Category: Water
-
Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore
Near Traverse City, Michigan; September 2000 Glaciers scoured the Great Lakes region during the last Ice Age. This mighty forces inundated the countryside, carving out many areas while leaving deposits behind in others. Sleeping Bear Dunes became one of those locations that happened to gain land, and presents rare examples of what are known geologically…
-
Beaver Island Travel Index
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) Beaver Island is the largest island in Lake Michigan and the third largest in the Great Lakes, at about 6 miles wide and 13 miles long. It is located 18 miles from Michigan’s lower and upper peninsulas. Native Americans settled Beaver Island originally and Irish immigrants began arriving by…
-
Scenic Lakeshores of Beaver Island
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) While Beaver Island displayed amazing lakeshore scenery from practically every angle, three places stood out in particular Mount Pisgah Mt. Pisgah is an overgrown sand dune at the island’s northwest corner (map). It rises to 730 feet just a quarter mile from shore and it’s an obligatory climb. We…
-
Inland Lakes of Beaver Island
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) Beaver Island contained seven major interior lakes and several minor ones. Many of them were accompanied by marshes, bogs or drainage basins so the most direct route to them might not have always been the easiest. The major bodies of water from north to south were Font Lake, Round…
-
Bermuda Shorts, Part 9 (Lists)
I like to count a bunch of different things and that didn’t change simply because I went on vacation. If anything, it actually accelerated it. I’m always looking for opportunities to grow my lists. So I thought I’d wrap-up this final article in the Bermuda series with a summary of my progress. Parish Counting I…
-
Bermuda Shorts, Part 8 (Museums & More)
With an area as small as Bermuda — just over 20 square miles (53 square kilometres) — one might conclude it wouldn’t need a lot of museums. Well, as it turned out, a lot of history happened there. Plus the tourists needed something to do. Maybe they couldn’t golf or lounge at the beach the…
-
Bermuda Shorts, Part 7 (Architectural Details)
I thought I would take the discussion in a more lighthearted direction by focusing on a few architectural details I noticed. Examples reflecting local culture, customs and tastes could be found on contemporary buildings all across Bermuda. Pastels Pastels appeared everywhere. Seemingly every building featured those characteristic soft pale hues. Walk down any street and…
-
Bermuda Shorts, Part 3 (The Outsider )
As a complete outsider, I didn’t know exactly what to expect when we landed at L. F. Wade Airport on the far eastern end of the archipelago. Sure, I’d thumbed through the guides and scoured the Intertubes although that never truly compares to being there on the ground. I tried to avoid being overly touristy.…
-
Bermuda Shorts, Part 2 (Shoreline Scenery )
Shorelines defined Bermuda, with no single spot on the archipelago more than a half-mile away from water. Throw in a bunch of hills and it seemed almost impossible to find a place without a spectacular view. This amazing scenery seemed like a fitting topic for the second article in this series now that I’ve gotten…
-
Penobscot Narrows Bridge and Observatory
Prospect, Waldo Co., Maine (August 2009) The Penobscot Narrows bridge (map) did not exist the last time I drove along this stretch of U.S. Route 1 several years ago. I’d seen a brochure for it a couple of days earlier and decided to check it out. I set off from my base in Rockport destined…