Friday, August 12, 2011

North Country 2011--Day 17

Bummer, another day without getting our repairs done.

Spent the morning waiting for the RV dealer to call about working us in to get the slide topper awning repaired. No call came. We finally decided to get out of here and go see something. Figured if we didn't venture too far away we could always hurry back if the call came. So we headed back over to Marquette to see their Maritime Museum and Harbor Lighthouse. Although this is operated by the City of Marquette the property is still owned and maintained by the U.S. Coast Guard. There is a Coast Guard station still operating there. The museum was not that large but did have some good displays about the old Life Saving Stations, shipping on the Great Lakes and the lighthouses that dot the lakes. The lighthouse sits up on a cliff a short distance from the museum. The building is two stories with a basement. The basement was a work area while the other two floors contained matching apartments for the Assistant Lighthouse Keepers and their families. The Lighthouse Keeper lived in a nearby house that is now occupied by the Commander of the Coast Guard Station with his family. There are two smaller lights in the Marquette Harbor, the Upper Harbor Light and the Lower Harbor Light. These are located out at the ends of seawalls that protect in inner harbors. The Upper Harbor Light was quite a ways from where we at and the seawall goes out over three miles. We did not attempt to go out to that one. The Lower Harbor Light was not far from the main lighthouse. We did walk a ways out on the seawall but it was fairly narrow and uneven so we turned back after taking a quick picture. All these lights are now automated and no longer require full time Lighthouse Keepers. Actually, most of the Great Lakes Lights have been deactivated and are no longer in use. With today's radar and GPS tracking lighthouses are a thing of the past. Kind of like us old retirees. Since we do enjoy the old lighthouses we'll continue to seek them out as we travel around the country.

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