I selected some calming blues, turned it up and decided to go as far as I could. If it was bad, I could simply turn around.
There are a half dozen turns along the way, all but one clearly marked, if you consider a small picture of a lighthouse and an arrow stuck to a tree to be clear. In the end, I only took one bad turn and wound up by Little Lake. The conditions thus far were pretty good and I felt comfortable driving along at 40MPH, with a constant lookout for random stones in the road.
Eventually, I turned onto County Route 412 for the final seven mile stretch. This is where the drive gets really interesting. Gone are the wide roads. Gone are the long straightaways. Gone is the relatively firm traction of the road.
The reviews of this stretch were dead on. Lots of blind hills and tight turns. As for the loose sand, you could see it on the road. You could feel it as you drove through it. It wasn't constant and it wasn't deep like a beach. A few patches I could feel the car slowing as I plowed through. I tried sticking to 20MPH and just driving on. It felt a lot further than seven miles when I made the final turn to the lighthouse parking lot.
Grateful to have arrived safe and sound and not trying to think about the drive back, I took a moment to stretch and enjoy the cool, clear air. That's when one of the volunteers came up the path and welcomed me. She said the beach is open as is the lighthouse, just please don't climb on the rocks. I asked if the exterior platform was open and she said yes, "just kick the door open."
She wasn't kidding. The door did indeed stick, and was less than waist high.
It made getting in and out a bit tricky, but well worth it.
Those stones were added in 1998, 2006 and 2016 to halt the erosion threatening the lighthouse. More trees have been planted to slow wind erosion as well.
The Point Crisp Light house was first lit in 1904 and was decommissioned in 1993. Luce County took ownership of the light in 1997 and began the process of protecting and restoring the light and the grounds. The light was relit in 2013 and runs off two solar panels. It doesn't stay lit year round. When the lake freezes, it's unnecessary. By then the road out is impassible anyway. Volunteers run the gift shop and small museum.
A pick-up was pulling in as I was heading out. I passed another three miles down the road, fortunately in a spot wide enough to pass. Funny thing though, the drive out seemed to go so much faster than the drive in.
And yet, this wasn't the worst road I drove on, not by a wide margin.
Seen shortly after getting out on the main road...
Hwy 123 ends in the town of Newberry, the "Moose Capital of Michigan." I didn't see any moose. I did see a sign for Dollarville, another community set up by logging and shipping magnate Robert Dollar. It's basically now just a small neighborhood in Newberry. Other than that one sign, I saw nothing indicating otherwise.
Eventually I did turn onto Hwy 28 westward, then Hwy 77 into Grand Marais. (pr; ma-RAY) The coastline forms two separate bays, east and west. French traders named the area after the large swamp.
After driving to and from the lighthouse, I figured a stop in the local brewery was in order. Grace was great and brought me a sample of their blueberry ale. Great flavor, but it didn't exactly go with food. It was pretty quiet and she said the season doesn't really start until mid June.
A few miles west of downtown is a large parking lot and the trail down to Sable Falls.
And continues down to the waterline of Lake Superior
Grand Marais Harbor Lighthouse
There was one place I just had to visit before heading to the motel, the Pickle Barrel House. It was built in 1926 as a summer home for cartoonist William Delaney. His cartoon, "The Teenie Weenies" centered around a group of people only two inches tall, but living in the modern world. It first appeared in the Chicago Tribune in 1914 and continued for fifty years. My home for the next two nights was the Voyageurs Motel in Grand Marais. It's a little off the beaten path, but a decent view.
One of the owners told me about an event here the next weekend. It sounded interesting and if I had known about it when I planned this trip, I would have scheduled for it. They call it Splash In on the Bay. It's a competition for seaplane pilots. One event has them trying to land in the bay as close to a certain mark as possible. Another has them dropping water balloons on a target from specific altitudes. You can see a local news story from reporter Eric Kane here. Granted it's from ten years ago. David Quam uploaded video from the 2008 competition. You can see that here:
I did go back out for sunset and met the guy in the neighboring room. He had come through the area I'm headed to in the morning, so we compared notes. He's from Wisconsin and loves it, though "winter's really long."
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