the queen travels: Another lighthouse or two

We’ve been taking it pretty leisurely, getting on the road usually about 9 or so. Today, Saturday, Sept. 26, was no exception. We found another lighthouse, this time the Big Bay Point Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast. We saw someone there, but he just told us to Google it for information about the place … he was rather unfriendly so we wouldn’t be interested in staying there as they must not care for walk-ins. But we weren’t looking for a place then anyway.

The Big Bay Point Lighthouse has been beautifully redone and well worth the time for a photo.

We did see a plaque on the building that said 1896, so guess it was built then. And I found out from a tourist book that it was automated in 1945 and was used in the 1959 film, “Anatomy of a Murder,” starring Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick and George C. Scott.

We've spent most of our time around Lake Superior, which covers 31,700 square miles and is the largest fresh-water lake in the world. Its deepest point is 1,333 feet, and its surface is 602 feet above sea level. When it has waves, they are pretty big and I'm glad to not be out on it in a small boat.

We wandered around, mostly driving today. We got to Marquette and stopped at the Harley shop. We happened into an event, and so being that I’d scheduled my bike for a service, I got a $15-off certificate. While it’s not much, every little bit helps, so that worked for me. We stayed near Marquette for the night getting off the road a lot earlier this time. Today we saw a couple of deer, a doe and a fawn, but it was a pretty uneventful day … imagine.

On Sunday, Sept. 27, we were heading to Munising where we’d be doing the Lake Superior Pictured Rock boat cruise. We were scheduled to go out on Monday and had made a motel reservation for two days. We’d heard some bad weather was coming in, though, and were hoping we could change our cruise reservation from Monday to today. We were able to do that, and so would come back at 3 p.m. to wait to board. In the meantime we looked around the area.

We found a little waterfall that was pretty and right next to the road.

There were tons of cat tails in varying stages of change.

We also got into the cottage and changed our reservation to a single night. Then we were off and back down to the marina to wait for our cruise. So, what do you do while you’re sitting in the sun … waiting? You look for something of interest to photograph. Birds are what you see at a marina.

I don't know what this little guy was but he sure was cute and liked to dive.

I call all of this type of bird a gull.

But it sure had some pretty tail feathers.

Then it was time to board and we were off, headed to the beauty of Pictured Rocks. The Pictured Rocks Lakeshore is a 15-mile-long wall of sandstone running along the Lake Superior shoreline. It has cliffs ranging from 50-200-feet above the lake, and numerous caves, nooks and crannies created by Mother Nature.

The East Channel Lighthouse is located on the privately-owned Grand Island..

Pictured Rock cruises began in the 1920s, were suspended during World War II and started up again in 1946.

Miners Castle is the most famous formation of the Picture Rocks Lakeshore and is also accessible by vehicle.

Although I don't know that anyone ever jumped, this is called Lover's Leap. The names given are quite descriptive, though.

Spray Falls was at the far end of our tour. Almost all of the other little waterfalls that you would ordinarily see on the cruise were dried up this year.

Indian Rock is another of the more famous rocks along the lakeshore.

The rock colors are pretty spectacular.

There are all kinds of caves in the sandstone. This is part of the Cave of Many Colors. I think the two little caves on the left look like eyes checking us out as we went by.

The minerals seeping out of the sandstone cracks are what create the beautiful "pictures" on the rocks with colors that range from red-to-green and most everything in between. What makes this one so interesting is the rock formation.

The incredible color doesn't begin to show up in the photo as beautifully as when we saw it.

The boat cruise was well worth the time in order to see this beautiful place, and I’d take it again, although it would be hard to beat the day we had with blazing sunshine, warm temperatures and calm water. And another plus? They even have free kenneling for your pet while you’re on the cruise.

We headed back to the cottage for the night and waited for the lunar eclipse. I spent a couple of hours outside playing with the camera and tripod trying to find the perfect spot to take photos from and to get a shot that I deemed worthy of posting. I think I did it … and these are a few.