This was the “sunset” two nights ago. Rain was moving in and we got rain most of yesterday. Sunset or not, I still think it’s beautiful.

Out there in the channel (past the front yard, beach, and bay, a half mile or so away) is the Philip R. Clarke heading downbound. I am calling it my “baby bote” because when I was a year and a half old, it docked on the lower St. Marys (no apostrophe) River and opened up for public tours. It was not brand new then but only a couple years old and has two “sister” ships, the Arthur M. Anderson and the Cason J. Callaway.

My parents took me on a tour. I *think* I have vague memories of this. Walking (because I could walk!) up and down the stairs between the various levels. I dunno if these are true memories or if I’ve just been told this story so many times I *think* I remember it. I have also toured more than a few other botes in my time, long after I could consciously string thoughts together so those memories are real and maybe I’m conflating a bit. (Also old planes but we’ll go there some other time🐽)

I have a *real* memory of taking the ferry across the Straits of Mackinac sometime the year before the BigMac bridge was built. I was three and we used to “go to Detrite in the middle of the night”. That means we got up at something like 3:00 AM in order to catch the first ferry across the straits then on down the old two-lane highways to visit my maternal grandparents in Detroit. I remember being dressed in my best for those trips, a tartan wool plaid skirt purchased in a specialty shop in Canananada. My memory is walking around up on the deck with my dad, with my hands in my pockets just like him.

In total, the trip from Sault Ste. Siberia to Detroit in those days took something like 11 hours. Nowadays with the BigMac Bridge and the I75 SUV Speedway it’s five hours or fewer. At least it is when there aren’t big traffic backups or, you know, snow and/or ice.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 25th, 2024 at 6:36 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.