Great Lakes Cities

[woodrow]

Originally Posted by PFloyd

After I moved to Toronto from the US, I was fairly prejudiced against lakes in terms of how good they could be compared to the ocean.
Then, I was introduced to Ontario's vast cottaging culture by my wife, and I was blown away by the stunning beauty of the Canadian Shield, the Boreal forests and lakes. Wintertime is even more breathtaking;
We like it so much that we now own an amazing cottage in Muskoka. Can't wait to get there next weekend!

I took the Canadian in October 2005? and my GOD the Canadian Shield is amazing. Fall - dark green pine boughs - brilliant yellow birch leaves - intense red maple branches - bubbling brooks, placid ponds and lakes - cabins - granite granite granite - fairy tale cabins - and it goes on and on and on. It's magical!

[jd3189]

Might as well rename this thread the "Great Lakes" thread. I learned a lot from reading these conversations.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

when it comes to swimming, i'd rank my water type preferences thusly:

1. freshwater

2. salt water

3. chlorinated pool water

I guess it's the same for me, the difference being that for me water type preference is WAAAAY down the list.

For example in my case in FL, if you swapped the two (i.e. I now have the ocean in my backyard and it's warm, while there's my swimming pool that's too cold for my tastes that's a 10+ minute drive away) then my preference gets totally swapped as well to the other water type, no question. Water type doesn't even enter the equation.

There's this crystal clear lake in the Canadian Shield north of St-Tite in Quebec (which my Anglo gf and I like to refer to as the city of Holy 🞵🞵🞵🞵 when speaking English) where my gf has a tradition of renting a cottage every summer for a week or weekend at least. Boats are of course forbidden on it, everyone who has the privilege to have a cottage there is respectful, and the water is perfectly transparent.

Super nice... except that now that getting used to Florida has made me a bit of a wuss for cold water swimming, I can't really get in. Even in August!

In FL though all the "lakes" I know look more like swamps than what I would consider an actual lake from my Canadian perspective (I'm guessing Midwesterners feel the same). You'd have to be nuts to want to swim in there, gators or not.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by jd3189

Might as well rename this thread the "Great Lakes" thread. I learned a lot from reading these conversations.

There's "Great Lakes" right there in the title. By SSP standards this thread is pretty much on topic!

[IrishIllini]

Originally Posted by lio45

There's "Great Lakes" right there in the title. By SSP standards this thread is pretty much on topic!

You are so very welcome!

[Boisebro]

Originally Posted by lio45

There's "Great Lakes" right there in the title. By SSP standards this thread is pretty much on topic!

it also has the word "uniform."

so...

[PFloyd]

Originally Posted by woodrow

I took the Canadian in October 2005? and my GOD the Canadian Shield is amazing. Fall - dark green pine boughs - brilliant yellow birch leaves - intense red maple branches - bubbling brooks, placid ponds and lakes - cabins - granite granite granite - fairy tale cabins - and it goes on and on and on. It's magical!

I concur with you! I think winter is the more spectacular season with frozen lakes, massive amounts of snow on the ground and trees that remains clean white throughout the winter, roaring fire by the fire place, dry, fresh clean air, clear blue skies, and a fraction of the amount of people in the summer. That great sense of splendid isolation. And all this within 2-hour drive of a bustling cosmopolitan city. The best of both worlds.

[Steely Dan]

no great lakes thread would be complete without some pics of my second favorite place in the world, my home away from home, Mackinac Island!

NO! 🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵🞵! CARS!











source: me

[mrnyc]

^ yep -- i love it up in the mitt -- i will be there this summer!

[mrnyc]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Sounds very nice. Thanks for the descriptive account of summer leisure -- it no doubt sounds like a great place that I would like very much.

As someone who grew up on the Great Lakes and smaller lakes throughout the PA/NY/Ontario region, I have a tremendous appreciation for the activites you describe. My grandfather was a boatbuilder who built and delivered these boats (anyone who has spent time on the Lakes has more than likely seen his work)...








... and I was fortunate to accompany him and my father on maiden voyage deliveries of these vessels throughout the Great Lakes, down the Mississippi and up the Ohio to places like Louisville and Pittsburgh, and through the St. Lawrence and down the Atlantic Coast. All this to say, I grew up on freshwater from a very young age and certainly appreciate your love for freshwater bounty in all its forms.

