|
 With over 10,000 miles of shoreline, much of it still as wild and as
beautiful as it was when the first explorers came, the Great Lakes offers
an ever-changing tapestry of scenic wonder. Even the settled areas offer
opportunities of a different kind. Climbing over 300 feet up the Niagara
Escarpment in the Welland canal to by-pass Niagara Falls is impressive
as you float above the farmlands and orchards of the Niagara Peninsula.
Lake Erie presents a pastoral landscape, one which, because of its geology
offers marshlands and spits that are spring and fall flyways for migratory
birds. The industrial bustle of the Detroit and St. Clair Rivers quickly
gives way to Michigan's Sunrise Coast to the south and the rocky promontories
of Manitoulin Island to the north. Preeminent for cruising however is
Georgian Bay, and the North Channel and then Lake Superior. Magnificent
at any time of the year, the region is ablaze with color in September
and October, as migratory birds pour past from their summer homes in Northern
Canada.
An added dimension to any cruise in this area is a call at Sault Ste.
Marie to take the Agawa Canyon train trip. This all day tour takes the
visitor deep into Ontario's wilderness areas.
Lake Superior, is the largest fresh water lake in the world and a place
of summer legends and winter storms. Here one can still imagine birch
bark canoes, camp fires and trading parties heading into the unexplored
lands of the west. Canadian and US shores offer coves and islands with
untouched beaches and the opportunity for personal exploration including,
Batchewana Bay, Schreiber, the 150 year old Rossport Inn, Isle Royale,
the Apostle Island Wilderness Archipelago. French, American, British and
Canadian history intertwine amid the forests and painted shorelines of
Michigan’s upper peninsula, where moose, elk and wolves thrive amid
primitive forests and clear streams that the Chippewa would still recognize.
Lake Michigan beckons, with quiet islands, like Beaver and North and
South Manitou at the entrance to the Lake. On the east shore are the towering
dunes of the Sleeping Bear.
With all this - and much more - The Great Lakes are a truly unique destination
for scenic cruising.
|
