Day Trip to Sleepng Bear Dunes near Empire, MI

Saturday, August 6, 2016

We had been advised that we "NEEDED" to see Sleeping Bear Dunes, so Dusty planned a day trip for us.

As we headed north on US 31, we saw our first windmill farm in Michigan.
 

We turned and headed west to the coast of Lake Michigan at Manistee.  Here we are crossing over an inlet bay at Onekama.  We are not sure how to pronounce this name.  We jokingly say "1comma".

Many of the beaches have these warning signs.  Makes me think of the ocean.
 

Tic stood on a sand hill and took the picture above and the 2 below looking from the south to the north.

Because of the shallow waters there are many small lighthouses along the west side of Lake Michigan.

 This overlook is just north of Arcadia, MI.  There are 124 stair steps to the platform Tic took this picture from.  It was well worth the climb. Take note of the point and look at the picture below.

This is the lighthouse at the end of the point seen in the above picture.


After stopping at the Visitors Center in Empire, MI we decided the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive was a must do. 

This was one of our first overlook stops.  We are looking at Glen Lake and not Lake Michigan.  Glen Lake is a huge inland lake.
 

Our next overlook stop we are actually looking at Lake Michigan.  

These are the dunes you are invited to climb.  Climbing dunes is very strenuous and since we have already enjoyed that experience, we choose not to climb here.

Here we are at Glen Haven Historic Village.  This was an old tug used to bring ships safely to harbor.
 

This is the view of the water there.  Again see the color changing as the water gets deeper.  There was a beach area with many people playing, but I did not put that part in the picture.
 

This is the map of the area we drove.  You can see how large Glen Lake is also. The following is the Anishiaabek Indian legend of how this area got its name.  "Long ago, along the Wisconsin shoreline, a mother bear and her two cubs were driven into Lake Michigan by a raging forest fire. The bears swam for many hours, but eventually the cubs tired and lagged behind. Mother bear reached the shore and climbed to the top of a high bluff to watch and wait for her cubs. Too tired to continue, the cubs drowned within sight of the shore. The Great Spirit Manitou created two islands (North & South Manitou Islands) to mark the spot where the cubs disappeared and then created a solitary dune (Sleeping Bear Dune) to represent the faithful mother bear.

Close by was the Sleeping Bear Coast Guard Station Maritime Museum. 

Above and below are two of the retired Coast Guard ships.

This was the General Store and resident of the store keeper in the Glen Haven Historic Village very close to the Coast Guard Museum.

This is the old Coast Guard Station. Of course we had to get a dead tree in the picture.  If you follow our blog, you know Tic likes unique looking dead trees.
 

 We found this very interesting.  It is an all-terrain wheel chair.  There is a beach here also, so chair-bound people can get out to the beach and see the point. 

This boat was actually rowed to ships that were closer in.  Below is a picture of the cork life vests used in the early 1900's.

This room is where the 7-man crew slept. Each man had a cot and a small closet.  See the little doors?
 

This room was designed to show the pilot room on the rescue ships.
 

These lenses from an old lighthouse are amazing.
 

The coast guard has been around for a long time.  Thanks to all the men and now women for constant vigilance!

Time to head back to our RV park now.  By the time we got home we had gone 300 miles today.  Well worth it!