Michigan Road Trip 2017: eclipse of the sun.

Mackinaw Bridge

Photos.

We were even more out of the total eclipse path that we would have been in the Twin Cities, but I was still looking forward to the day as we drove on Hwy 2 to the Mackinaw Bridge. The morning mist on Lake Michigan was still enveloping the bridge when we arrived at Bridge View Park around 11:00 a.m.

We checked into the Hamilton Beach Select Beachfront around noon but since our room wouldn't be ready for another hour, we had a beer and Wisconsin cheese curds at the Dixie Saloon. I was looking forward to being well settled in our room for the eclipse, as broadcast on by NASA. I think the sky make have changed a little, but not much. I tried a trick I read about to photograph the sun, a kind of selfie but I seem to be a little dim and I didn't get much. During the afternoon, I felt a little envious of the enraptured eclipse viewers on TV.

This very big heron is elegant and bossy

A few kids were swimming in the lake but I felt reluctant to dip into these "unknown waters" with five different species of lamprey, which Bob assured me were mostly a product of my imagination. Instead, I opted for a swim in the large hotel pool, full of light from the large doors and windows to the outside. I really hate to admit that I prefer a pool to natural water, but I really do.

We  had a light supper (soup for Bob, chili and side salad for me) at the Historic Depot Restaurant in the Mackinaw Crossings complex. Just the right choice in this interesting space, where a little train circled the restaurant on a track high on the wall. Our server revealed far too much information about herself and by the time we left the restaurant, I was mortified for her. After dinner, we sat in the little commons area listening to the two-man band (actually, a man and a woman). Pretty good, with a recorded back-up and percussion, heavy on James Taylor.

Soon after we got back to our room, the sky was punctuated with bolts of lightening and the sound of thunder rolled across the water.