Keeping Up With The Counters: WELCOME TO PARADISE!

Wednesday, September 5th

Sadly this morning we said good-bye to Mark and Cindy, then headed east toward Paradise; Paradise, MI that is. Along the way, every time I saw chunks of tire rubber laying on the highway, I couldn't help but feel the drivers pain.

We are staying at the Tahquamenon (rhymes with phenomenon) Falls State Park. Now that's a mouth full, so I'll just call it the "T" place. After picking our campsite and getting set up, we checked out the lower T Falls before it started to rain. We didn't have cell service in Copper Harbor, so were surprised to have cell phone service and our MiFi Hot Spot works so I can start posting my blog.

Thursday

Today we drove to Whitefish Point Lighthouse to visit The Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum and tour the lighthouse. The museum houses some artifacts and tells the stories of ships that sunk in the Great Lakes, many of them are around Whitefish Point where it's a popular spot for divers.

This is also were the Edmund Fitzgerald Memorial is located. In November of 1975, the "Fitz", as they call it, sank in a horrific storm 17 miles from Whitefish Point; all 29 crew members were lost. The storm produced 100 mph winds and 30 foot waves. We watched a film showing the recovery of the ships bell. In 199?, the families of the crew requested that the Fitz's bell be recovered, and a bell engraved with the names of the crew replace it on the sunken ship as a grave marker. The Fitz sits in over 500 feet within the waters of Ontario, Canada. In a cooperative effort between Canada and the U. S., special diving equipment and teams were used to bring up the Fitz's bell from the watery grave, and the memorial bell put in its place. At a special ceremony, the Province of Ontario presented the Edmund Fitzgerald Bell to the State of Michigan. After each name of the crew was read, a family member tolled the bell. Many said it was the closure they needed.