• Monday-What'sUP July 28 - 08:47 am

Last week Sherri Juntikka was touring Mackinac Island and this week she takes us to Sault Ste. Marie with a look at the Soo Locks. Sherri's second photo shows the difference in the level of the water inside and outside of the Locks…pretty amazing how they move that water around with the locks, so boats can come and go like that.

While she was on the observation deck, the Soo Locks Boat Tours was making a trip through the locks, so Sherri snapped a few shots of them coming in. It must be neat to be on a boat in the Locks, watching the sides go UP or down, depending which direction you're going through.

Sherri's last photo is a favorite of mine in the Soo. Studebaker's Restaurant…I've never eaten there, so I cannot vouch for the food, but it's a favorite for me, as I love that they have an old Studebaker car out in front. What a great way to get people's attention.

As if the locks aren't amazing enough, the first iteration of the U.S. Soo Locks was completed in May 1855! Then the Poe Lock on August 3, 1895, the Davis Lock in 1914 and the Sabin Lock, in 1919.

And finally the MacArthur Lock in 1943.

So most of them are nearly 100 years old, or more, with the MacArthur at 72. Now that's mind boggling!

Incidentally, The Sabin Lock lock has been placed in caretaker status and is no longer used. To get the Sabin lock up and running again would cost roughly $5 million.

The Davis and Sabin locks have been slated for replacement since 1986 with a new 'Super-Lock', which would provide a second lock capable of accommodating the "lakers". Groundbreaking for the new lock project was held on June 30, 2009, although the bulk of the funding necessary to complete the project has not yet been appropriated by Congress. Surprise, surprise. (Don't get me started!)

[Lookie, no nasty, rude jokes here about an "Old Poe Lock"!]

FRNash: You make things so interesting to read out here.

I always go through there on my way to Canada.

I can remember when my family and I took the Soo Locks Boat Tour; I must have been around eight years old.

I loved visiting there. Some day I will go back,
but I don't think it'll be for a while. So many
other places that I haven't yet been to.

Thanks for sharing your adventure.

Another one of my favorite places in MI.
Thanks again, Sherri.