A Boat tour to the offshore lighthouses west of Mackinaw City took us under the spectacular Mackinac Bridge, the 3rd longest suspension bridge in the world at just under 5 miles long. The tour was 3 hours and narrated by a historian from the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association. (GLLKA) The lights we saw mark the entrance to the Straits of Mackinaw and are built atop wooden cribs made like Lincoln Log structures and filled with gravel. The afternoon was beautiful but Lake Michigan was rough. Those of us on the top deck took a soaking now and then from spray but we stayed on top anyway.






The last lighthouse we saw was the St Helena Island light which is owned by the GLLKA and is under restoration. A Boy Scout troop from Ann Arbor was on the island and met our boat in their dingy . They have been working on this lighthouse for many years one week at a time in the summer. They are known as the "Lighthouse Troop" and 22 Eagle projects have come from the restoration. They brought out a bucket of stones on which they had painted the lighthouse and we could buy the stones for $1 supporting the troop. I can't buy objects and fill my 17 ft. trailer but I bought this one. It is a once a year offering and we took the tour on that day!
Today, a rainy day there are projects around my trailer and then I'll read. Tomorrow better. I'll go to the Soo locks.