The Soo Locks ...who has the key?

Today we meandered to our trusty truck and headed to Saulte Ste Marie to check out the Soo Locks.  We headed north on I-75 and when we got there, we parked right on the main road, Portage, right across from the locks.

What luck, there was a huge ship in the locks, so we went to the viewing platform to check it out.

Heading from Lake Huron to Lake Superior, so it has to go up 21 feet.  Before the shipping and the locks came along, this was a rapids and a falls.  Since it was the only river connecting the great lakes, the locks were built.

It took just over 20 minutes from start to finish to transfer the ship from the lower lake to the higher lake.

Hey, I can see Canada from here!

Off goes the Roger Blough to wherever, just another day on the great lakes.

We headed over to the welcome center and museum where we learned some things about the locks, when they were built and how they operate.  I took a picture of an aerial view of the locks.  We Americans have 3 locks...Canada only 1.

Aerial view of the American Soo Locks

 

We headed back outside just in time to see a tour boat heading out onto Lake Superior.  Interesting.

By this time we were getting hungry, so we crossed the street to a nearby restaurant to have the local whitefish, which was tasty.  The restaurant buys its fish from local fisherman which are almost entirely Ojibwa Indians. When the U.S. took the land to build the locks, the Indians were given the rights to fish Lake Superior. 

Lunch

After lunch, we walked over to the park that borders the locks.  It was a nice green space nothing too exciting.  Had a fountain, a monument to some former governor, the usual park stuff.

We watched another tour boat load into the lock and then watched the gates close behind it.

Its kinda funny to see these 'little' tour boats in a lock channel that is 1000 ft long.  Makes the boat look like a toy.

The locks are fenced off to keep spectators from falling in or getting crushed by a passing ship.  

Cary getting caught trespassing.

On our way back to the truck, we checked out this flower garden, planted and maintained by the local garden club.

Good job!

And just another detail of a small town main street:

Nautical street lamps

We took the long way back to St. Ignace and checked out the main street there.  Got a picture of the Mackinac Bridge, through the fog and mist.

This is the best I could do Patti M.

Tomorrow we head west through the UP and into Wisconsin to Eagle River.  Stay tuned.