We arrived at Mackinaw a little early, our check in time at the hotel was 3pm so we decided to head further North, about 50 minutes, to Saulte Ste Marie which is the Northern end of Michigan and also the Northern end of I75 (which actually starts in Florida).

When we arrived at the locks we saw something we had never seen before, a Viking cruise ship going through the locks. We had seen tankers and every other kind of vessel, but never a cruise ship.

We stopped in at the tourist traps across from the locks (the locks are run by the army corp of engineers and the tourist traps are right across the street). There certainly seemed to be alot of big foot stuff, almost like the official mascot of up north.

A great time was had by all and why not, this was the first place we went to for our honeymoon 19 years ago! Continue reading “Soo Locks – Saulte Ste. Marie 2022” →

James and Mom got to go on a two hour tour of the Soo Locks. This was James first time going through the locks and also the first time he got to go to Canada (that he remembered, we took him a couple times to Kingsville and Windsor while he was in a stroller). James has been wanting to go to Canada since studying about it at school and online. Going on the boat tour not only did he get to understand the workings of the Soo Locks, but also the boat took him to Canada without the headache of going through customs.

After the boat tour we went by the other museums and finished off the day shopping in the tourist trap area.

Continue reading “Soo Locks & Soo Museum Tour 2012” →

One hour north of the Mackinaw bridge is Saulte St Marie, U.S. and Canada sides. The U.S. side is based on tourism, the Canadian side is based on industry. There are casinos on both sides if you like that kind of thing, we stopped at the casino on the American side one time before James was born and did ok. We did not go to the Canadian side since we did not have James’ birth certificate with us for customs.

The ever important Soo Locks are located in Saulte Ste Marie and also an awful lot of history including a huge Republic Steel tanker that has been converted to a museum. It has many artifacts including the Edmond Fitzgerald life boats that were washed ashore after the wreck.

Continue reading “Saulte Ste Marie 2008” →

These are pics from the boat tour through the soo locks in Michigans upper peninsula on the Canadian border. We stopped at the Soo as part of our Honeymoon, although most of it will be spent on Mackinaw and Mackinaw Island. The day is very overcast so hopefully the weather will be better for Mackinaw.

I remember the Soo Locks and trips up here as a kid. Its a great place to spend a day, but I don’t think you could get more than a day out of it, unless you like casinos, then you will be in your glory.

Continue reading “Saulte Ste Marie 2002” →