Sault Ste. Marie

We took a drive over the Mackinaw Bridge and headed north to Sault Ste. Marie (they say they are the third oldest city in the United States) to see the Soo Locks. It was amazing to see and to watch large freighters, almost close enough to touch, move through the lock system.

The Soo Locks consist of two canals and four locks, "that allow vessels of many types and sizes to safely traverse the 21 foot drop in elevation of the St. Marys River between Lake Superior and Lakes Michigan and Huron."

For history buffs, The Edmund Fitzgerald was a constant traveler through the Soo Locks. That ship and crew was lost in 1975 in Lake Superior --- I can't get the song out of my head! Above is a ship that I took at two separate times to show it was rising in the lock. (compare the control room location on the first picture to the second picture.)