron this morning!) This view is looking northward. Looking eastwardLooking southwardThe Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum. This was one of the stops I have really been looking forward to. The Edmund Fitzgerald was a large ship which sunk 17 miles from here in November 1975. I remember that shipwreck, primarily because it was memorialized by Gordon Lightfoot hit ballad The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. If you have some time, look it up and give it a listen. It is quite fascinating.White Shoal Lens. This is a second order lens (Outer banks lights are all fourth order lens). It has a 9 foot diameter and weighs 3500 pounds. Its light with 344 separate precision ground prisms can be seen 28 miles away!The museum contains artifacts from a number of shipwrecks.There have been over 6000 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes.The Edmund Fitzgerald sunk 17 miles from Whitefish Point. It was broken apart in a severe November storm and sunk 500+ feet deep. The entire crew of 29 men were lost.Scale model of the Edmund FitzgeraldArtifacts from the Edmund FitzgeraldThis is the bell from the Edmund Fitzgerald. The divers removed this bell, and replaced it with a replica. The divers did not look inside the ship, so they did not otherwise disturb the final resting place for the crew. A memorialSurfboat houseWe stayed here overnight. This was the Crews’ Quarters, and has been converted to a B&B.We ate here…… they go out on Lake Superior early every morning and bring in their haul of whitefish. They only serve what they caught that morning. They are open until 7 PM, or when they run out of fish, whichever comes first!Tahquamenon Falls (pronounced like phenomenon). The brown color is from tannic acid, which results from decomposing vegetation in the cedar, hemlock, and spruce forests upstream.Tahquamenon FallsWhitefish Point Light Station in action!
Background: I watched the movie Somewhere in Time back in the early 1980s. The movie starred Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve, and is a love story. It is set on Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw). Mackinac is a beautiful island, and is ranked among the top summer vacation islands in the world.
So let’s get the corny stuff out of the way first. I wanted to recreate some of the scenes in the movie. Here goes…
This is where the Jane Seymour character asks Christopher Reeve “Is it you?” Here they are kissing on the front porch of the Grand Hotel…Me and my bride. Front porch. Grand Hotel.They are sitting in a gazebo.Here is the gazebo now.Baxter’s Coin Shop was in the movie.
Getting to Mackinac Island
Driving over the Mackinac Bridge. This bridge spans the Mackinac Straits, which is the line between Lake Huron to the east, and Lake Michigan to the west.Our first view of Lake HuronShip on Lake MichiganWe arrived on the UP.There are only two ways to reach Mackinac Island: boat and small airplane. Our CadillacWe stayed at the Pine Cottage B&B. It was a cute old house.Approaching Mackinac IslandThere are no motor vehicles on the island. The only modes of travel are horse, bicycle, and walking.It’s like being transported back to the 1890s – the sound of horses clip-clopping, the slow pace. Historic Mission Church, a New England Colonial-style church built in 1829-1830 by Presbyterian missionaries.A beautiful street.There are many beautiful houses, with beautiful landscaping and colorful flowers.Mackinac Island is famous for its fudge. Here are the top two rated shops…A rainbow over Lake Huron!Historic Fort Mackinac, built by the British in 1781, relinquished to the United States in 1796.Historic Fort MackinacSunrise over Lake HuronSunrise over Lake HuronSunrise over Lake Huron with Mackinac Bridge in the disanceSunrise over Lake HuronMary Jean using one of the three modes of travel.Here we are at Lake Huron! Third lake this week!Round Island Passage Light.This is Arch Rock, one of the best photo ops on the island. From this vantage point, you see Lake Huron through the rock, and the sky above the rock. I took this picture in the evening. I took this one shortly after sunrise the next morning. We can’t decide which one to frame and put on the wall! What do you think?Lake Huron’s water is very clear. You can see the rocks near the shore.More Lake Huron views…Well here we are – our first look at the Mackinac Grand Hotel. Built in 1887, the front porch is the longest in the world (at least they claim that). Spectacular building. We had hoped to stay here overnight, but the smallest room was $769 per night, so we found a B&B instead.Mary Jean enjoys some sun on the porch.They have a dance every night in the summer. There is a strict dress code. After 6 PM, only dresses for women, and coat and tie for men.The dining room, where we had the famous Grand Luncheon Buffet!The view at our table.The carriage approaches.Sadly, we had to leave. Here was our taxi.One last view of Mackinac Bridge.It was a rough ride back to the UP.Wawatam Lighthouse, St. Ignace MI
