Fayette State Park

Posted on by farlane

Fayette State Park

Fayette State Park, photo by Mike Boburka

The Michigan Historical Center’s page on the Fayette Historic Townsite says:

The Fayette Historic Townsite includes 20 historic buildings, exhibits, a walking tour and scenic overlooks. Fayette has 20 preserved buildings and structures. Eleven buildings house museum exhibits and are open to the public, including the hotel, machine shop, company office, town hall, and residences.

A massive blast furnace still stands on the site, and is part of the well-preserved history of this former 19th century industrial site. Fayette is a living museum, telling the story of a company town in the 19th century, nestled on the Garden Peninsula in the central Upper Peninsula.

The limestone bluffs on Snail Shell Harbor were mined for use in the blast furnaces.
Exhibit with clothing and toys, part of the children’s exhibit at Fayette Historic Townsite.
Exhibits at Fayette focus on life in a company town, including what it was like to grow up there. At its height, half the population of Fayette was children.

The townsite is part of Fayette Historic State Park and on the second Saturday of August the annual Heritage Day celebrates Fayette with period displays, food, and music. Click through for more.

View Mike’s photo background big and click for more of Mike’s Fayette photos.

More Michigan ghost towns on Michigan in Pictures.

Spraymasters Water Ski Club: Skis Optional

Posted on by farlane

Barefoot Ski Line

Barefoot ski line, photo by Mark Zacks

This looks like fun. The Spraymasters Water Ski Club says:

Our team was founded in 1987 by Bob Dowling. We have continued to grow and perform since then. For anyone unfamiliar with show skiing, it is made up of exciting acts that are not normally seen in recreational water skiing. These acts include barefooting, ballet line, doubles, swivel skiing, and pyramids up to four tiers high.

Throughout the summer, we perform our themed shows at our home site on Big Lake in Davisburg, Michigan. We also perform numerous shows for other lake associations and organizations around the state. Furthermore, Spray Masters is a part of the National Show Ski Association (NSSA). The team competes in several tournaments each summer as a team as well as individual performances.

The team starts preparing for each season before the ice is even off the lake. Beginning in February we practice in a gym learning the new moves we are going to perform that year. We practice pyramid climbing, doubles, trios, showmanship and dances. We usually start water practices in May and practice twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays throughout the summer. Our first show is usually in late June, and continue through late August.

Head over to their website for a calendar of their performances.

View Mark’s photo background big and see more of his lake photos on Flickr.

More summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.

Waterfall Wednesday: Gabbro Falls

Posted on by farlane

Gabbro Falls from Above

Gabbro Falls, photo by Eric Hackney Photography

In addition to stalking the Petit Portal, it appears I am stalking Eric Hackney as well.

GoWaterfalling’s page on Gabbro Falls begins:

Gabbro Falls is on the Black River and is as impressive, if not more impressive, than its more celebrated neighbors downstream along the Black River Scenic Byway. This is a largely wild waterfall with no fences or barriers of any kind. It consists of three separate drops. When the water is high there is a fourth drop that is the height of the other three combined. The main drop falls into a narrow crevice between two large rock formations.

Gabbro Falls is relatively easy to find but there is some confusing information out there. The waterfall is also known as Baker’s Falls, and it is often mistakenly called Garbo Falls (gabbro is a type of rock). There is also a Neepikon Falls upstream, but it is just an unremarkable rapid.

Read on for tips on visiting and pages about nearby waterfalls on the Black River and also be sure to check it out on GoWaterfalling’s awesome waterfall map!

View Eric’s photo background bigtacular on Facebook, see more in his 6-27-15: Gogebic County Adventures I set featuring photos of Gabbro Falls, Rainbow Falls, Potawatomi Falls, Gorge Falls and more! Definitely follow him at Eric Hackney Photography on Facebook.

More Michigan waterfalls and more summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.

I am officially stalking the Petit Portal

Posted on by farlane

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore

Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore, photo by Paul Wojtkowski

Sorry folks, but people keep adding these awesome shots of Petit Portal in the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. Near the top of my personal Michigan Bucket List is being where this kayaker is.

View Paul’s photo background bigtacular, see more in his slideshow and be sure to check out his website at the-woj.com!

More summer wallpaper & more Pictured Rocks on Michigan in Pictures.

Drops of Field

Posted on by farlane

Drops of Field by Third Son

Drops of Field, photo by Third Son

View Third Son’s photo background big and see more in his Home slideshow.

Is your computer in sync with the season? Get more summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!

Summertime Rolls

Posted on by farlane

Lake Michigan Rolls

Untitled, photo by Noah Sorenson

There’s nowhere in Michigan that’s more than 85 miles from one of the Great Lakes, and you can probably find a swimmable lake or river closer than that.

That’s something that I hope you’ll manage to do on this sweltering weekend – stay cool folks!

Noah took this on Monday at Elberta beach on Lake Michigan. Definitely check it out background bigalicious and see more northern Michigan goodness in his slideshow.

Lots more Michigan beaches and summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!

