The Soo (Day 10)

After the excitement of yesterday, I’m grateful for a full day at the Kemp marina just south of the Soo Locks. The dock fee here is very fair compared to some others – $46 a night for our 34-foot boat. (The Whitefish dock was free, but very rough.) Today’s forecast is for rain and thunderstorms, so all the boats in this busy marina stay put.

This is a day for shopping (via taxi), hot showers in the marina facility (our boat’s sit-down shower is quite good but sometimes it’s nice to stand!), a long but gentle jog (best way to explore a new place), repairing the boat heater (it quit yesterday but Jeff got it going again after climbing into the engine compartment and rattling around awhile), refreshing the onboard toilet facilities for both human and cat (our compost toilet works very well but does need changing), a few meetings via Zoom (the marina’s WiFi is strong and reliable), vacuuming the boat (grateful to have found the ideal small vacuum), socializing on the docks (boaters are generally sociable people and lifelong friendships are started on docks), watching oar carriers pass close by after going through the locks … and, exploring Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan’s oldest city. Native Americans were here first, of course. The French and English both sought control here. The War of 1812 came to this area. And WWII obviously made its mark; the Army Corps of Engineers building is labeled “War Department” and “1942.”

Tourists are encouraged to visit the historic sites by following snowshoe tracks on the sidewalk.

In case you forgot that this is the far north.