June 3rd Around Mackinaw City, Mich.

officer's latrine at the fort

Mackinac Bridge-some construction

This exhibit is so cool.  It is like a hologram.  First it shows a building, then how they excavated the site.

66 degrees, very pleasant.  We drove from St. Ignace to Mackinaw City by crossing the Mackinac Bridge, which is about 5 miles long.  It was built in 1957.  Toll is $3.50 each way.  (Editorial:  new bridges are needed in the Seattle area, and I say let the folks who drive across them pay a toll.  People in other parts of the country sure do.) 
According to a sign at the state park in M.C., it is the longest span in the world.  I think that may be outdated, thinking about one I've seen in Scandanavia on the Net.  It is 8614', while the Golden Gate bridge is 6450'.  The foundations are 115' x 135'-1/3rd the size of a football field.  200' above the water's surface.  12,580 wires, eah about 2/10ths inch in diameter are bundled to form the 24-1/2" diameter main cable.  If the wires were laid end to end, they'd circle the earth 1.7 times.  If we had not taken 10 minutes to drive into a state park, we would not have seen this sign nor the great view of the bridge.  We hadn't seen this information anywhere else or in any brochures or travel books.  This is what is neat about this trip.  Want to drive through there?  Sure.

M.C. has blocks and blocks of motels and hotels, too.  We've never seen one advertise campfires, but several offered those on their signs.  One even said bonfire.  Winter activities here include dog sled races and outhouse races.  The brochure said the team must consist of 5 people-one on the hole and 4 pushing or pulling.  Reminds me of the downhill snow canoe races in Anchorage.
The area's Indian name was Michinnimakinong.  When the French arrived they changed it to Michilimackinac.  Fort Michilimackinac - this is the longest running archaelogical dig in America, since they have been working here since 1959.  Over 2 million artifacts have been dug up and over 1 million animal bones from the animals that provided food to the inhabitants.
Mill Creek -2 amateur archeologists discovered this site in 1972.  It was built in the 1700's to provide lumber for area forts.  Two men, sawing all day, could saw 14 boards 20' long.  A small sawmill could cut 140.  A Scottish trader names Robert Campbell built the mill.  So, 200 years ago this area was deforested, but it is a lush forest again.  We took a 30 minute hike on a great path.  There is a longer path, a zip line and suspension bridge where you walk only on a 2' x 12'.  We saw ferns like we see in the Northwest, but other interesting varieties, too.  A sign said "Take nothing but pictures and leave nothing but footprints."
On a Michigan license plate, next to the number: In God We Trust
Drove 17 miles to Cheboygan.  Seems like there was a '40's song about this town.  Not much there, but Tom did find a barber.  A tissue plant and a Coast Guard ice cutter that cuts ice in the strait to keep it open for ships.  Play on names:  Bark, Bath and Beyond - a boutique pet bathhouse.  Picked up a couple of things at Walmart.  Tip:  we haven't had to use an ATM yet, because we stop at a WM when we see one, divide our order and each of us can get $100 cash back free.  Seems every town around here with pop. of 10,000 or so has one.