The water of Lake Michigan is so clear that we could see the pattern of the sand underneath as we walked out on the breakwater.
Many of the townspeople joined us on a half-mile stroll up the breakwater on this beautiful evening. We were even joined by the resident heron, who didn't seem to mind the traffic so close to his fishing site.
We made our way to the end of the breakwater, where the North Breakwater Light stands proudly. This is a great place to watch the sunset, or visit with your neighbor on an evening stroll.
Our timing was good, as we could see the "SS Badger" coming in to its dock in Ludington. Built in 1953, this big ship has been plying the waters of Lake Michigan between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin ever since.
It didn't slow down as it zipped between the north and south breakwaters that lead into the entrance of the Pere Marquette River and the city of Ludington. It's hard to describe just how big this ship is. It's probably easiest to describe how much it can carry. Currently it is a car ferry, and it can shuttle up to 180 automobiles and 620 passengers.
But it was actually built to be a railroad car ferry. In the 1950's, that back hull housed four lines of railroad tracks so that up to 43 railroad cars could be loaded onto the SS Badger. After the four-hour trip across Lake Michigan, the railroad cars where unloaded so they could continue their rail journey across the country on land. When other methods of transportation became more feasible, the SS Badger was re-purposed into its current task of shuttling people and their cars. How interesting!
We explored the Waterfront Park in our new home-town of Ludington. It's a good place to stretch our legs and enjoy another view of the water.
It's also a good place to enjoy the brass sculptures sprinkled along the marina. With extra pedestals available, you are invited to join in the scenes caught in brass. Below, a father is passing on fishing skills to his son as Mark looks on.
Below is a long line of children skipping across rocks, playing follow-the-leader through the park.
But wait, that one "child" standing on a rock towards the back almost looks life-like (if not child-like).
We don't usually do much shopping, but we always enjoy good local produce and products. When you can find local produce made into a good local product it's even better. We visited the "Jam Lady" on her farm not far from our campground and bought some of the jam she makes from the fruit grown locally.
This has been a family farm since the civil war, and it proudly displays one of the quilt squares on its barn from the "quilt tour." The tour includes a phone number to call, to get a recording about the historical information about each farm.
With our well-used Michigan state park pass, we also made the trip out to Ludington State Park. We took the two-mile hike towards the lighthouse, but made a detour to walk the last mile along the narrow Lake Michigan beach. This section of the sunset coast is called the "Singing Sands" because the noise that is made when walking through this sand. That's a rather poetic name, as we would probably name it more accurately, "Squeaking Sands."
After a mile in the sand, we were glad to finally see the lighthouse in the distance. This section of the usually white-sand beach has swirls of black sand.
This is Big Sable Lighthouse, less-visited because it does take a hike to get here. Originally a red brick lighthouse, it was later encased in steel and got its black and white paint job.
The attached lightkeeper's house contains a small museum and gift shop. We visited with one of the volunteers, and found that the upstairs has living quarters that are used for the three couples that take turns keeping all this open for the public to visit.
Because we love a loop hike, we decided not to go back the straight and easy path we had walked to get to the lighthouse. Instead, we are walking through the sand dunes to take the longer and more difficult path back to the car. We've walked in enough sand lately to know that each step in the sand equals two or three steps in a more solid surface. Maybe this wasn't such a smart decision?!?
It's warm and sunny, so we aren't too excited when we see that part of the trail through the dunes is flooded. Our hike suddenly got longer with some detours around temporary ponds caused from the recent rain.
After all that hot sun, we are glad to see shade ahead. But first, we must point out those tracks in the sand in front of Denisa. We met a couple pulling a wagon through this deep sand. We thought that perhaps they were struggling with that wagon to transport a child with them. But no, the only passenger was their dog. Man's best friend was getting a royal ride, while his slaves were sweating pulling that wagon. We obviously know who is in charge here.
After the sun and the dunes, we were glad to see that it was cool and damp in the forest section of the hike. Too bad that is exactly the environment that mosquitoes love. We were swarmed by the most aggressive mosquitoes we have seen this entire trip. We spent the next hour waving our arms and walking as fast as we could to try to get away from them. The verdict is now certain--our loop hike probably wasn't our best decision.
We made it back to the car in record time. With the fast pace and extra effort of walking through deep sand, we were pooped! Our five-mile hike felt a lot longer. It's time for some rest and relaxation. We have already found lots to do, and we are really loving our new home town of Ludington, Michigan!
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