Last outing of 2008.

At the time we didn't know it, but this trip would turn out to be our last outing of 2008. Today, we were going up to Detroit to meet my parents for dinner, so why not sneak in a little bit of lighthouse sight-seeing. We wanted to finish up the lights of Lake Erie and the Detroit River that we have been putting off for some time, so this was our chance.

Our first stop was to find the Detroit River Lighthouse. This light proved to be a tricky one. Without any clear cut directions I really don't think we did too bad! According to google, there was a park and "island" that gave you the closest distant view of the light, now we just needed to find it. After driving around what seemed like a landfill and work yard for about 30 minutes, we found the road we were looking for.


Aerial view of the island. *Borrowed from Wikipedia*

After heading in the right direction, we finally found the park. We quickly found out this was a state public hunting area (Pointe Mouille State Game Area). Click HERE to read more about this very unique area. We were hesitant at first to enter, until a couple of guys taking their dogs out for a stroll assured us it was OK to cross to the island. They told us they often walk over to the island, and told us we would be OK if we didn't see any hunters. Best advice, if you see someone with a gun, get out of the way! With it being the time of day that it was, we were sitting OK. There wasn't anyone out on the trails, and only a couple of fishermen were out fishing. So we headed off. We started walking the "short" way around the 5 mile loop. This was a long walk!


Daddy and Taylor out for a stroll.

We continued walking around the bend, until suddenly....there it was! We were so lucky, we even caught two ships passing by the light. This is such a small light compared to the ships. They seem to tower over the lighthouse.


Detroit River Lighthouse with a passing ships.


After we got a couple of distant shots we continued on our walk. Suddenly, we started to hear shots from the other side of the island. They were duck hunting, and we needed to get out! I really don't believe we were in any danger...yet, but we didn't want to stick around and find out. The two guys with their dogs also picked up and started to move them along as well. We were pretty worn out after the hike, so the car ride up to the Grosse Ile Lighthouse was a good reward.


Grosse Ile, Michigan.

There are two ways to get cross onto Grosse Ile, one has a toll (I think it was $4.00 one way), and the other is free. Luck for us, we found the free bridge over. This is a very beautiful and large island on the Detroit river. High-society homes line the streets, and I'll admit we felt a bit out of place. There were cars sitting in the driveways at some of these homes that cost more than our house! While passing through, we seen a lot of deer meandering around and posing in the front yards while residents were out for their late afternoon walks. They really seemed to co-exist without bothering the other. If I had to guess, we probably seen upwards to 15 deer in our short visit.

After we wandered around the island for a while, we found the lighthouse at the north end of the island. We had an issue though, the light is sitting behind personal property with no access. We really didn't want to trespass, so we continued down the lane until we could get a glimpse from the road. At the end of a cul-de-sac we found an open lot that gave a perfect distant view of the light on the other side of the marina. No one was at home (I tried ringing the bell to ask for permission)so I quickly snapped a couple of pictures from their driveway. These would have to work for now.


Grosse Ile Lighthouse

Not as well as I would have hoped, but they serve their purpose for now. I did contact The Grosse Ile Historical Society to verify what days they would have the lighthouse open. They told me they only open the lighthouse one day a year, the Sunday after Labor Day. We were there, they were not! Unfortunately, due to issues of some sort, they were not opening it this year. Oh well, maybe next year!

After viewing the Grosse Ile light, we headed into Detroit to meet my parents for dinner. It was a good day for lighthouse sightseeing. We have now officially ended our lighthouse travels for 2008. Now we need to focus on our maps and travels for 2009.

Until next time....