After yesterday’s trek with a country twist, today’s offering promises something out of the ordinary. For me anyway. Not a hint of nature, unless you want to count some shots of the Detroit River. I didn’t even see a seagull cruising in the skies above.
I went to visit the Grosse
Isle North Channel Lighthouse, located on the Detroit River’s biggest
island, a/k/a Grosse Ile, which, according to Wikipedia, is 9.6 miles (24.9 kilometers) long
and 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) wide.
The Lighthouse was decommissioned in 1963 and is now closed to the public and its structure sits on private property. However, the Grosse Ile Historical Society, once a year, on the second Sunday in September, conducts their annual Lighthouse tour. There are four groups of twenty-four people, who are taken by bus and escorted by a member of the Historical Society along the narrow dock to this Lighthouse. All donations paid for the tour are used for upkeep of the structure.
Commemorating 1906 and celebrating Grandparents Day.
I booked this trip a month ago and kept my fingers crossed the weather would be good. Last year, I likewise registered/paid in advance, and the day of the tour was rainy so I didn’t go.
I was happy the event was taking place on the same date as Grandparents Day, (here in the U.S. a day to honor your grandparents), because the Lighthouse was built in 1906, the same year my maternal grandmother was born.
I often mention my grandmother in my blog posts. She was born November 19, 1906 in Ariss, a tiny farming community near Guelph, Ontario. She had eight siblings. Six of them were boys who grew up and bought their own farms near my great grandparents, living in that rural area until their deaths. Likewise for her two sisters, who moved closer to town, but never forgot their Ariss roots. Wilhelmina, or “Minnie” as my grandmother was known, was the exception, as the only one of the Klein kids to stray to the “Big City” … that “Big City” being Toronto, where she worked in the manufacturing industry and met my grandfather. This picture is from 1926 of my grandparents with my mom.
So, the way I figure it, 1906 was a very good year for new beginnings … Minnie Godard, née Klein, and the Grosse Ile North Range Lighthouse. Technically, a portion of the Lighthouse was built in 1904, but the permanent fixture, the Grosse Ile North Channel Front Range Lighthouse, which I toured today, was built onto its current concrete foundation in the year 1906.
The Lighthouse.
Originally there were two lighthouses on this island. They were known as the Grosse Isle South Channel and Grosse Isle North Channel Lighthouses and their range lights guided mariners sailing along Grosse Isle. The South Channel Lighthouse structure is gone and only this historic structure remains. The black-and-white photo by the U.S. Coast Guard, featured in the header image shows the Lighthouse, circa 1904, on its original structure.
The Lighthouse may look tall in this old photo, but its actual height is just 40 feet. It is not as narrow inside as I suspected it might be. If anything was narrow, it was the dock/pier upon which you must walk carefully to get to the Lighthouse. As you see above (and below in my photos), it is a skinny pathway and on either side is a lot of water, perhaps a little daunting to one that does not know how to swim (like me). I wondered how close the water would be to the pier area, as we are five inches higher than normal due to heavy rains in the Spring. I was surprised to find plenty of clearance. My worries were unfounded (as usual).
I arrived shortly before our tour departure time of 1:00 p.m. There were many people milling about on the front lawn of the Grosse Ile Historical Society. I figured they were just like me, early arrivals for the 1:00 p.m. tour. I guessed wrong as they were actually tour members of a lighthouse club. I didn’t know that I would get a crash course in lighthouse lingo and meet some people who are enthusiastic about visiting lighthouses around North America. Who knew? Of the four groups of 24 persons that would tour the Lighthouse today, the first two groups were members of a club known as the “United States Lighthouse Society” and this was news to me. So 46 members of this group were on the first day of a seven-day tour, beginning in Detroit. The tour was entitled “Lake Erie North” with stops along Lake Erie in Chatham, Dunville, Simcoe and then on to Niagara Falls. They will visit a whopping 25 lighthouses this week.
I learned that all persons in this group have “lighthouse passports” which resemble a regular passport, and just as you get stamps at various ports of calls or countries you visit in a regular passport, they similarly covet a stamp marking their visit at each lighthouse. One woman in our 1:00 p.m. group, was not with the tour group, just attending as she is a lighthouse aficionado, and she wanted her passport stamped with today’s adventure. She told me she was already on her second passport of lighthouse visits and showed me her last entry which is the Grosse Ile Lighthouse.
