June 22, 2008
Ludington Lighthouse (Cross Stitch Pattern)
I finally finished the my cross stitch pattern that I created for the Ludington Lighthouse.
You can download the pattern here.
Here is a picture of the completed project.
I am hoping that I will create some other Michigan lighthouses from here on out. Ideally, I would like to create kits that museums could sell. I would just send them to them and they can keep all the proceeds.
I used an excellent freeware software. It is called KG-Chart for Cross Stitch.
For more information on the Ludington Lighthouse, please visit:
Posted by cseeman at 08:29 PM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2007
Grand Haven Lighthouse (Michigan)
Visited the Grand Haven Lighthouse on Lake Michigan on Tuesday July 10, 2007 (see the photos that I posted on Flickr). You can go to Grand Haven State Park and walk down the pier to the lights. We went on a day when the storms had just passed and the waves were still going strong. It is a great walk (be careful of the waves hitting the pier) and definitely worth the visit.
For information on the lights, visit:
Michigan Lighthouse Conservancy
From Seeing The Light (Terry Pepper's Excellent site)
Posted by cseeman at 09:38 PM | Comments (1)
August 23, 2006
Ludington (North Breakwater) Lighthouse (Lake Michigan at Ludington, Michigan)
SITE: Ludington (North Breakwater) Lighthouse (Lake Michigan at Ludington, Michigan)
BODY OF WATER: Lake Michigan
DESCRIPTION: No trip to Ludington is going to be complete without a visit to this great lighthouse on the North Breakwater of the harbor at Ludington. While you cannot go inside the light, people walk along the breakwater to get to the light all the time and it does give you a neat feeling of being in the lake! A great pastime is to go to the city park, right near the lighthouse, and watch the sun set in the west. It is a beautiful view. Around 8pm, the S.S.Badger makes one of its trips across to Manitowoc, Wisconsin.
For more information on site light, visit Terry Pepper's site, a Wikipedia entry that I have been dabbling with and Lighthouse Friends (which includes some great shots of the lighthouse in winter.
Posted by cseeman at 07:14 AM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2006
Big Sable Point Lighthouse (Lake Michigan at Ludington, Michigan)
SITE: Big Sable Point Lighthouse (Lake Michigan at Ludington, Michigan)
BODY OF WATER: Lake Michigan
URL: http://www.bigsablelighthouse.org/
DESCRIPTION: I am visiting this lighthouse today and will update the record when I get back. Big Sable Point Lighthouse is in Ludington State Park and one of the tallest lights in the State. The webiste is excellent insofar as visitor information (you can climb the tower and visit a gift shop), but there is very little other information on the site. A great resource is (as always) Terry Pepper's site which has great photos and historical information.
There are other lighthouses in the are...the great Ludington harbor light and Little Sable...hope to visit them as well.
Posted by cseeman at 06:56 AM | Comments (0)
August 06, 2006
Currituck Beach Lighthouse (Atlantic Ocean at Corolla, North Carolina)
SITE: Currituck Beach Lighthouse (Atlantic Ocean at Corolla, North Carolina)
BODY OF WATER: Atlantic Ocean
URL: http://www.currituckbeachlight.com/index.php
DESCRIPTION: I visited this when I went to North Carolina's Outer Banks in the summer of 2003. While the highlight of the trip might have been seeing Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (on a super hot day out there), going to this lighthouse was a blast. Sadly, we did not climb the tower that day as the line was very long. Maybe next time.
The site is beautiful and they do a great job of preserving the grounds. The website has great information including historical photographs, copies of the historic preservation newsletters, and other links. Another great site is Lighthouse Friends.
What is interesting is that the lighthouse does not sit on the beach, but one or two blocks away. However, it is a very tall tower and had a first order Fresnel light to give it far more power than many of the lights on the Great Lakes. It is also somewhat unique in North Carolina by retaining the original brick red coloring, and not being black and white like so many of the other lights in that state.
Posted by cseeman at 09:54 AM | Comments (0)
August 05, 2006
Ashtabula Lighthouse (Lake Erie at Ashtabula, Ohio)
SITE: Ashtabula Lighthouse (Ashtabula, Ohio)
BODY OF WATER: Lake Erie
URL: http://ashtabulalighthouse.com/
DESCRIPTION: Visited...well, saw. The Ashtabula Lighthouse is typical among the Ohio Lighthouses at Lorain, Fairport Harbor in that it looks like a salt box house out in the middle of the harbor! These are beautiful structures and this one can be viewed nicely from Lake Shore Park along the waterfront. There is also a museum, but I was there when they are not open. The museum, Great Lakes Marine Museum and Coast Guard Memorial Museum, has a growing webpage here: http://www.ashtabulamarinemuseum.org/
The website has excellent information on the history of the light, photos, merchandise and news about the restoration. Other sites will be added later to this entry.
