Browsed by
Author: Chris

Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

After leaving Mackinac Island, we spent the next day and night traveling down Lake Huron. We arrived in the Port of Detroit early the next morning. We saw beautiful views of the harbor, an incredible sunrise, and the Ambassador Bridge which connects Detroit to Windsor, Canada. Our shore excursion would take us to The Henry Ford in Dearborn. On the way, we stopped outside the Detroit Tigers baseball stadium where we saw statues of tigers, the team’s mascot. Henry Ford…

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Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island

After leaving Traverse City, our ship sailed to the most northern part of Lake Michigan and crossed into Lake Huron. Our next destination would be Mackinac Island. As we sailed, we saw the Mackinac Bridge, a five-mile long suspension bridge connecting the lower and upper peninsulas of Michigan. Mackinac Island is a tourist’s delight! Most of the four plus square mile island is part of Mackinac Island State Park and the entire area is a National Historic Landmark. Motorized vehicles…

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Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore

After leaving Holland, we sailed overnight to Traverse City, farther north on Lake Michigan. We then took a bus to the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. While sand dunes are often associated with the desert, the wave action of the Great Lakes have resulted in sand dunes on the shores of Lake Michigan, Superior and Huron. Sand dunes are mounds of sand that have been blown by the wind. They often “land” when blocked by vegetation. In Michigan, the sand…

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Holland, Michigan

Holland, Michigan

From Chicago, we drove to Milwaukee, Wisconsin where we boarded our ship, the Le Champlain. The pictures in this section show the ship, our cabin, and the main (open air) lounge. Le Champlain, an expedition class ship, sails under the French flag. It can accommodate 184 guests. The next morning we arrived in Muskegon, Michigan and then travelled by bus to Holland. Holland was settled by Dutch immigrants in the 19th Century. Our first stop was Windmill Island Gardens that…

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Chicago

Chicago

We took Tauck’s Great Lakes Tour in the fall of 2019, the first time Tauck offered this tour. The tour began with two days in Chicago after which we traveled to Milwaukee to embark the ship. We have visited Chicago several times and wanted to see something within walking distance of our hotel where we hadn’t been before – and so chose Holy Name Cathedral. Holy Name Cathedral dates back to 1875, though it has undergone renovation, including restorative work…

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San Francisco Day Trip: Along the Pacific Coast

San Francisco Day Trip: Along the Pacific Coast

When we visited San Francisco in 2008, we booked a tour that took us down the Pacific coast with stops in Monterey, Pebble Beach and Carmel. We began by traveling south on Pacific Coast Highway 1. The pictures in this section are some I took of views along the highway. We stopped in Monterey for lunch and had a little time to explore the town. Monterey was once home to a sardine-canning industry. Unfortunately it was over-fished and most of…

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Hong Kong

Hong Kong

We began our 2011 tour of Hong Kong and China in Hong Kong. At the time I wrote most of my blog entries for this trip, I only wrote about mainland China. Now, as I write this, many residents of Hong Kong have occupied the international airport to protest China’s attempt to impose a new extradition law that could limit the rights of the Hong Kong people. With Hong Kong so much in the news, I revisited this part of…

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Bridges, Muir Woods and Napa Valley’s Wines

Bridges, Muir Woods and Napa Valley’s Wines

While in San Francisco, we booked a sunrise photography tour through Doc Miles Photo Tours. Doc is a professional photographer and also a great teacher. He knew several places that presented the opportunity for photos with intriguing compositions. He explained camera settings and helped me use light to my advantage – and best of all, he assisted as needed (which was quite a bit). If you are interested in a photography tour, you will find more information on his website….

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More San Francisco

More San Francisco

These are some of the other sites we saw while exploring San Francisco. In addition to independent exploring, we also did a walking tour and a sunrise photography tour. This is the Palace of Fine Arts which we saw on our sunrise photography tour. The Palace was originally built in 1915 for the Panama-Pacific Exposition. It is one of the few buildings remaining from the Exposition. It was never meant to last longer than the Exposition so was rebuilt in…

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San Francisco: Embarcadero, Cable Cars and Chinatown

San Francisco: Embarcadero, Cable Cars and Chinatown

We visited San Francisco in 2008 and just returned from visiting again. We stayed at a hotel near the Embarcadero for both of our visits. Prior to the 1989 earthquake, a double-decker highway, the Embarcadero Freeway, connected the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge, but it blocked the view of much of the shoreline. There were people opposed to the freeway before it was ever completed and others who liked the convenience it provided. The 1989 earthquake damaged the freeway…

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