• Friday-What'sUP April 27 - 09:51 pm

A double treat today with the inclusion of two Michigan landmarks in one photo by Paul Roberts. I like this view of the Mackinac Bridge, with Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse included. It gives us an eyeful of the old and the new when it comes to lighting the way for ships passing by. When Bridge construction was completed in 1957, the bright lights on the new span made the beacon of the Lighthouse obsolete, thus it was decommissioned that same year. A passing of the guard, so to speak.

What a treat! A nice tribute to the old lighthouses of the Great Lakes and the beautiful bridge. The bridge was operational in 1957-58 and while I was working in Detroit during the summers, while not attending NMU, it was simply breath-taking to smell and breathe the fresh air of the UP. We knew we were about 4 1/2 hours from home when crossing the "Mighty Mac". Such a work of art and an example of man's abilities...and a Good Morning!

Nice picture, Paul. Lighthouse pictures are always my favorite. I think I was standing in almost the same spot when I took this picture last fall:
https://pasty.com/pcam/albuo85/MacLightBridge
I also love that you can see the bridge and the lighthouse in one photo.

Paul & Cindy - great pictures!

Hi
You can now go inside the lighthouse and take a guided tour up into the tower. Great view and interesting facts. Compared to most of the lighthouse keeping jobs, out in remote areas, this was an easy post in a town with shops.

That is really a fantastic shot, two for the price of one.

That is a great picnic spot for a break on the ride through also, first leg of the trip to the Copper Country.

I couldn't even imagine being a lighthouse keeper at some of the remote areas such as Crisp Point, or even worse, Stannard Rock!! I guess if you were a hermit or anti-social it wouldn't be bad, but it must raise heck with the phychy after a while......

Great Lakes' lighthouses always remind me of my uncle George Luoma who, as a civilian, worked for the Ninth District US Coast Guard back in the fifties. He was an electronics genius of sorts and had numerous awards and prize money from the USCG for his inventions. In fact, in 1956 he was awarded one of the largest monetary awards ever given by the USCG for his work on a Remote Frequency Selector. The reason I think of him when I see a lighthouse is because he designed the first automated light on the Great Lakes, a light on the St. Marys River. From his fledgling design, the entire Great Lakes lighthouse system was automated. Unfortunately, his name is not revered by the members of the Lighthouse Keepers Association.

I've often thought the same thing about Stannard Rock, Capt. Paul, and have read about some of the keepers being removed from that lighthouse. My favorite, I think, is Huron Island Lighthouse, a beautiful spot.

.....and, Capt. Paul, it probably raises heck with a hermit's spellling too ;-)

Cindy,,,,powerful photo, thanks for sharing!
LuAnn

Nice boat about to go under the bridge on the 18:02 BridgeCam shot.

Hey Ert,
It looks like that's the Coast Guard boat and it's still there, so I'm wondering if it's sitting there waiting for a freighter to come through. I heard through the grapevine today, that a freighter might be coming through the canal today. Keep your eyes on the Bridge Cam and maybe we'll be lucky enough to catch it as it passes under the bridge! If it does, I hope someone will "save" the shot and email it to me, then I can post it for everyone to see! :->

Looks like the 2 Coast Guard are doing some practicing Mary

OK, I've got the scoop on why they were there now....it was Senior Walk at Tech today, so they were out there to discourage Seniors from jumping off the bridge or to rescue them if they did. Thanks Colleen! :->

Oh, how funny! Or sad, I guess, depending on how you look at it. The Coast Guard gets called on for some mighty strange jobs..... My boyfriend's son-in-law, who is in the Coast Guard, is about to be stationed in New Mexico!!! Bet you didn't know the Coast Guard had business in NM, did you?

I would bet he is going to be stationed on Elephant Butte, about 150 miles south of Albuquerque on the Rio Grande River. Seems like an odd place to have a coast guard station, but there truly is one there......