So I was the only person who was a “newbie” in our 1:00 p.m. group, as I’d never been in a lighthouse before. The group was warm and friendly as they regaled me with tales of where they had toured in the past and what they would see on this trip. They will visit two lighthouses in Michigan today: the Grosse Ile Lighthouse and the Belanger Park Lighthouse in River Rouge. I was rather red-faced when I told them I never knew River Rouge, (a nearby city), had a lighthouse.
We left the museum, which is actually a former train depot built in 1904.
Vintage-type signs all around the depot/museum describe life back when this was a bustling depot and commerce in the area was done by train until 1931 when the Grosse Ile Parkway and “free bridge” were finished.
The bus driver stopped along the shoreline as we traveled to Hennepin Point. Our guide, a member of the Historical Society, narrated stories of historical significance to the island, including the homes of the wealthy homeowners who made their fortunes in local products like Vernors (soft drink) and Kelsey-Hayes (automotive parts).
We traveled along a row of stately homes on Lighthouse Point Drive. Once off the bus, we walked toward the Lighthouse. Once a year, the owner of the home (who owns Mans Lumber) permits these four tours to be conducted. We assembled on the homeowner’s front lawn by the shoreline, approximately 50 feet from the Lighthouse which sits on a 25-foot square concrete pier. The wooden walkway is actually a private boat dock. I asked if the five inches of above-normal rainfall covered the pier in the Spring and it did. Good thing no one had to light the lantern if waves were lapping at the pier!
I had read up on the history of the lighthouse and its restoration through the years. I knew it sustained much damage this past Winter, when the Polar Vortex froze most of the Detroit River solid and the ice piled up and thick chunks plowed into the Lighthouse base and railings causing much damage. You can see the ice chunks and damage by clicking here:
I saw the solid ice and ice chunks at Bishop Park, also on the Detroit River, and did a post about it. I was amazed at such a sight of the entire River being solid ice and waves had frozen in mid-air. It was a sight to behold. The Lighthouse was partially repaired and tomorrow the scaffolding will go up and painting and further restoration will begin.
We followed our guide who allowed eight persons access at a time. We were told there were 51 steps to ascend to reach the eight-sided lantern room, where all but two are the original windows/casings.
The steps were steep in the circular staircase. The inside was not well lit and the wood paneling was dark making it difficult to ascend the steps. This was a view along the way.
The last 11 steps had no railing. My tour buddies were all good with the steps, having done countless lighthouse tours in the past, but I was dealing with my eyeglasses, still dark from being outside, and the steep stairs. We arrived in the lantern tower. This is how it looks from the outside.
This is the view from the lantern tower:
Here at the lantern tower we were given a lecture on the Lighthouse, its significance in guiding mariners, as well as its various Lighthouse Keepers through the years. And then there was the trip down again. I was dreading it and I have to tell you that my legs were still wobbly as I walked across the wooden ramp which is a private boat dock used to access the Lighthouse
Here are some photos of the Lighthouse against a very dark sky with many brooding clouds.
When we finished the tour and waited to board the bus back to the depot, some tour members spotted four fawns in the bushes in a neighbor’s yard and the Mama deer loped across the driveway as we were boarding. I’d already tucked the camera back in the case, so no pics. It was an interesting and fun trip.
[Photo credit for header photo: United States Coast Guard]
Linda Schaub
WALKIN', WRITIN', WIT & WHIMSY 
Well it sounds like you might be bitten by the Lighthouse bug Linda! You could get your walking in and passport stamped! A new goal!
I’ve seen a few myself down along Oregon and the California coast.
Your Lighthouse buddies would know about the Lighthouse that was on Triangle island.https://www.lighthousefriends.com/light.asp?ID=1203
The location was not a good one!
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Yes Wayne – I’m thinking I should check out this Bellanger Park lighthouse since it is so close to where I live – I truly knew nothing about it. I only knew about this Grosse Ile Lighthouse from a story I read in the newspaper a few years ago and then my friend and her husband went and toured it two years ago and she posted a picture on Facebook standing in front of it at the shoreline. You cannot see it from land as it is on private property and it is quite woodsy all around. (Hence the deer and four fawn right under our noses!) I’ve not been on the waterways to view it. I had no idea there was a lighthouse society/group and a nice couple I met from Arizona told me about it. We chatted after they asked me to take their picture in front of the depot, told me their itinerary and suggested I needed to get a stamp yesterday and then get a passport and go from there. I will check this lighthouse link out – thank you for sending it.
