Sault Tea Party

Yesterday, April 15, tea parties were held all across the United States to bring light to the discontent that abounds concerning the direction the country is moving. The Sault was not left out of this party-time. I found this picture on Facebook of many Saulties dumping their tea into the Power Canal off the Ashmun Street bridge. I looks like a fun time to me.

What really impresses me is that there is no snow and not a cloud in the sky. It appears that spring has arrived in Sault Ste. Marie.

Lake Monster

Now that is not a photograph that I took but rather I got it off the Monster Quest file. But I watched Monster Quest tonight and saw an episode about a lake monster in western Canada. The story of the Ogopogo monster was eerily similar to a sighting my sister had in Lake Superior at Birch Point several years ago. I'm going to talk to her about it again and get all the details. I will share what I learn with my readers.

Have any of you had sightings of anything unusual like this in the Great Lakes or adjoining waters? I'd love to hear you stories. I know there are Native American legends that talk about these kinds of animals. I would appreciate any sharing you can do. Thanks, Brenda

7 Best Spots for Boat Watching around the Soo

Sault Ste. Marie has to be the best spot in Michigan for boat watching because it offers such a variety of places to watch from and most of them are never crowded or busy. Here is a list of my top 5 favorites.






1. My cabin-we're located between Six and Seven Mile Road. Although the St. Marys River is wide at this spot, we still get a good view. If we want a picture of a boat, we must take our wave runners out to get close. This is a little dicey because you are doing two things at once-hanging on the wave runner and also operating the camera. My worst experience at this was when one of the tall ships passed by. Tom drove me out there for pictures and I took many. Even got close enough for the crew to wave. Once we got back to shore, I found I had the lens cap on for the whole time. Not fun. I never told Tom what I had done!



2. Sugar Island Ferry Dock-The ships slow down for the turn in the river plus the river is narrow at this point. There are great parking spots plus Clyde's Drive-in which is located here has the best hamburgers in town.


3. 4 Mile Park-at the end of 4 Mile, there is a small public park where the ships come very close. In fact, if you are swimming there, you must get out of the water when the ships pass because of the current and wave created that will pull you out to deep water.




4. West Pier-the west end of the Locks used to offer a great boat watching spot before the condos were built there. It is still a good spot plus there is West Pier Drive-In with great burgers. Some people think the best in town but I have another favorite. See #2 above.



5. Soo Locks Boat Tour-I took the above picture while on the Soo Locks Boat Tour. You get up close and personal on the tour. I like to take the tour once a summer. We usually wait for friends to come visit from out of town.





6. The Locks-This is where you will get the closest to the boats and you can even chat with the crew while they lock through. We always take guests there plus we often go just to walk through the park. The Visitor's Center is a must see for guests too.





7. The Rock Cut/Neebish Island area-This location just south of the Soo has a good eating spot as well as a close up look at boats.

Now I want to hear from you. What do you think is the best boat watching spot in the Sault? I'd like to learn a few new ones for this summer.

Spring Break

This picture is from our arrival at The Cabin last June. We're looking forward to the day this year when our cabin life begins.

As I sit here today, drinking my morning coffee, I'm watching the snow flakes fall gently to the ground. Thankfully the snow is melting on the green grass. This would be a pretty picture if it was December but not April.

This reminds me of our first spring that we owned the cabin. It was 2000 and we arrived there the first week of April. We were very excited to have our cabin to get away and relax for the whole week. Things didn't go like that. First, there was still lots of snow there. We had to shovel to get in the driveway and then shovel the snow away from the door to allow us to open it.

Things went from bad to worse when we went to light the furnace. Our fuel oil space heater was full of soot and we had the 'bright' idea to use the shop vac to clean it out. Our plan was working well. We were both focused on looking into the opening into the fire space. I happened to turn around and saw the room was hazy. Further investigation-the soot was leaving the furnace and being propelled into the air through the vac. Our entire cabin became covered with a thin layer of greasy, dirty soot.

This required professional help and we had to have the whole cabin cleaned. Everything-curtains, furniture, walls, ceiling and floors. Our entire week was spend coordinating workers in and out to get the cleaning done.

I think that may have been the year we burnt out the heating element in the water heater by connecting the power before it was filled with water but that may have happened the next year. Those memories blur in my mind for good reason.

We are now pros at opening The Cabin but those memories hang close and we always do the opening in a step by step fashion. Oh, also we never vacuum out the furnace either without venting it outdoors.

High Wages in the Soo? In 1909-Yes!

Did you know there was a time when the average worker's wage of a Soo was the second highest in Michigan? It was exceeded only by the wages paid in Marquette. I found the following piece in the Battle Creek Enquirer. The section was telling what happened on today's date in past years.

100 Years Ago Today, 1909:

The profound fallacy of many of the ridiculous charges made against industrial conditions in Battle Creek by a few disgruntled parties here and elsewhere is apparent in a list of statistics received this morning from the state labor bureau. The average daily wage paid in Battle Creek is the highest of any manufacturing city in Michigan and the third largest in the state. The average wage paid in Battle Creek is $2.34. It is exceeded only by Marquette and Sault Ste. Marie, both of which are smaller and one of which is a mining town. In Marquette the rate is $2.41 and in the Sault $2.35.