Lumberjacks and Redcoats

Greetings Family and Friends,

Have traversed the great state of Michigan to do a bit of wandering in the Upper Peninsula. This is where lumberjacks and redcoats can be found. Don’t need to go to Canada for the former nor Great Britian for the latter. Also, visited a couple of museum ships, the first a US Coast Guard icebreaker and the second a vessel that has added a couple of novel twists to the museum ship concept.

Jack Pine Lumberjack Shows in Mackinaw City presents shows that feature logging competitions. A master of ceremonies (MC) narrates and directs the competition as well as interacting with and educating the audience. The audience is divided into two rival camps who root for their lumberjack and against his competition. Below are videos (some full, others only partial) of the nine logging events. There are also other interactions involving the MC, the two lumberjacks, and/or the audience to sprinkle humor throughout the show.

The educational aspect, provided by the MC, is how each logging event came to be from actual activities performed by lumberjacks. The two competitors for my visit were Dakota and Owen, to the left and right in the videos, respectively. Dakota has been doing the show for 10 years and has competed in professional logging competitions while Owen has been doing the show for 2 years and has competed in collegiate logging competitions. Note in the springboard chop the ultimate heights of the respective springboards for the two. The height for professional competitions (as shown by Dakota) is higher than that used for collegiate competitions (as shown by Owen).

Underhand Chop

Single Buck

Boom Run

Axe Throw

Springboard Chop

Log Roll

Standing Block Chop

Pole Climb

Relay Event

Also in Mackinaw city is Colonial Michilimackinac, a reconstructed British fort set in 1775. The reconstruction is based on historic maps and archeological excavations from over the past 60 years that are still ongoing. Various in-costume personnel are at the fort as British soldiers and French-Canadian merchant families. They put on various demonstrations like the artillery and musket firing as captured in the videos below (partial and edited due to size constraints). In addition, they are very much available to take questions and love to share their knowledge.

Note that in the artillery firing demonstration, the soldier in the blue coat is a British soldier also – a blue coat was worn by artillerymen. From the fort or the shore just outside the fort, one gets some incredible views of the iconic Mackinaw Bridge. BTW, there is a toll across the bridge – $4 each way. Check out the gallery below the two videos for photos around the fort and in most, if not all, of the buildings within the fort.

Artillery Firing Demonstration

Musket Firing Demonstration

First museum ship visited was the USCGC Mackinaw (WAGB-83). She was built during World War II and spent over 60 years keeping the shipping lanes open on the Great Lakes. The Mackinaw was not only the first icebreaker I have been on but also the first Coast Guard ship. My initial impression upon exploring within the superstructure was that of spaciousness after having recently visited three submarines. Later my thoughts turned to the harsh environment (namely cold) that the Mackinaw operated in and my impressions became a bit more nuanced. Note the obscured view from the windows on the bridge – for protection.

The other museum ship visited was the SS Valley Camp up in Sault Sainte Marie. A lake freighter that now serves as a museum ship but also as a traditional museum like the USS LST-393 described in my previous post. Besides all the wonderful maritime-related exhibits (see gallery below for photos), she also hosts a small aquarium and a petit art gallery. The former houses local fish and uses river water if I recall accurately. The latter, quite naturally, presents Great Lake themed paintings.

While the sites I visited were either in Mackinaw City or Sault Sainte Marie, I stayed in Saint Ignace. This town is just north of Mackinaw City over the Mackinaw Bridge and is slightly larger in population. Sault Sainte Marie is far larger and lies roughly an hour north of Saint Ignace. The town of Saint Ignace is especially pretty where it wraps around its lakeshore. See the photos from its marina in the gallery below.