Marvelous Manistee

Marvelous Manistee

Manistee Lake is home to the SS City of Milwaukee  listed on the National Register of Historic Places  and the last remaining traditional railroad car ferry – now a museum and boatel.  Arriving on the Manistee River we made a stop at the marina for diesel – it takes a while to fill our tanks, so we spent the time meeting fellow loopers on Meandering, Ken and Kathy , and former Krogenites, Julia and Paul  who lived aboard their 48 KK for 13 years and are now cruising on their land yacht. They kindly offered to help us with transportation if needed. Oh, we also became best friends with the marina staffer Laura who was filling the tanks.

 

When we finally made it through the bridges into the lake, we found our anchorage included a close up view of the SS City of Milwaukee and the Acacia a decommissioned Coast Guard cutter. Both are open for tours, so we piled the bikes in the dink and headed for shore. The Acacia is open for self-guided tours so Steve was able to poke around in every corner for the thorough inspection. This ship was very much like the one that went out to search for the Great Lake freighter, SS Bradley which was lost on Lake Michigan below Beaver Island. While sizable, it would still be dwarfed by 20 foot waves.  No mention of the Acacia rescuing sailors from such a storm was made, but its mission did include search and rescue as well as the more ordinary maintenance of the navigation markers – our familiar green and red buoys.

 

 

The big treat was the guided tour on the SS City of Milwaukee.  For some reason, my preparations on Manistee made no mention of this site. Since the ship is almost 350 feet long and about five stores above the water, it is hard to overlook; however, it is not visible from the main street (River Street) in Manistee.  We made the happy discovery because we chose to anchor in the lake rather than along the river.

We first learned about the great ships that carried railroad cars across the lakes when we stopped back at the maritime museum in Ashtabula on Lake Erie.  Rather than load and unload rail cars traveling across the lakes, the railroads built massive ferries to carry the cars. The SS City of Milwaukee spent its early career crossing Lake Michigan from Milwaukee, WI to Muskegon, MI. While primarily designed to transport railroad cars, she also had room for up to 50 passengers who traveled in rail-like accommodations.

Our guide retired from service on Great Lake freighters, and his enthusiasm and pride in this old girl was palpable.  He beamed like a new father as he guided us through the engine room explaining the many reasons this ship is still around.  She was built in 1930 – at the end of the depression when frugal was essential – and  she actively carried railcars across the lake until 1981 when this service was halted. Among her unique qualities is her reinforced hull so she can break ice and work year-round. She also has very efficient triple expansion steam engines powered by the cheapest fuel source – bunker diesel. All of this made her economical to operate compared to newer vessels, so she has endured. Our tour included the crews’ quarters, galley, dining areas for crew and passengers, plus the passenger seating area and staterooms. These staterooms featured bunks similar to those found on train sleeping compartments, beautifully paneled in oak.  In fact, our guide informed us all the furnishings were original and standard railroad furniture. This passenger area of the ship is available for overnight stays at very reasonable rates ($25 per person) on weekends.  We also visited the two pilot houses – they needed two complete stations since the ships backed into the dock to unload their railcars. Finally, the guide led us through the “flicker” – a part of the ship that was not planned. The railroads designed these ships for carrying railcars and unlike most ship designs they did not utilize every corner. When the crews discovered a large unused space below deck, they created a hatch and built out the space for their use and strung lights. It was the flickering lights that gave this reclaimed space its name which has endured – much like this remarkable historic ship.

 

In Manistee we also finally wandered into town to browse the shops and local history museum on River Street and enjoy the river walk built out over the river on a series of suspended walkways. For a little post-prandial exercise we walked the streets of town to see some of the historic homes and buildings. This town boasts a large collection of restored homes and businesses all within a few short blocks of the river. In fact, the entire downtown is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  In the evening we biked out to the park on Lake Michigan for a free jazz concert – one of the better groups we have heard this summer and in a perfect scenic location.