beluga

beluga

Wednesday, October 16, 2019

Museum of the Great Lakes

We sleep like logs here,    It is so silent that the normal things don't wake us and even Dave sleeps way past his normal time. 

After lunch we went into the eastern edge of Toledo to the National Museum of the Great Lakes.   It was cold, windy and rainy today and the museum sounded like a good way to spend the day.


We've lived around one or more of the Great Lakes all of our lives, spent much time in the Thousand Islands region watching and keeping lists of ocean and lake freighters moving through the St. Lawrence Seaway so this museum seemed like a natural stop for us.

PLUS, the museum includes a historic Lake Freighter built in 1911, during the second industrial revolution.   We've seen these big ships often and were excited about the possibility of actually boarding and exploring one.


We spent a good hour in the museum proper, looking at the nicely laid out exhibits and pushing various buttons and manipulating joy sticks to bring the Great Lakes history to life. 

Dave pilots the sub looking for the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald with one of the
ship's life rafts in the background

We "dove" to the bottom of Lake Superior in a virtual sub to locate the wreck of the legendary Edmund Fitzgerald.   Gauges showed the depth as we descended, the amount air left to breathe.  After using the radar screen to locate the lay of the ship, we turned on the lights to scan the lake's floor looking for the ship wreck.     Fun!

We learned about the indigenous people and their lives on the shores of these big lakes.    We watched the building of an authentic birch bark canoe.    We learned about the flora and fauna of the area, it's geologic history, it's importance in the settling of the west, the industrial revolution, man's abuse of it's riches.     We saw beautiful Fresnel lenses from the many lighthouses and about the thousands of shipwrecks, some unexplained and mysterious.


But what we really wanted to see was the ship moored outside.    We wanted to see it bad enough that we braved high winds and pelting rain to do so.


We were the only ones there....on the entire ship.   It felt like a ghost ship to me, suddenly abandoned in time.


I have to admit that I was scared the entire time.   The gangplank used to board the ship was steep and see through.    The deck was wet and very slippery and I never realized how high these ships were.


The wind made me feel like I was going to be blown overboard and I didn't feel sure of my footing at all.    It was silent up there, the only directions were the little yellow arrows leading our way.     I almost turned back but, once again, my curiosity bested my fear.      The arrows lead us down very steep, metal stairs and into the guts of the ship, where the iron ore, or whatever it carried, was stored.
The chambers were huge and steep and empty and echoed loudly.     It was cold and dark, light from a few light bulbs and an open hatch above.


Back up the stairs and on deck again....rain and wind.    We accessed the ships galley and mess, the Officer's Dining Room with flowers on the table and dishes on the sideboard.


The crew's quarters looked as if they were left quickly.   Personal items, a menu, books, etc., scattered around....where were they?


I guess my imagination was running away with me in the cold and silence.   Dave descended another steep stairway to explore the two story engine room but I stayed above.    By myself.


Once back down the see through gangplank we hustled over to the newly acquired Tugboat.  We had tickets for a guided tour but we were late and missed it by 45 minutes so we called it a day. 

Back at Beluga we chased the bone chill away with a nice bottle of red wine and dinner of Buffalo Chicken Wing Pierogi. 

Sorry Pam, no pictures of Lew today!

   


12 comments:

  1. An interesting destination, perfect for a rainy day. If the weather improves the Oak Preserve may have some waterfowl for you to enjoy. Dinner sounds awesome, but where did you find a good bottle of red wine east of the Mississippi?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha! Beluga has a belly full of wine for just such occasions!

      Delete
  2. Oh, man!! You know I read for that one photo...haha! This is a place we both would have loved since we watched those huge ships for so many years in Clayton and visited all the Great Lakes. I can imagine exactly how you felt about touring the ship with only the two of you. But I'm glad you went and took photos for us. Fun way to spend a dreary day. Hope the rain moves out soon.

    ReplyDelete
  3. If you don’t mind me asking, does Lewis stay Jaime in Beluga when you go on these excursions? I follow several full timers with pets and some only explore where their dog is welcome and some explore individually so that one of them is always home with the dog. We are counting down to our transition to life on the road with our beloved dog and I want to understand the challenges. I love following your blog, thank you for sharing your experiences!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lewis enjoys going along and also enjoys staying home so we take him where appropriate (or where we think he'll enjoy himself) and leave him home otherwise. He's left home for varying amounts of time but never more than 8 hours (we try not to stay away that long, but sometimes it happens and he's happy to see us when we get back - but then, he's always happy to see us!). I don't like to see dogs dragged along everywhere just because it's people feel bad leaving him home alone. Pavement gets really hot on dogs feet at farmer's markets and crowded places are no fun for a dog. Hiking and swimming are great activities to share with your best friend. If we've been gone all day we always make sure to have happy hour or dinner outside so he can get fresh air and see the world. This philosophy has always worked well for all of us. Thanks for riding along with us and good luck as you move toward "the road"!

      Delete
    2. This sounds like how will live with our boy now so it seems reasonable that we will continue this approach when we are mobile. Just probably need to be more aware of his surroundings and comfort level in various locations. Thank you for your insights!

      Delete
    3. whenever we leave Lewis home alone we always put a slip of paper in our wallet telling any emergency personnel where we are camping and that we have left a dog there. On that paper we leave our son's phone number just in case we are in an accident and can't speak for ourselves.....

      Delete
    4. Well that may be the most helpful (and brilliant) RV tip I’ve seen! Thank you, and safe travels.

      Delete
  4. Good grief, *home* in Beluga!

    ReplyDelete
  5. We thought the museum looked interesting but never made it there, so thanks for visiting and taking us along. Your adventure on the 'ghost ship' gave me goosebumps. You know how to spin a tale...and yes, you are very brave. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Joe would LOVE this museum! Like you, I would have had the “hibby jibbies” being on the freightliner all alone with just an echo...too many movies I guess!

    ReplyDelete
  7. So many great :-) things about that museum and I love, love the ghost ship tour! The sea-through gang plank would be daunting, but having the ship to yourselves with perfect weather for weaving stories was wonderful.

    ReplyDelete