Michigan State CapitolSenate chamberHouse of Representatives chamberHouse chamber ceilingGeorge Romney, Governor of Michigan 1963-1969. He was the father of current Utah Senator Mitt Romney.Portrait of President Gerald Ford. We are going to his Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids later this morning.Looking up at the rotunda.Farm in rural Michigan
Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum Grand Rapids MI
President Gerald R. Ford Presidential Museum in Grand Rapids MI. Mary Jean with First Lady Betty Ford.Statue of President Gerald R. Ford, our 38th President. He became president upon the resignation of President Richard M. Nixon on August 9, 1974. I remember watching President Nixon announce his resignation on August 8, 1974. Ford had become Vice President when Nixon nominated him upon the resignation of Vice President Spiro Agnew, who was under investigation for political corruption (bribes, etc.). Thus President Ford is the only person who became president without a national presidential election. He ran for election in the 1976 presidential election against Jimmy Carter. I was a senior in high school that year, and I was eligible to vote for the first time, and President Ford received my first ever vote for president. Unfortunately, he lost to Carter.Astronaut statuePresident Ford was born as Leslie Lynch King Jr. in Omaha NE (Nebraska’s only president), but his father severely abused his mother, so she divorced him and moved to Grand Rapids MI, where she met and married Gerald R. Ford. The child’s name was legally changed to Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. The quote in this picture is referring to his adoptive father.Ford grew up in Grand Rapids MIPresident Ford was perhaps our most athletic president. He was a star football player in high school, and went on to be a star lineman for the University of Michigan!Ford was an Eagle Scout.Ford served in the Navy during World War II.His boat, the USS Monterey’s biggest challenge was when it was hit by a typhoon in the Pacific Ocean.Prior to his presidency, Gerald Ford was a Congressman from Michigan. He rose through the ranks to become majority leader in the House. In 1972, President Nixon won re-election in a landslide, but oddly the Republicans did not win the house, which would have elevated Ford to Speaker of the House. If that would have happened, Ford likely would not have been nominated Vice President to replace Agnew, and thus would not have become president when Nixon resigned.President Nixon’s resignation letter.President Nixon was forced to resign because of his role in the Watergate scandal, which started in 1972 when some Nixon supporters broke into the Democrat headquarters at the Watergate Hotel in Washington DC, and they were caught. Nixon become involved later, primarily to cover up the break in. As the scandal mounted, Nixon likely obstructed justice in blocking investigators. When President Ford assumed office, he inherited a deeply divided and uncertain government and country. He had earned a very strong reputation for honesty and decency. President Ford issued a pardon for President Nixon, in an effort to close the book on Watergate. Most likely, this pardon was the primary reason he lost in 1976 to Jimmy Carter.President Ford’s Oval OfficePresident Ford’s Oval OfficeThe ceiling in President Ford’s Oval OfficeReplica of President Ford’s Cabinet Room. Mary Jean is sitting in the chair for the Secretary of Interior…… and I am sitting in the President’s chair.President Ford worked full steam, even though many people of the left tried to paint him as an “illegitimate” president.State dinner clothes and table settings.President Ford authorized leaving the US Embassy in Saigon in 1975, thus ending our involvement in the Vietnam War.The campaign of 1976.This is what 1976 looked like! The United States celebrated our 200th birthday all year – lots of patriotic events all year, all over the country! JM’s Monroe Singers performed patriotic concerts several times throughout the year.The Freedom Train came to Fredericksburg and set up at the FMC plant. I went though the displays on the Freedom Train, and the thing that I still remember most after all these years was seeing NBA star Bob Lanier’s size 21 shoes!Model of the USS Gerald R. Ford.This is a beautiful woman at a beautiful museum.Graves of President Gerald and First Lady Betty FordDowntown Grand Rapids MI