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I looked at this link and the weather conditions sounded horrid there – no wonder the keepers wanted to leave – thank goodness they finally got to leave (in one piece). Can you imagine the wind/weather shearing the top off?
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that spot was not well researched! What a waste of energy and money!
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Heads should have rolled as to the so-called “experts” that recommended that site, not to mention the wasted energy and money to put a lighthouse there.
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H.C.Mckilleen was the guy who screwed things up!
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Very nice and beautiful story!😊 Unfortunately, the old buildings are demolished without thinking about its cultural value. Here in Sweden there are not many old buildings left, they began to be demolished in the 1950-1960. Nowadays, they are more careful about demolishing old buildings, a little late …
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Thank you John. I learned a lot about the Lighthouse and its history before going on the tour, and learned even more so yesterday. There was a lot of history in/around the Island as well. This is true with countries everywhere; they don’t realize the treasures they have until after they demolish them or they don’t bother to restore them. Or natural disasters level them in a heartbeat. I went on a tour of the estate of Henry Ford/Clara Ford about a month ago. They lived there after he invented the “horseless carriage” and made a fortune as well. There was no guides, you just walked around. The grounds are acres and acres of flower gardens and natural stone walkways, slate steps and beautiful carved wooden benches … the estate homelooks like a castle and they are restoring it foot by foot and the restoration began in 2014 and will continue through next year. I have not had time to sort through all the pictures I took that day and you will enjoy seeing glimpses of the home from afar and all the gardens when I finally get the post done … the greenhouse and a stone potting shed looks just as it looked back in the day. There are not enough hours on the weekend to see everything is there?
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It´s so right, the time is not enough!
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No it is not and it must be good weather or it’s a big disappointment. Our weather is crazy John – below normal today and 20 degrees above normal starting Tuesday!
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Marvelous post! I’ve seen more lighthouses from the outside than the inside.
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Thanks Anne – the whole tour was much more than I anticipated and the people in the tour group were full of interesting stories – most knew each other from previous tours. I learned alot about the Island and because there is really nowhere to park there and just walk (except at the nature preserve where I went and will write about this week), you really cannot take in the historical sites nor view the huge homes while driving. I thought of John with this depot – unfortunately there was mud splatters on several of the signs like I showed about the early days. I looked around to see if there was more on the railroad on their website for John to read, but could not find anything. The depot is strictly a small museum now. If I understand correctly, it has not functioned since the free bridge opened (they have a toll bridge for the other side of the Island, but I’ve never been on it – I was grateful this bridge was not shut down, otherwise I’d have gotten lost for sure, though I scoped out where I had to go (depot) before yesterday’s trip. Ut was a little scary coming down the steep steps. https://www.gihistsoc.org/
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There is a lot of info on that web site.
I doubt I’ll be going inside any lighthouse, but your comments on stairs will make me think carefully before going up stairs in a lighthouse.
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Yes, they have quite a historical island for as small as it is Anne. I guess once the bridge was operational, it was a whole new dynamic for transportation of goods and people and the small depot closed down. It was not much bigger than a garage. The guide mentioned history books that were available at the museum and there is likely more info than you saw on their site. As to the steps – I was thinking today when I woke up and felt some muscle pulls in my legs (thighs mostly) that I don’t go up/down the stairs much anymore. In the Winter I am up/down twice a day for getting my Winter coat and trappings where I keep everything. But I’ve not worn a coat in ages (could have used one this morning though). And I always checked the carbon monoxide detector every morning to ensure it was not offline. I’ve not replaced it (nor put the battery back in the smoke detector either – I yanked it out at first thinking it was that making the chirping noise – that’s been a month tomorrow since the C02 alarm reached end of life. So I go downstairs and get pantry items during the year, but I have to start stocking up for Winter – so I only go downstairs on a real occasional basis … not even that much for laundry. So, all the walking in the world does not make you limber and sitting more and more hours, between work and blogging, is just not a healthy way to live. I am stymied what to do about that as I’m not ready to retire yet.
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I have no words of wisdom on the subject. We walk and garden. I should do some strength training, but it’s easier not to.
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I used to do a lot of yardwork so there was bending – all the plants died during the first Polar Vortex and I did not replace them. I just have the roses in the backyard and the rest are silk flowers in the baskets, pots, decorative wheel barrow … I need to be more limber and this past weekend sure proves it to me.
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It’s nice meeting people on tours and getting to know them
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Yes it is Ellie – when I used to travel in tour groups, people were always nice about asking you to sit at their table or on the train or bus with them so you would not have to be alone. Also at their tables when we had meals – I always liked that.