But once I moved to Florida and to the Caribbean and to Brazil, I definitely gained quite a different perspective. I wish I could say that "yeah, swimming in the ocean in Cuba is okay, but 'it's not really pleasant compared to swimming in Midwestern freshwater'"... yet, I just could not seriously claim that after spending a single minute in the waters off Cayo Guillermo... or swimming between islands in the Costa Verde in Brazil... or even after snorkeling off Key Largo on a November day. To each his own, and if you're scared of sea life and are irritated by saltwater, then I guess I can understand your preference. But let's not kid ourselves into thinking that the majority of humans would likely prefer to swim in ocean waters given the choice.

lol i didnt know my college had a collection of great lakes pics -- that was unxpected to see!

[suburbanite]

Mackinac is such a great hidden gem. Went there as frequently as I could when I was living on Manitoulin Island and Killarney for a couple months the summer after graduating high school.

[suburbanite]

Originally Posted by Steely Dan

source: me

Mackinac Bridge has to be the best "lake bridge" in the world no? I can't think of many others. We have the Skyway bridge in Hamilton and there's the Blue Water between Sarnia and Port Huron, but neither are as impressive.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Mackinac Bridge has to be the best "lake bridge" in the world no? I can't think of many others. We have the Skyway bridge in Hamilton and there's the Blue Water between Sarnia and Port Huron, but neither are as impressive.

"best" is terribly subjective, but i believe Mighty Mac still has the longest main suspended span of any bridge over a freshwater lake in the world at 3,800'.

and it's still the 19th longest main suspended span of any suspension bridge worldwide. (it was the 3rd longest when i was born in the 70s, but with the way china has been building major bridges, it keeps sliding down the ranks).

and with a total shore-to-shore length of 4 miles, i have to believe that the Mackinac Bridge is still one of the longest bridges across a freshwater lake anywhere in the world.

[pj3000]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

lol i didnt know my college had a collection of great lakes pics -- that was unxpected to see!

yeah, I didn't know either, just stumbled across the university's site... and now I've spent hours on it wasting time. Being able to see a bunch of old photos of boats/ships that my grandfather built and/or repaired is pretty cool though.

[pj3000]

Would like to visit Mackinac someday. Have always wanted to check it out. Seems pretty touristy though... like the type of family vacation spot that has six fudge shops on its main street. But I could be 100% wrong on that.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by pj3000

Would like to visit Mackinac someday. Have always wanted to check it out. Seems pretty touristy though... like the type of family vacation spot that has six fudge shops on its main street. But I could be 100% wrong on that.

the town on the island is EXTREMELY touristy, with several dozen fudge shops. during the high summer season, the island is said to receive 25,000 visitors a day (the island is home to a permanent population of only ~500 people, so tourism drives everything on the island).

but the island is 80% natural state park filled with gorgeous northern forests and cool limestone rock formations, it's loaded with history with a well-preserved 18th century fort which saw military action during the war of 1812, and the whole "no cars" thing is a little slice of utter heaven in our car-dominated shithole of a country. and it's just a really freaking beautiful place.

if you visit the island and never leave the fudge and t-shirt shop dominated main street of town by the ferry docks, then you will likely leave the island disappointed.



to get a more complete picture of the whole island, please check out my old photothread of mackinac: Mackinac Island, MI - this place has charm coming out of its ass

[pj3000]

^ cool, thanks for the info and link. I figured Mackinac had more than just the touristy quaint little town thing going on, but I wasn't sure. It's on my list now.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by suburbanite

Mackinac is such a great hidden gem. Went there as frequently as I could when I was living on Manitoulin Island and Killarney for a couple months the summer after graduating high school.

Mackinaw is like the Vegas strip on summer weekends. I never thought of it as a "hidden gem".

I think it's a very worthwhile visit, but you have to be prepared for masses of tourists, jacked up prices, and bad food. But it's beautiful and the interior past the fort is largely empty. My family does a Grand Hotel weekend every other year or so. The hotel is expensive but pretty interesting.

Also the island is perfect for kids. No cars, you can't leave the island, really, so you can't go missing. We used to run all over the island and I want my son to eventually do the same. And Grand Hotel has programs all day for the kids.

[dc_denizen]

seems a bit like cape may, nj

[JManc]

Looking at Google map of Mackinaw, were there cars at one time? They have normal streets and highways designed for cars rather than pedestrian paths.