Posted by cseeman at 06:54 AM | Comments (0)
August 02, 2006
Port Colborne (Lake Erie at Port Colborne, Ontario, Canada)
Visiting might be too strong a verb, as these lighthouses are on breakwaters far from the shore. Port Colborne is a neat little city with the southern entry for the Welland Canal. I was hoping to see a large ship, but I only saw some sailboats go through the bridge on Clarence Street. The lighthouses on the inner and outer harbor are like many in Ontario with the bright red on white buildings. These are really a treat to see.
I did have a great view of the lighthouse during dinner at the "On the Waterfront" Restaurant right in the Marina. The food was fantastic and the view of the lighthouses and of Lake Erie matched it! The URL of the restaurant is http://www.onthewaterfront.org (not sure how it got a .org address).
Here are some lighthouse links:
From Rudy and Alice's page:
http://rudyalicelighthouse.net/ErieLts/Colborne/Colborne.htm
History of Canadian Lighthouses:
http://members.aol.com/stiffcrust/pharos/
Posted by cseeman at 09:16 PM | Comments (0)
Port Burwell (Lake Erie at Port Burwell, Ontario, Canada)
Visited the Port Burwell Lighthouse and was able to climb to the top. They have a very nice martime museum and lighthouse in town. What is great about the lighthouse is that the stairs are not circular, but are conventional (well, I am not sure what the term is). The steps are very steep and you move quickly up the inside of the lighthouse. It was recently restored and is in great shape. The lighthouse reminds me of Fairmont Harbor in Ohio as it sits high above the water level on a bluff. The museum has regular hours and is definitely worth the visit. The admission rates are seperate, but it is very modest ($2 for each). Definitely a worthly cause.
Links about the lighthouse:
History of the Sutherland Family (keepers at the light for all of its history)
http://www.electricscotland.com/webclans/minibios/s/sutherland_andrew.htm
Information from the Museum and the lighthouse (including visiting hours)
http://www.pt-burwell-lighthouse.ca/
Images of the Lighthouse from us-lighthouses.com
http://www.us-lighthouses.com/displaypage.php?LightID=246
Another bonus of visiting this lighthouse is the Erie Shores Wind Farm. There are tens of these giant windmills surrounding Port Burwell. I saw them as the fog was burning off and it looked like the War of the Worlds!
Posted by cseeman at 12:52 PM | Comments (0)
July 26, 2006
Dunkirk Lighthouse (Lake Erie at Dunkirk, New York)
The grounds of this lighthouse are part of a museum that explores the history of lighthouses on Lake Erie and the different military branches. I was running late, so I only saw the exhibits on the lighthouses and was able to climb the tower. Beautiful view of Lake Erie and on a clear day, you can see Buffalo and Canada. I was there on a hazy day...oh well.
This is the link to some good sites on this lighthouse:
Old Photo from the Smithsonian's online collection
Posted by cseeman at 04:55 PM | Comments (0)
Marblehead Lighthouse (Lake Erie at Marblehead, Ohio)
Visted this lighthouse on Monday July 24. The lighthouse is beautiful and offers a great view of Sandusky Bay and Cedar Point Amusement Park. This is the oldest operating lighthouse on Lake Erie and very much worth the trip.
On my recent trip to the Hall of Fame, I stopped at a few lighthouses and maritime museums along the way. This was the busiest by far and well worth it. At the lighthouse, the keepers house has been converted into a small museum with information on the lighthouse, Lake Erie, the history of the region, and shipping history in the area. When you arrive, you put your name down for a tour of the lighthouse (you can go at specific times) and you can defintely visit the museum or walk along the rocks while you wait.
They have a nice museum and you can climb the tower everyday in the afternoon. The view from the top is quite nice and worth the wait if you have a line of people in front of you.
To see more information, go to these sites:
Ohio Department of Natural Resources Site
Lighthouse Friends site for Marblehead
More links later.
Posted by cseeman at 01:36 PM | Comments (0)
