The Soo - The Locks and Much More 

Sault Ste Marie will amaze you. If you think the Soo is a nowhere town, take the trip and disabuse yourself of that misconception. After an extended weekend you will congratulate yourself on your discerning travel smarts.

Make your first stop the Soo Locks Visitor Center in the heart of a gracious park with a spectacular fountain. A well-informed and friendly staff shares history and a cup of coffee. They will point you to a small theatre where you can watch videos recounting the locks history:

Two hundred years ago the Great Lakes Indians, French fur-traders and Jesuit missionaries carried canoes and bateaux around the rapids of the St. Mary’s River and the 21 foot drop between Lakes Superior and Huron. When huge freighters began hauling cargo over that route, such simple portage was not only impractical but impossible.  A 1000 foot freighter can carry a 60,000 ton load. Imagine hauling that on human backs! The first lock was built on the Canadian side in the late 1700s, but was destroyed during the War of 1812. By the mid-1800s the Canadians turned the locks over to the Americans and in 1881 responsibility was assumed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

The Visitor Center’s television monitors display information about the ships transiting the locks: country of origin, size, capacity, cargo, and destination. More than 11,000 vessels and 90 million tons of freight, including iron ore and grain, traverse the locks each year.

Step outside to the observation platforms and get up close and personal to the mighty ships. Man’s engineering marvel is not only functional – it’s fascinating. The views are spectacular and there is no charge for the park, center or observation platforms. In fact, even the ships are not charged a fee of passage.

Dave Stanaway and Susan Askwith who perform at Historical Homes

A half day at the locks make the trip to Sault Ste. Marie worthwhile, but don’t stop there. Walk downtown Sault Ste. Marie and shop for everything from t-shirts and postcards to upscale clothing and home accessories. Don’t miss ‘the Store with the Purple Door,’ the Superior Coast Winery on Ashman Street.  And, while strolling Ashman, stop at Mahdezewin International, a Native American gallery featuring paintings of Mishibinijima as well as the art of many other widely acclaimed artists using various media.

Immerse yourself in the feel of earlier times by walking past the Historic Homes of Water Street, stepping inside the Chippewa County Courthouse - the oldest continually operated courthouse in Michigan - and marveling at the architecture of the local churches.

An express elevator rushes you to the top of the Tower of History (326 East Portage) where you get a 20 mile panoramic view of the locks, St. Mary’s River, and surrounding wilderness area. The tower was built in 1968 by the Catholic Church to honor the missionaries of the area including the famous Snowshoe Priest, Bishop Frederick Baraga. Today the museum also includes exhibits about Great Lakes Indian history. You will leave with a better understanding of the area.

If time permits check out the Museum Ship Valley Camp (corner of Johnston and Water), a Great Lakes freighter built in 1917 and now transformed into a museum with more than 100 exhibits as well as aquariums stocked with Great Lakes Fish.  The museum is open mid-May to mid-October.

If you manage all of that before falling into bed exhausted on the first day of your weekend, you can spend day two investigating a bit of the Canadian Shield or Laurentian Plateau, a U-shaped geological shield covered by a thin layer of soil that forms the nucleus of North America and stretches from the Great Lakes to the Arctic Ocean. Your geological exploration starts by boarding the Agawa Canyon Tour Train which transports you 114 miles north to a place of awesome granite rock formations and pristine lakes and rivers. The tour allows two hours to scout the canyon’s waterfalls and lookout.

It would simply be wrong to be this close and miss the Tahquamenon Falls. They are written into legend as the place (‘by the rushing Tahquamenaw’) where Hiawatha built his canoe. Day three of your weekend is meant for this adventure. The Lower falls are actually five falls around a tiny island that can be reached by rowboat (rented on site). On the island you can follow the walking paths to yet another falls. The Upper Falls are 200 feet across and drop 50 feet - glorious from either the base or observation points.

You may find yourself having such a good time that you can’t resist extending your visit to Sault Ste. Marie by adding a trip to Mackinac Island. It is about 50 miles to St. Ignace where you can board a ferry to another of Michigan’s real treasures. Since you are in this neck of the woods anyway……………

For more information, please see:
http://www.saultstemarie.com/

Photos courtesy and copyright of Sault Area Convention & Visitors Bureau.

Note to readers of my monthly column Michigan's Small Town Treasures: I am about to go global. As of November I will be the Travel Adventures Editor at Wandering Educators.  While I will still look for Michigan's small town treasures, I will also be searching for exciting places to visit world-wide (expect upcoming articles on Australia and New Zealand).  Since I spend several months each year in the San Francisco Bay Area I will be bringing you some amazing places to travel  in Northern California.  I also have plans to write upcoming articles about two Midwestern treasures that can by no means be called small pleasures -  the Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids (which has been called one of the best museums in the world) and the unique and fascinating Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.   

Julie Albrecht Royce, Travel Adventures Editor, is the author of Traveling Michigan's Sunset Coast and Traveling Michigan's Thumb, both published by Thunder Bay Press. She writes a monthly column for Wandering Educators.