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Linda, I always enjoy visiting UK lighthouses and enjoy seeing them from around the world. We have this association here you may like to have a look. https://alk.org.uk/
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Thank you for the link Andy – I will take a look at it. I have a friend who married a man who really enjoys seeing lighthouses and touring them; in fact they are on vacation this week and he mapped out an itinerary wherein they could visit several along the way. Last year they stayed in a lighthouse in Ireland and enjoyed it. I wonder if he is part of this organization as well? I thought of you yesterday when I visited – I don’t know if you remember, but last year I mentioned attending this walk-through and it was rainy and you said to me “it would have been nice to be inside and seeing the rain thrashing against the window – might have made some interesting photos. The guide and the eight people in our tour group in the lantern tower made it a bit crowded, and no one was able to use a DSLR – no room. I used a compact camera and one woman using her phone was able to take pictures. It was interesting and I’m thinking I might visit the Belanger lighthouse before the snow flies.
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I took a look at this site – very interesting Andy. I’m going to pass this along to my friend when she returns from vacation – she and her husband are currently on their own tour visiting some lighthouses this week.
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Not sure I would have done the steps but the views were wonderful!
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Well Kate – I have to tell you. I was leery of the top 11 steps with no railing. And when I came back down, I was hanging onto a metal railing as long as I could. That railing was installed so no one fell over into the stairwell from the top level (lantern tower). The guide said they try to keep it as originally authentic as possible. A few of the tour members saw the stairs and said “no thanks” – I am not scared of heights, but it seemed a bit scary to me. I wouldn’t do the stairs again.
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I didn’t know about the Vernors family connection to MI. I loved that ginger ale as a teenager. Your photos show great views that are exactly what I’d guess a view from a lighthouse would be. I want to have a lighthouse passport. Did you get one?
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Vernors used to be such a big deal here in Detroit. When we first moved to Michigan in 1966, it was “Faygo” (red pop especially) and Vernors ginger ale and Detroit was proud of these two pop inventions. Vernors was invented by a pharmacist who mixed ginger with some other ingredients and sold it as a tonic for stomach ailments. The pharmacist went off to fight in the Civil War and when he returned, the concoction, which he had left in an oak barrel had a unique taste, so he mixed it with soda water and voila – Vernors was born. It is owned by a bigger company now but the Vernors bottling factory was near where I went to school and took up a huge city block. The Boston Cooler drink was invented here as a result of Vernors. The Vernor mansion is no longer in the family, but they are restoring it to its original grandeur
.
It was a great view up there Ally and I told myself that 40 feet was not very high … until I climbed it.
I was amazed about the whole lighthouse passport idea. I had no idea that people collected these lighthouse stamps. I likely will never go to enough lighthouses to warrant getting a passport but they were willing to do a stamp yesterday if you wanted one. Here is the info if you’re interested to look into it Ally: https://uslhs.org/products/items/lighthouse-passport
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Thanks for the info about Vernors. I didn’t know any of that– just the I loved the stuff at one point. I’ll keep the link to the lighthouse passport book just in case I become consumed with the desire to see lighthouses. It could happen.
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You’re welcome – it was a big deal as it was not a planned invention at all. I looked into the Belanger Park lighthouse that is not far from where I live. I’d like to visit it – no tours available though. You pay for parking to get into the park. But there are no trails to hike, it is strictly for fishing and some playground equipment. The lighthouse was built to commemorate the mariners who have lost their lives in the Great Lakes so perhaps it’d be nice to commemorate the the anniversary date of the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald.
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Lighthouses are fun to visit! It’s a good thing that the weather cooperated with your plans. I’ve been inside a few over the years and once we lived less than a mile from a lighthouse on the Northern California Coast. We would hear it at night! That was long ago!
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I was so amazed that there is a whole contingent of folks who travel to different states, on organized tours, to view various lighthouses. I had never heard that before and I think I am going to plan to visit the other lighthouse that is in a nearby city. You cannot go inside that lighthouse but it is part of the park, so you can take pictures of it. It is not as old though, just built in this century.
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I look forward to that post, Linda!
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That was interesting Linda. I was in a lighthouse once in Nova Scotia but it was so long ago I don’t remember. Not sure if I could have handled the height or that dock with no railing!
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Thanks Joni – I thought you might like it as you are a history buff. The whole tour was interesting and I didn’t know they’d delve into historical stuff outside of the lighthouse. The stairwell area with no railing was a little daunting to be honest and coming down was much worse than going up!
