Lighthouse on the Straits of Mackinac
Looking back at Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel
The state marina on Mackinac Island with Fort Mackinac in the background
Once arriving in Mackinaw City we took on some fuel and then got a place at the municipal marina.
Mackinaw City has a large number of tourist shops along downtown. Captain Keith and I did some walking around and a small amount of shopping. The highlight of this stop however was seeing the Icebreaker Mackinaw.
The Mackinaw WAGB-83
The US Coast Guard Cutter the Mackinaw WAGB-83 was built as part of the war effort in WWII. Just 10 days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, congress authorized the construction of the "Mack" . Tremendous increases in the movement of iron ore, steel, limestone, and coal for the nations mills was necessary, and the "Mack" would be instrumental in this effort by keeping the Great Lakes open even in the winter. She was built in Toledo, OH at a cost of 10 million dollars. Commissioned in December of 1944, she was the largest icebreaker in the world. The "W" in her name was used for all Coast Guard ships after WWII. "AGB" stands for Arctic Glacier Breaker. Her innovative features included a 12 foot diameter bow propeller which draws water from beneath the ice ahead, both weakening the ice and sending water along the sides of the hull reducing ice friction. The Mackinaw also has a heeling system which can shift nearly 112,000 gallons of ballast water from side to side in 90 seconds, allowing a rocking motion which assists the ship in freeing itself from the ice. At full load she displaced 5,252 tons and drew 19.2 feet of water. She served 62 years and was decommissioned in 2006 and is now a museum open to the public.
Mackinaw's Bell
Mackinaw Bow
Southern Style docked across from the Mackinaw
After just one night in Mackinaw City, we cruised to Petoskey for two nights.
Cruising under the Mackinac Bridge
The city of Petoskey sits on the shoreline of Little Traverse Bay. We stayed at the municipal marina in downtown and this was a great spot. There is easy access to downtown which has numerous restaurants and retail shops. Our full day in Petoskey was Friday September 7th. Captain Keith played golf at the Bay Harbor Golf Club in the morning and said it was a very nice course. While Captain Keith was golfing, Pengi and I rode the bike to Petoskey State Park.
The fog over Little Traverse Bay Friday morning
It was a 4 mile ride to the park but they have a wonderful bike/walking trail called the Little Traverse Wheelway.
Views along the Wheelway
The municipal marina (picture taken from the Wheelway) with Southern Style just visible about mid picture
View of Little Traverse Bay from the beach at the Petoskey State Park
Pengi and I were on a mission to find the state rock known as the Petoskey Stone. These are not really stones, rather they are fossils that started their existence 350 million years ago (that is before the dinosaurs were here). Petoskey stones started out as living corals called Hexagonaria percarinata-"hex" referring to the six sided shape of the coral structure. They lived in the ancient salt water sea that covered Northern Michigan millions of years ago. The coral lived in colonies and survived on plankton. When the coral died their hexagonal structure was left behind in the silt and mud. With pressure and time, they became fossilized. Colors range from near white to dark brown depending on the content of the surrounding sediment that surrounded the coral when it died. Much of the sediment around Petoskey stones contained some amount of petroleum, therefore these stones often glow under a black light. They are called Petoskey stones because they are found most commonly in the region of Northern Michigan around Little Traverse Bay and the city of Petoskey. Although Pengi and I still prefer searching for Scotch Bonnets on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, Petoskey stone hunting was also a lot of fun.
Some of our treasures, Petoskey stones
It was quite a successful day for finding Petoskey stones. When Captain Keith returned from golfing we walked around town for a bit.
Even though we are back in the USA, we are sporting our gear from friends we made in Canada. Doug and Rose from Snug Harbor are in our thoughts. We hope to see them again, maybe in the winter if they need to get away from the cold in Canada for a bit. There is definitely a place for them to visit on Southern Style.
Friday evening we ate dinner at the City Park Grill. This spot was frequented by Ernest Hemingway when he spent summers here in the Northern Michigan area. After dinner we caught the sunset over Lake Michigan.
Clock tower at the marina at dusk
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