Maritime Memories

 

One of my most treasured memories with Bonus Dad is touring small Michigan towns, looking for maritime museums. Generally, these towns consisted of a stop sign, a Subway (where we'd get a sandwich), and maybe a gas station. Oh yes! We were always on the lookout for an ice cream shop. Small Michigan towns know how to do ice cream right. 

The museums tended to be one room set-ups inside the local chamber of commerce with paraphernalia about ships sailing along Lakes Huron, Michigan or Superior--depending upon which town we stumbled into. For a token cover fee, visitors had the honor of spending anywhere from twenty minutes to an afternoon learning about the natural resources shipped from the area, the local sailors or any ships that might have launched or sunk nearby. And let me tell you! There are a lot of shipwrecks in the Great Lakes. 

Our last outing took us up to Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan at the tippy top of the state. That day, we watched the locks where the freighters on Lake Superior transitioned into Lake Huron. Bonus Dad, an engineer by vocation, explained all mechanical ins and out to me. Afterwards, we found our way to the granddaddy of all maritime museums: The Valley Camp, a large freighter, sitting next to in Lake Superior.  

In this particular museum, we stumbled across the lifeboat from the Edmund Fitzgerald. Because Mr. Lightfoot memorialized the Fitz in his song, it is likely the most famous shipwreck. It is also one of the most recent shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. 

Today marks the 50th Anniversary of the sinking of the Fitz. The entire crew was lost. Most of the wreckage is still in the bottom of Lake Superior, 500 feet from the surface. 

As a desert girl, I really didn't understand until Bonus Dad and I spent those summers exploring Michigan the role the shipping industry plays in the Great Lakes. I encourage you, if you have a bit of time, find a quick rabbit hole and read about Michigan's maritime history.