Boatnerd Discussion Forum

Hey Bookworm and good to see you as well posting just as much as I have been lately as well. I have been to both the Presque Isle lights and got photos of both. In fact, I even have a small figurine of the old light at Presque Isle as well which is neat. It was from Harbor Lights and at one point they would make replicas of lighthouses. Go and do a search for Harbor Lights on amazon or EBay or anything and you should find them. I think they are very hard to find but are very neat as far as the replicas of the original lights. I haven’t been to any of the other lights that you mentioned other than 40 Mile Point and the Presque Isle ones. Have only been in Alpena I think once with my folks that I can recall? Was just an overnight stay only on our way to the Soo and we did not get to see much or travel around there. I have heard lots of great stuff about Alpena and that area so who knows? Maybe someday I might get back up there again. Keep your fingers crossed for me! You are right as well with the price of gas going up, long distance trips may be cancelled and short day trips may be the thing this year. Bummer as I was hoping to possibly make the Soo with one of my brothers since this is its big birthday of 375 years for the Soo I think? Was hoping to get there and buy some souvenirs. Thanks a lot to the folks that wanna jack up the gas prices for us huh? Oh well at least I enjoyed my river trip though!

Good to see you posting more, Denny, and note you're providing a lot of information on port reports, as well. Yes, there are some really great people and reasons to visit the Rogers City/Calcite/40-mile point lighthouse. But on your way up US #23, north of Harrisville is the Sturgeon Point Light House, and above Alpena, on Presque Isle, are the original, the second, and the most recent Presque Isle Lights and keepers quarters. Also, Alpena has a maritime museum and the shipwreck tours (go online to Alpena Shipwreck Tours for fees & schedule). Now that the price of gas has gone up, it might be more profitable to vacation closer to home with 1 to 3 day trips. Go safe!

Hi Bookworm and thanks for sharing that great information here with us as well. I assume in your post that you are referring to the city along with town of Rogers City and the Stone Quarry there? I had visited the quarry once back in the late 1990s with my folks on our way up to the Soo and was really fascinated by that. I still got the photos of it as well. As for Rogers City, I’ve been there a few times and agree that I love that town as the people there are the greatest and friendliest that I’ve ever seen taking nothing away from other cities and towns. Never yet been to the museum and would love to someday visit especially now that they have the Bradley’s bell as a tribute to the ship and its crew! Been down to the park and got photos of the Bradley and Cedarville memorials. Just wish it wasn’t so far to travel though up and back from there. Been to the 40 Mile Point Lighthouse once but not since they restored the old Calcite pilothouse. Hope to someday get back up again.

Watched "America From The Ground Up" (WCMU/PBS), historical series about America's lost civilizations, this afternoon. Several mound builder sites were featured, among them Cahokia (IL) 600 to 1400 AD. In one segment, the host traveled to Rogers City, Michigan to "the largest rock quarry in the world," and made a comparison (showing the capacity of one of their enormous dump trucks) to the amount of earth it would have taken (55 million cubic feet) to build the largest mound at Cahokia. There were also scenes of the quarry. If you haven't been there, both the quarry and town are worth the trip.