When going through my Mackinac photos I realized that I had assembled a small collection of what I call “detaily” photos. Small bits of stuff that are often overlooked in a scene. This is just an example from one place. I do it all the time but don’t usually post it as subject matter. Hmmm…. 😉
We hadn’t originally intended to have extra time in St. Ignace, but a small schedule change allowed us a chance to visit Mackinac Island before heading just an hour up the road to Sault Ste. Marie. We made the best of the opportunity by booking a ferry trip to the island, exploring Fort Mackinac and visiting the Grand Hotel.
The town is extremely touristy, but it is quite picturesque and there are plenty of people watching opportunities. Getting to the fort requires a bit of a climb, but once there the views were worth it and it was quite interesting.
We retreated to the Pink Pony restaurant for lunch and to cool off. We had been debating whether to walk over to the Grand Hotel and had almost decided not to. But our helpful waiter asked us if we had been, then proceeded to convince us that we should make the effort. Then he told us about the “Secret Garden” that offers beautiful flowers and a nice view of the house. It wasn’t completely secret, but there were way fewer people there than there were up at the house.
We didn’t take the time or spend the money to go inside the house, but we did enjoy the classic views from outside. And I found the official Picture Spot so I could be sure to properly document our visit!
After our time in St. Clair, we made our way toward the Upper Peninsula, stopping for a night in St. Ignace. We learned the correct pronunciation – IGness, not igNACE – and managed to get it right and not embarrass ourselves. 😉
We were only there for a few hours, but managed to get a few photos of the marina and the lighthouse.
We learned on a previous visit that when visiting the U.P. having a Pasty is kind of a requirement. I managed to have a Breakfast Pasty at Bentley’s Cafe.
I realized a few weeks ago that I had not completed editing and processing my photos from our trip to Michigan in July. I finished them up a few days ago and have posted a gallery on my Adobe Portfolio page.
We spent a few days in the Port Huron area, staying a bit south in the town of St. Clair. It was our first time in that area, and gave a chance to catch up with Mark Graf that I posted about earlier. While in St. Clair we managed to spend some time in Port Huron, exploring the town, taking a boat cruise on the St. Clair River and visiting the Thomas Edison Depot Museum.
Readers of an Edison biography might remember that Thomas Edison lived in Port Huron during his early years, and as a 12 year old got his entrepreneurial start selling newspapers and confections on the train from Grand Trunk to Detroit. The railroad depot in Port Huron houses the Thomas Edison Depot Museum.
An interesting thing about the St. Clair River is that it marks the boundary between the United States and Canada. We realized that when we were looking across the river we were looking at Canada! And our phones would occasionally welcome us to Canada also! 😉
As it happened, we were in Port Huron during the lead up to the annual Blue Water Festival, so things were starting to get a bit busy. We managed to get in and out of town during the day and before the start of festivities without a lot of traffic issues, although a boat parade on one of the evenings would have been fun to see.
Overall Port Huron is a nice town on the water with plenty of things to see and do.
The conditions finally aligned so that I was able to capture a bit of color here in NC. Nothing that will win any prizes, but it works for me!
Technically I didn’t see the aurora, but my camera did…. 😉
I’ll be posting things in random order just because I am randomly processing photos!
On our way back from Bardstown, KY we stopped by Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg. They recently opened a new visitor center that I wanted to see, and of course their bourbon is pretty tasty. Wild Turkey is the name of the distillery and their flagship product, but the good stuff is called Russell’s Reserve, named for the three generations of the Russell family who have been making fine bourbon since 1954. In fact, the Wild Turkey distillery traces its roots all the way back to 1855.
We booked late, too late to get a tour of the facility, but not too late to have a tasting. Perhaps the next time we’ll have a little more notice and get to complete the tour. In the mean time we got to enjoy some refreshments and lunch in the Generations Lounge.
I’m a longtime fan of Calvin & Hobbes, and thought this strip would be fun for readers of this blog.
We got to Bardstown a day earlier than we anticipated. So what do you do with a bonus day in Bourbon country? You taste wine, of course!
Kentucky does have some pretty decent wine, it seems that Chambourcin and Cabernet Franc grow especially well here. So of course we picked up a few bottles. 🙂
We did stop by the Jim Beam Distillery, although they were not open. It’s still very scenic place and one we have enjoyed visiting in the past.
Kathy and I were in Asheville, NC last Wednesday, just prior to Hurricane Helene. We knew the storm was approaching, but of course at that time no one knew how severe it was likely to be. Those of us in central and western NC usually take comfort in our distance from the coast, which usually is sufficient to soften any blow.
Our first clue that trouble was brewing was on Thursday morning, when we drove to the Biltmore Estate for a previously scheduled tour with friends. The main entrance to the estate was closed due to flooding along the Approach Road, so they routed us in through a back entrance. Little did we know at that point that the French Broad River, which runs next to Biltmore, had already started to flood.
At 1:00 they announced that the estate would be closing and evacuated. And the storm hadn’t even come ashore in Florida yet! We went back to our motel to decide what to do. We were with friends who were traveling to Florida and had plans to meet my brother and sister in law in Waynesville that weekend, so we decided to stick it out. How bad could it be, right?
Now we know how bad.
Power went out about 4am as the brunt of the storm passed through. By Friday morning the damage was just starting to become apparent. Our friends left to head on to Florida, and Kathy and I headed to Waynesville. We made it, but just barely. What a mess.
In Waynesville, power had just come back on in town but there was no cell phone service, no cable and no internet. Businesses that were open were on a cash only basis, but all the ATMs were down because there was no network.
We stuck it out until Sunday, when it was clear that we could make it out safely. We headed toward Charlotte, figuring that we could at least get back home, although what we really wanted to do was to complete the rest of the trip by visiting Bourbon Country in Kentucky with my brother and sister in law. The map looks a little silly, but we made it and are now safely in Kentucky.
Needless to say we know that we are very fortunate and are counting our blessings. Many were not so fortunate.
I’ve finally finished sorting and processing my photos from our Yellowstone & Grand Teton trip in May. They can be found at my Adobe Portfolio site, along with photos from many of our past adventures.