Mini On The Mack 2017: So, Sault Me!

We had originally planned to be in St. Ignace one more day but due to my clerical error I had only made reservations for 2 days. Rather than add on another day we decided to just move about 50 miles up the road to Sault Saint Marie, MI, home of the famous Soo Locks. We bypassed the freeway and took some backroads. The scenery was mostly farms and woodland...sort of like Ashtabula County!

We talked it over on the way up and agreed to take a Soo Lock Boat Tour once we got here. We checked out the town and then drove over to Dock #2. What should be in the parking lot but a few MINIs. So we were not the only ones to drive farther north. There was even a MINI sign hanging at the ticket office.

Feeling right at home

We bought our tickets and had about an hour before boarding so we drove around town, took a quick peek at the Lock Observation Deck, found a place to eat after the boat tour, and headed back to the dock.

This is not our boat but you get the idea

Another happy customer

We waited in line a bit and then boarded the Hiawatha for the tour. We took seats up top on the open deck where the air was cool and the sun was hot. The tour was fun and we learned lots. We were able to up lock and then on the return trip through Canada on the Saint Mary River we had to down lock to return to the dock. The trip took about an hour and a half.

We are in the Lock and waiting for the water to drain

We came here a few times when I was small because my Dad worked on the Lakes before being drafted into WWII. He had been through the Locks a number of times aboard the Shasta. We would watch freighters go through the locks while I think he dreamed of being back on board. My sisters will be happy to know that this time I did not cry when the freighters blew their horns!

After the tour we ate lunch at Freighter's Restaurant where we spent some extra time because they burned the flatbread Cheri ordered. It all worked out fine though.

Then we walked through town and checked out some shops, stopped at the Soo Brewery, which was not very good, then went to the Lockside Brewery where things were much better!

Glad these flight tasters were small. Ptooie!

If we didn't have so many pint glasses at home I would have bought one of these.

We had noticed on the Lock information board that the Freighter (get this) Cuyahoga was going to lock down at 5:45. We made our way back to the observation deck, which is very cool, and watched the Cuyahoga enter the Lock, drop down, and continue on toward the east.