home again, home again....

 Since we saw Lake of the Clouds fairly early on day eight, we were able to make it to our last tourist destination of the trip that afternoon.  We turned back east and headed for the bridge and south by way of Iron Mountain, where we stopped and toured the iron mine.  This time we actually did go underground, and the 45 minutes we spent down in that mine (even with electric lights and marked walkways) was more than enough for me. It was while we were underground that I realized I had been there before.  Many years ago my husband and I brought our kids north for our summer vacation, and before heading west to Baraboo, WI, stopped to tour the mine.  That was about 40 years ago but the view underground has not changed much.  

After our tour we spent the night at a motel in the city of Iron Mountain, and headed home the next day.  Another exciting crossing of the Mackinaw bridge with a surprise at the south end.  We had decided to stop for food and gas in Mackinaw City before heading on home.  When we got off the interstate at the first possible exit, we were greeted by our new favorite restaurant, Darrow's.  We had come to it from a different direction when we were staying in Mackinaw City and didn't realize it was right off the interstate.  Needless to say we lunched there.  Then had a safe, non-eventful (the best kind) drive home.  

One of the passages we walked along in the mine.  I did not like the feeling of massive rocks above me and slippery wet rocks under my feet.  Family lore says that my maternal grandfather worked in the coal mines of Pennsylvania to earn money to go to college. He succeeded and  became a minister.  I imagine coal mining was just as miserable as iron mining and copper mining.

This is a view of the largest stope (a man-made excavation) in this mine.  The yellow 'light' in the center is actually the figure of "Big John" like the one outside the entrance to the museum.  It stands 40 feet high but looked miniscule from a distance of 600 feet. The stope is also 300 feet wide and 180 feet high.  I would have been impressed by this cavern anywhere, but found it even more astonishing  to know that it was all dug out in the process of getting the iron ore out.  When it came to earning a living, the "good old days" really weren't.