Road trip 2010

Day 3: Thursday, July 8, 2010

Grand Haven Michigan to Ludington, MI Indirect Total Miles: 107

Road Trip Around The

UPPER GREAT LAKES....

The previous day was all about cars and the sights along the way from Auburn Indiana to Grand Haven Michigan, where I spent the night at a beachfront state park campground.

Unfortunately, for me and the other 185 campers there, it rained for my first day at the beach, so I moved on..

For this day of traveling north along the Lake Michigan shoreline, I did not rack-up many miles as it turned into a day of ‘Boats, Bumps and Beaches’....

At the city of Muskegon there is a lighthouse that I saw on my trip there last Fall. On this trip I wanted to make a few photos of it from a closer vantage point than I had last year.

Driving along the beach road I discovered the permanent mooring spot for two historic boats as well as a naval museum.

The Museum:

Located at the mooring site of the two historic WWII ships is the Great Lakes Naval Memorial and Museum, where there are a number of artifacts on display salvaged from submarines, as well as other ships.

The display includes torpedos, topedo launching equipment, propellers and also includes the first rescue decompression chamber for sailors who may have been trapped in a disabled sub hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean.

The Beaches and BUMPS ! ...

Come back to this site often and ride along with me around the Upper Great Lakes.

New photos will be posted every day or two..

The Boats:

The historic WWII submarine Silversides and the Coast Guard Cutter McLane W146

are open daily for tours. Both boats have a rich history.

USS Silversides had more ‘kills’ than any other sub in the Pacific during WWII... and was the star in two Hollywood movie productions.

The McLane W146, commissioned, in 1927 to enforce Prohibition, also served in WWII and sank a Japanese submarine off the coast of Alaska.

To get to the beaches between Muskegon and Duck Lake I drove the ‘Shoreline Trail’.. it has to be the MOST Bumpiest road in North America !

It was scenic but the state of Michigan should be ashamed of the condition of the road bed... The constent potholes and bad patching literly shook my teeth loose..

For more than 5 miles I had to follow this Ice cream vendor who’s top speed was 15MPH while pulling his freezer trailer, with an enclosed golf cart. The guy on the bike passed us, with ease... Once at the beach, there were more seagulls sunning themselves than there were people.