Monday, July 24, 2006
Day 36 - Luddington, MI - Rest Day!
Weather: Sunny 85Location: Luddington, MI (from Manitowac, WI)
Miles per day: 7
Average miles per hour: N/A
Elevation climb: N/A
Blizzards/Ice Cream to date: 26
Flat Tires to date: 1
Today is considered a day off with just 7 miles of cycling. In the morning, we cycled around the local sites of Manitowac, WI which included the Cedar Crest Dairy, the Budweiser plant, a local cookery shop and the Manitowac Maritime Museum. The highlight was the museum dedicated to all those who built or served on Manitowac built submarines from 1941 -1945 and in celebration of the the 100th anniversary of the US Navy Submarine Service (1900-2000). Most interesting was the broom in the top of the submarine (pictured below) as I was to learn that a 'clean sweep' in nautical terms means 'mission accomplished'. I will perhaps be riding into Portsmouth with a broom on my bike!
In anticipation of NH just a few weeks away, we practiced our wheel dipping while waiting for the ferry. We spent the bulk of the day traveling across Lake Michigan aboard the SS Badger ferry, a coal-fired Steam Boat originally built in 1952 for the C&O Railroad. Its a 4 hour boat ride. With great weather, most of us napped on lawn chairs but a few were motivated to play bingo with the chance of winning an SS Badger hat, beer glass or lump of coal.
We knew we arrived in Michigan as we saw Michgan's famous symbol : The lighthouse. With Michigan surrounded by the Great Lakes (Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie and Superior), its no surprise that Michigan has more lighthouses than any other state (124 in total). And of course, we were welcomed by the customary State sign just .2 miles off the boat! Today was a day off the bike but not necessarily a day of rest.
