Mary Bedy Photography

Lake Huron Colors 5  I live in Michigan 18 miles south of the southern end of Lake Huron. I’ve visited areas bordered by each of the Great Lakes many times since I have lived in Michigan all my life. I live along the Saint Clair River that runs south from Lake Huron to Lake Saint Clair, a smaller lake, which leads through the Detroit River to Lake Erie, then East to Lake Ontario.  Lake Huron Wave Stage 4 053120 I know people who don’t travel much or who have never seen one of the Great Lakes do not always appreciate how large they are. When I take a trip to the northern tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula right to the Mackinac Bridge, the drive mostly on freeways, takes five hours. That’s five hours to drive the length of Lake Huron. And let’s be clear, you cannot see across to the other side of any of these lakes unless you are right at either end. You might as well be looking at the ocean.   Here are some facts for you. Lake Huron and Lake Michigan are actually considered one body of w

Not only the National Parks are interesting. There are a lot of beautiful and interesting state and county parks scattered throughout the country. Fayette State Park in Michigan's upper peninsula along the shores of Lake Michigan was one of the largest iron smelting locations during the 1870s and 1880s. The population at its highest point was about 500 people. The salary for the Iron workers was about one dollar a day. They would attempt to save some of that for the harsh winter months, or in case there was a shutdown in production. The old, stately hotel has been under renovation for some time, and the giant brick smelting furnaces, the building of which you can walk through, are impressive. When the smelting operation shut down in 1891, some people stayed in the town, including commercial fishermen. The town catered to the tourist industry in the summer. The hotel operated well into the 20th century and in 1959, the state acquired the land and turned it into a state park. The bla

I live in a small town in Michigan called Saint Clair, population about 5,000. It’s located about 18 miles south of the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron which links Sarnia Canada with the US mainland. Most of you know from your geography classes that in this part of Michigan, Canada is directly East of the US instead of north. When I go downtown, I’m looking at Courtright, Canada across the river from Saint Clair. The river at this point is a little over a mile wide, so I can clearly see the houses and the traffic on the road along the river there unless it’s really foggy or there’s a heavy snowstorm. The Saint Clair river runs between Lake Huron and Lake Saint Clair, with the current running south from Lake Huron at about eight or nine knots. Some days the river is angry with white caps, but most days she’s relatively calm and just goes about her business of flowing south. Along the river here in town, we have the supposedly longest fresh water boardwalk in the world. That is a b