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Tag Archive: St. Ignace Michigan
Just had to add the latest boat we saw this past weekend docked at St. Ignace.
This belongs to the U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
In the last post we wondered which of the protective services had the fastest boat.
Take a look at these on the stern.
This boat will be very important to the story in Book Three
of the Mackinac Trilogy.
You can’t truly experience Northern Michigan without crossing the “Gateway to the Upper
Peninsula” – the Mackinac Bridge, and visitors to Mackinac Island miss out
if they don’t visit St. Ignace and enjoy this historic town’s natural harbor.
- A sailboat enters the St. Ignace harbor with Mackinac Island in the distance beyond.
For centuries, Native Americans, French, British and, of course, our own citizens have enjoyed the beauty of St. Ignace’s natural harbor of refuge. After crossing the bridge, visitors turn east toward town. The road makes a curve to the left and goes downhill, opening to the most amazing vista ahead – the aquamarine waters of Lake Huron, wrapped on three sides by a pristine harbor – St. Ignace. Chief’s office looks out on the bay and he often hitches a ride to the island on the Coast Guard boats or the local ferries.
A Star Line Ferry skims by the St. Ignace Marina
The Mackinac Bridge provides a marvelous panorama of the Straits of Mackinac and lakes Michigan
and Huron. Freighters are often seen passing underneath and Mackinac Island gleams to the east.
Up until now, “tweets” consisted of the sweet call of birds in Brighton,
Brevort and Mackinac.
But as the excitement built as we crossed the Mackinac Bridge this weekend,
I realized why some folks “tweet.”
I just wanted to share the thrill with all those who love Michigan’s Upper Peninsula
and Mackinac Island.
So here is a photo taken while driving on the bridge.
To follow my Tweets (there won’t be many, I promise)
you can go to this Twitter address and follow me:
https://twitter.com/BrightonAuthor
It snowed 15 minutes after we crossed into St. Ignace.
This is the address for this particular posting.
https://twitter.com/BrightonAuthor/status/332258719737991169/photo/1
Even though it snowed a little yesterday, May 12th, at Mackinac,
the ferry boats are all out of dry dock now and
busy taking visitors and residents back and forth
from both St. Ignace and Mackinac City.
This photo was taken several winters ago in St. Ignace.
Actually, it is three photos “stitched” together.
Word is that a certain young family cruised over to Mackinac this weekend
and their sailboat was the only one in the harbor.
This photo was taken last year, when they also were the first to dock at the island.
Nothing better than an early glimpse of Mackinac in spring.
Tawny’s grandparents’, the Randolphs, like many others on the island,
first lived there as summer residents. They purchased a small
Victorian cottage down a quiet village lane such as pictured above.
The family enjoyed weekends and summer vacations there,
while their real home was in St. Ignace, where their son, Roy,
Tawny’s father, attended school.
But after Mr. Randolph retired, he winterized the
cottage and created a beautiful year-round home.
Tawny always loved visiting them and when her mother was
temporarily transferred to Germany, Tawny was thrilled to move in.
Of course that meant she had to attend the small high school on
the island. Little did she know how what an amazing and, sadly,
threatening future she faced.
And so the story begins…..
St. Ignace’s yacht harbor is easily seen from a distance now that a
new lighthouse is installed at the end of the public pier.
The city itself is important to the novel. Chief’s Tribal Police Station is located north of St. Ignace.
When Chief travels to visit Tawny’s mother, Laura, on the island, he either takes the Star Line ferry or
hitches a ride on the Coast Guard’s launch.
.
In this photo, the Star Line ferry leaves the Railroad Dock and turns toward the Main Dock.
The landscape of St. Ignace changed forever in the predawn hours of August 3rd, 2012.
The foundation of the old railroad track elevator for the rail ferry “Chief Wawatam”
(seen on the left side of this photo) gave way and
left a pile of iron and timber rubble in its wake.
It was a distinguishing feature and historical remnant on the city’s waterfront. The actual
historical figure, Chief Wawatam, and his heroic actions are mentioned in the novel.
In honor of a very special 16-year old’s birthday, (That’s you. Tillie), the novel Discovered – The Cross of Lorraine is officially available at Amazon.com.
SEE: http://www.amazon.com/Discovered-The-Cross-Lorraine-Volume/dp/1475176333
Think of a modern day Nancy Drew type of heroine, add the excitement and suspense of hidden treasure such as in National Treasure, set the novel in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Mackinac Island, incorporate Native American heroes – and unite them in one intense love story, and you begin to sense the nature of this novel.
PLEASE SCROLL down through all the past postings on this blog to get more of a sense of the novel’s setting and plot.
FOR MUCH MORE INFORMATION ON THE NOVEL AND TO ORDER IT, PLEASE VISIT:
Mackinac Postings 