 

Stay Cool, Michigan

Posted on by farlane

Stay Cool in Detroit and Michigan

Untitled, photo by Steve Swartz

mLive reports that today and this weekend are poised to bring very hot temperatures to Michigan:

The temperatures are building out west, and winds will turn to blow out of the south starting Friday to bring the heat our way.

Wednesday and Thursday will be comfortable, with temperatures in the 70s, but Friday will be much different, as the south wind should help boost temperatures to near 90 in the afternoon. Leftover clouds from morning storms will likely prevent breaking that mark, but the humidity should make it feel like 90 degrees.

Saturday should make it into the low 90s in all of the southern half of Lower Michigan. It might even make it to 90 degrees in parts of northern Lower Michigan. The humidity will also be higher, making it feel like mid-90s in southern Michigan.

Sunday will also be a hot, sticky day. Some spots will hit 90 degrees, while many spots will be humid and warm to 88 or 89 degrees. How hot we get Sunday will depend on how much sunshine we have and if storms hold off until Sunday evening.

If we have two 90-degree days in a row, it will be the first time in any Michigan city since July 19, 2013.

View Steve’s photo background bigtacular and see more in his Summer 2012 slideshow.

More summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!

Fawn Finding Forest Fast

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Fawn Finding Forest Fast, photo by jdehmel

We’ve all heard of f-stops, but look at this fawn f-GO!! Here are a couple of fun fawn facts from Outdoor Life:

  • Fawns average 6-8 lbs. at birth
  • Fawns are capable of walking within a few hours
  • Does usually remain within 100 yards of their fawns
  • A 3-week-old fawn can outrun most danger
  • The average number of spots on a fawn is 300

View Jeff’s photo background bigtacular and see more in his slideshow.

More Michigan fauna and more summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures.

Happy 128th Birthday to the Grand Hotel

Posted on by farlane

Grand Hotel at Night

Grand Night, photo by Wade Bryant

Sending out an early Happy 128th Birthday to The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island which opened on July 10, 1887. Here’s some historical highlights about Michigan’s most iconic hotel:

1887 Grand Hotel opens, billed as a summer retreat for vacationers who arrive by lake steamer from Chicago, Erie, Montreal, Detroit, and by rail from across the continent. Rates are $3 to $5 a night.

1890s Grand Hotel’s Front Porch – longest in the world—becomes the principal meeting place for all of Mackinac Island, as well as a promenade for the elderly and a “Flirtation Walk” for island romantics. Grand Hotel Manager James “The Comet” Hayes invites an agent of Edison Phonograph to conduct regular demonstrations of the new invention.

1895 Mark Twain lectures in the Grand Hotel Casino. Admission: $1.

1897 The West Wing is added to the hotel.

Turn of the century – The automobile finds its way onto the island. Grand Hotel supports an island-wide ban. A law is passed, but not strictly enforced until the 1930s.

1919 Hotel rates: $6 a day per person.

1935 A radio salon where patrons can listen to Jack Benny and other popular programs is added.

1947 This Time For Keeps starring Jimmy Durante and Esther Williams is filmed on the island and at Grand Hotel.

1960 Grand Hotel owner W. Stewart Woodfill appoints R.D. (Dan) Musser president of Grand Hotel.

1976 Musser and wife Amelia begin the redesign of the hotel’s interior and exterior with the help of architect Richard Bos and decorator Carleton Varney.

1979 The Mussers purchase Grand Hotel.

1980 Somewhere In Time, filmed at Grand Hotel and starring Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer, is released.

1989 The U.S. Department of Interior designates Grand Hotel a National Historic Landmark.

View Wade’s photo from May of 2010 background bigtacular and see more in his My Favorites slideshow.

More Grand Hotel and more Mackinac Island on Michigan in Pictures!

Under Petit Portal

Posted on by farlane

Under Grand Portal

Under Petit Portal, photo by AllieKF

Here’s a shot from a place on my Michigan kayaking bucket list – Petit Portal (also known as Petit Arch and Arch Rock by some) and other cliff formations of the Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. The Lakeshore’s Geologic Formations page begins:

The geologic formations of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are most spectacularly represented by the 50-200 ft. sandstone cliffs that extend for more than 15 miles along the shoreline. Sea caves, arches, blowholes, turrets, stone spires, and other features have been sculpted from these cliffs over the centuries by unceasing waves and weather.

The name “Pictured Rocks” comes from the streaks of mineral stain that decorate the cliffs. Stunning colors occur when groundwater oozes out of cracks and trickles down the rock face. Iron (red and orange), copper (blue and green), manganese (brown and black), and limonite (white) are among the most common color-producing minerals.

Geologic history recorded in the sedimentary rocks and surficial deposits of Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore is limited to two widely separated intervals of geologic time, the Late Precambrian, Cambrian, and Early Ordovician Periods (500-800 million years before present), and the Late Quaternary Period (two million years before present to the present).

You can read on for more about each geologic era, and I think that that this report by Lakeshore Volunteer Geologist Robert Rose (pdf) has some graphics that really help to understand how the layers fit together.

View Allie’s photo background bigtacular and check out her simply awesome Pictured Rocks photos – it’s amazing how huge the formations look from the water.

Lots more Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and more summer wallpaper on Michigan in Pictures!