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PS. It would be lovely in live in one of those big houses along the water and have your very own lighthouse!
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Joni – those houses were amazing, especially in the neighborhood where the lighthouse was; this was Lighthouse Point Drive and the homes were huge and we saw their backyards as we passed and went up the private street. Mansions with smaller houses for the hired help and three-car garages … just amazing and I can’t imagine living like that. The Mans family has the lighthouse on their property and you use their private dock to get to it, so I am guessing they are the new owners.
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Is Grosse Isle an island you can live on? I should know this but I don’t?
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Yes, people do live there all around the Island Joni. The houses that are along the shoreline are built up high in case of shoreline flooding – the guide said that when SE Michigan had all the rain in May/June and there was shoreline flooding everywhere, that the water was up and over the seawall and spreading across the main road where we traveled along (East River Road). The smaller docks were covered and she said boating all Summer was difficult as even the larger docks had sustained water damage and thus the wood was still a little slimy and some docks were just ruined altogether. We went through the historic district where they were set back a little more and had these huge garages and houses for the folks that worked in their homes and/or were groundskeepers. Everything was big … the boats too as you could see from the large cabin cruisers in the pic taken from the top of the lighthouse. You travel from the City of Trenton onto the Island by two bridges – free bridge (the only one I have been on as I don’t know where the other one is) and the toll bridge. On this Wikipedia page, if you click on the aerial view photo, you can see the airport in the foreground and also the two bridges (hard to see them). I’ve never gone to see the airport but it was close by the alpaca farm I went to last September. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grosse_Ile_(Michigan)
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Thanks Linda……it’s bigger than I thought, with a population of 10,000.
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What an interesting trip and a lovely old lighthouse! I’ve never heard of lighthouse passports, but what a fun way to keep up with the lighthouses that you see. My daughter took us up north in Minnesota to Lake Superior one weekend and we saw several old light houses on the trip. So much history in each one!
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I really enjoyed it Rebecca and I didn’t know we were going to be going through the historical neighborhoods as well. Huge estates where houses were built 150 years ago in some cases. You can’t even see this lighthouse unless you’re out on the water as the houses are so secluded in the wooded area and all private property. It was in good shape inside and all wood, varnished and in good shape and they tried to keep it as authentic looking as possible so that’s why no railings near the top – the bottom area had its own original railing (the lightkeeper must have been pretty brave doing those stairs up/down twice a day – it was not for the feint of heart, believe me!)
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I love the photo of your mom with your grandparents. Don’t you get wistful looking at old photos like that? You probably only knew your grandparents as “old” people, and here they were, young parents with a baby. It’s fun to think about their stories.
I’m glad the weather cooperated this year and you got to tour the lighthouse. It is a special event if it is only open once a year! You had quite the educational trip, especially since you happened to get in with the Lighthouse Society!
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Yes, that is a favorite picture of mine Laurie – Imagine the picture almost a century old and in such good shape. It was in my mom’s family album so in photo corners and a tissue paper overlay so no damage in the least. My grandmother was only 20 years old here – he was a little older than she was. We do only think of them as how we saw them growing up.
The weather was much better this year – glad I didn’t go when it rained and walking that dock in a rainstorm would not have been my cup of tea. It was a little daunting in good weather! Those were nice folks, on their first day of a seven-day tour and many knew each other from prior tours. I had no idea there was a Lighthouse Society nor of their practice of collecting stamps in their “passports” either, so I learned a lot on that trip yesterday.
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Miss linda………………………..Congratulations on your fabulous lighthouse trip at Grosse Isle……………………………You are really expanding ………………………I’m happy to be learning so much about our nearby lighthouses………………………no I’ve never even heard about River Rouge’s light house either……………………..and awesome frozen winter waves on the Detroit river too
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Thanks Ann Marie – I was sorry when it was crummy weather last year and I decided not to go. The Historical Society guides were awesome – we had one on the bus going and returning from the lighthouse, another guide inside the lighthouse and one on the ground … we were filled with facts and figures and some of those historic homes on the Island are just amazing! I looked into the River Rouge lighthouse last night – you cannot tour inside it, just admire it from afar and it is dedicated to the mariners lost in the Great Lakes region. There is a fee to enter Belanger Park – I’ll let you know what I find out in case you/Steven would like to check it out sometime,. as I sent a question to the City to ask if you just wanted to see the lighthouse if you needed to pay the $10.00 parking fee. Well, yay me … I am expanding, however … you’ve not seen my post from the day before when I got lost in the boonies. In fact, I might impose on you for good directions to try again this weekend. 🙂
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My father loved lighthouse too! He would have been thrilled to be on that tour. I love the stamp books – I have a similar one for the national parks I visit. If you ever get to my corner of the country, I’ll show you our beautiful lighthouse located at the Cabrillo National Monument. Fortunately, it’s opened year-round. Thanks for taking us along on your adventure!
