Lake Michigan Road Trip 2017: S.S. Badger

Photos.

By the time we woke up (too early!) on Thursday morning, my disappointment over missing the Lake Express from Muskegon to Milwaukee had faded and I was looking forward to crossing Lake Michigan on the old (1953!) S.S. Badger. I remember being bored on our last trip in the other direction, but that was a life ago -- maybe 2005 -- and I was more critical then, as I broiled in the hot sun on the deck with nothing to read and nothing to do.

S.S. Badger is old ... but good

The morning was coolish so we both wore long pants and a jacket. We boarded the ship shortly after 8:00 a.m., an hour early as instructed, and almost immediately began to wander to various locations around the ship.

Driving off the S.S. Badger

We lost our spots inside, where people were already gathering for Bingo not scheduled to begin for at least 90 minutes. We sat in the bar for awhile, but it was too early for a drink, especially since walking on the ship wasn't all that easy. It wasn't like crossing the Bay of Fundy in a snowstorm (extremely challenging) -- more similar to walking in a moving motorhome (manageable, with experience).

By the time the sun came out, we were sitting in the stern of the ship looking at Michigan in the distance. A fellow Minnesotan carrying a Vikings blanket stopped to talk to us. She was a professional driver (limousines, private cars etc.) who had driven all the way from St. Paul the night before and crossed to Michigan during the night to pick up her 14-year-old niece for the weekend.

"Aunt Kimmy" is a gregarious person with a good sense of humor. She was Prince's preferred driver during the last five years of his life and confessed that she cried every day in the first year after his death. His phone number is still in her cell phone.

The best part of the trip for Bob was watching S.S. Badger crew drive vehicles on and off the ship. They did so very efficiently, running back and forth between the ship and the parking lot, backing up large vehicles easily, without the need for any kind of adjustment. Three semis were already in the ship by the time we arrived, but we did see them drive out.

We waited about 15 minutes for our vehicle. I43 was under construction so the 80-mile drive to Milwaukee was a little longer than anticipated.