The Edmund Fitzgerald

I am writing this from Eagle River, Wisconsin.  We crossed over into the Central Time Zone today (very exciting - we are slowly moving west!)  I am getting behind, so this post is actually about our explorations last Wednesday.

We arrived in the small town of Newberry in the middle of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan at 1:30 in the afternoon, so decided we had time to explore.  The UP is very rural, the towns are small, and the economy seems to be suffering.  Many businesses are shuttered, and buildings are in disrepair.  I don't know if this is due to the economic slow-down, or if it's because young people are moving away to larger cities.  Most homes are small "shacks" (I would call them shacks), and many are isolated.  It's the sort of place a unibomber might choose to hide.  Roads are lined with miles and miles of trees:

We chose to visit the museum at Whitefish Point this particular afternoon, on Lake Superior.  The Edmund Fitzgerald was a tanker that went down 17 miles off the coast at Whitefish Point during a fierce storm 35 years ago.  Many of you will remember the ballad by Gordon Lightfoot that tells the story.   Fifteen years ago, the bell was raised and placed in the museum as a memorial to the 29 men who died. I realize it is difficult to see the bell in the photo below.  The bell was surrounded by two large crystal light fixtures from light houses, and light was bouncing all over the place:

There were several articles memorializing the Edmund Fitzgerald, including a model of the ship, to scale:

 

In the photo below is one of the crystal fixtures that cast the light for one of the light houses in the area.   The diameter of this amazing fixture is about 10 feet across, and it has two sides, front and back, the second identical to the first.  It really does bounce the light around, very effectively.

 

It turns out several ships lie on the bottom of Lake Superior, clustered around Whitefish Point.  Storms can be fierce, with waves as high as 35 feet.  Sometimes thick fog is the culprit.  Whitefish Point juts out into the lake at an area that quickly becomes a narrow channel leading to the locks at Sault St. Marie, and ship traffic can be heavy.   The lighthouse below guards Whitefish Point, and is part of the museum.

More to come shortly.