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That was the first I heard of there being such a group and your father would have liked these people. They were all friendly and between the first and second group on this tour, there were 46 of them in all. They knew each other from different tours in the past. They seemed surprised I had never heard of the Lighthouse Society, their tours, or the passport and stamps. I didn’t know you could get a passport stamp book for the national parks either. Where have I been all these years Janis?
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I do love a lighthouse tour, Linda. Great pics!
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Thanks Pam – my first lighthouse and there is another one nearby but you cannot tour it. I think I’d like to see it. I had no idea about this group and it was fascinating speaking to these tour members and hearing what they’ve done in their pursuit of touring as many lighthouses in North America as possible.
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Ah, what joy awaits! There’s a light house along the coast of Washington – the name escapes me – it’s like a 5-mile round trip trek on the beach to get there. It was awesome, Linda. 🥰
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I think that would be fun Pam and I must ask my friend if she and her husband have visited that lighthouse. A few years ago my friend married a man who loves lighthouses. I doubt they are part of of this Lighthouse Society group as they travel a lot on their own and just visit lighthouses in every state where they travel through. They were going to his Notre Dame law school group reunion last weekend and he found some lighthouses where this reunion took place. A year or so ago they visited Ireland and stayed in a lighthouse B&B. They really enjoyed that … put that on your bucket list Pam. 🙂
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Sounds like such a lovely and different experience to go and see the lighthouse. I am glad the group of people made you feel so welcome too ❤
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They were a very nice group Zena – I was inspired to go and see another lighthouse yesterday – no more left to see now however.
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Enjoyed reading this with my cup of tea this morning. 🙂 What an adorable little lighthouse – it almost has a Scandinavian feel to it. And I love the picture of your grandparents. ♡ That narrow dock would have given me pause, too. My daughter-in-law is a lighthouse enthusiast and collects the miniature replicas. The view from the tower is pretty and made me wonder what it looked like when it was surrounded by all that ice!
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Glad you enjoyed reading this post Barbara; I’m happy I sent it to you plus I wanted you to see the vintage photo of my grandparents and my mom. It was a fact-filled tour as we were given a history lesson about the island as we rode along in the bus, as well as at the lighthouse. Well, I was quite wobbly from the steep stairs and to be honest, as I walked across alone, I wished I had asked someone to walk with me because, as many miles as I walk, I still sit a lot of hours in day (more so after blogging) and that is not good for my knees being stationary so many hours.
I don’t go up and down the stairs too much, especially in the Summer months – more so in the Winter for my Winter coat, hats, boots, etc. This group was very enthusiastic about their lighthouse visits and they knew one another from excursions they had taken in the past. The lighthouse keeper’s house was not close to the lighthouse and the historian recounted that he had to walk on that long plank over the Detroit River with no guardrails in high winds and ice storms which made it very slick. The newspaper article only showed the slabs of ice – I looked everywhere for a story to accompany the post and couldn’t find one. I also looked for my post down at Bishop Park when the Detroit River froze over … in all the years I worked in downtown Detroit, we have many brutally cold Winters, but I do not recall the Detroit River freezing over. But it did after a Polar Vortex. It was amazing seeing the big slabs of ice plus there were waves that has sloshed up and frozen in place. I got some pictures. I searched my blog using keywords the other day when you mentioned visiting the beach in the Winter and can’t find it … it will turn up when I’m not looking for it and I’ll send it to you. The huge, flat slabs of ice slammed into this lighthouse and did significant damage.
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Walking across that icy dock in high winds sounds so treacherous! I wonder if we’ll get any polar vortexes this winter… Brrrr…
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Yes, I can’t imagine doing it without a guard rail to hang onto, then inside the lighthouse with the narrow passageway. I have heard the “Farmer’s Almanac” predictions for Michigan and three local meteorologists’ predictions … they all say we’ll have a La Nina Winter, so lots of moisture, but just yesterday one said not extremely cold. That made me happy – I worry about my pipes bursting during a Polar Vortex if we had a power outage. I am a weather worrier.
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