Tag: Michigan
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Rural Scenes from Beaver Island
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) One small town existed on Beaver Island — St. James — and barely a couple hundred people lived there. The remaining several hundred residents spread broadly across the island. Essentially, almost every view involved a rural scene around here. Hiking Miles of hiking trails literally covered Beaver Island. Many…
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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…
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Beaver Island Lighthouses
Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) There are a multitude of lighthouses in Lake Michigan within vicinity of Beaver Island. Two of them can be visited on the island itself. Beaver Island Harbor (St. James) Lighthouse A lighthouse came into view as the ferry approached Beaver Island. The ferry pointed straight towards St. James, the…
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Lake Michigan Car Ferry
Manitowoc, Wisconsin to Ludington, Michigan (September 2000) The S.S. Badger crossed Lake Michigan between Manitowoc, Wisconsin (map) and Ludington, Michigan (map). The total trip took about four hours and saved significant time versus driving around the lake, although we actually took the ferry more to enjoy the ride. The huge boat held perhaps a hundred…
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Ferry to Beaver Island, Michigan
Charlevoix to Beaver Island Ferry Beaver Island, Michigan, USA (September 2000) There are two ways to get to Beaver Island (map), by air or by boat. We took the ferry from Charlevoix at the northwest corner of Michigan’s lower peninsula (map). Regular service was provided by the Beaver Island Boat Company although the schedule varied…
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Out of Season
A strange sight confounded my older son as we walked through a warren of shops near the Santa Fe Plaza during our recent New Mexico trip. He spotted a year-round Christmas store. It didn’t register on my mind until he pointed it out, I guess because I’d seen plenty of them before. Although, as I…
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Cigarette Hill
I focused attention on unusual street names awhile ago. That theme played itself out over time so I left it behind for the most part. However, every once in awhile, I come across something interesting enough to mention on Twelve Mile Circle. This time it appeared in Texas. What was it about Texas? Once I…
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King Boring and the Detroit Gems
The story of King Boring kept playing in my head. I imagined that longtime Twelve Mile Circle readers probably already knew I’d have to revisit it in more detail. Plenty of extra information revealed itself on the Intertubes and in genealogy resources. To quickly recap, King Boring and his partner once owned the Detroit Gems,…
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Simply Boring
Speaking of boring places, the phenomenon didn’t confine itself exclusively to Oregon. Sure, the largest Boring town existed just outside of Portland. However, because Boring was also a surname, it spread to other locations as one might expect. Residents tended to have the same sense of humor about living in Boring places everywhere. The same…
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Heartland, Part 4 (Beyond Covered)
I couldn’t seem to shake my ever-growing fascination with bridges during my recent Heartland excursion. It started a few years ago, specifically with covered bridges, and expanded to various other styles for some unknown reason. I wouldn’t put this particular fascination at the same level as my county counting or my brewery obsessions although it…