WHAT COULD BE BETTER – A CRUISE ON A NEWLY-APPOINTED, LUXURIOUS SMALL SHIP that started in Chicago; sailed through the mighty Great Lakes visiting Michigan’s Victorian-era Mackinac Island and quaint Little Thunder on Canada’s Manitoulin Island and then carried on to thundering Niagara Falls and up the St Lawrence River past the Thousand Islands before ending up in Montreal?
This was the first time in decades that UK visitors have been able to view the Great Lakes from the water in a ship this size, so my wife, Linda, and I were particularly excited to be on board. But, as it turns out, our trip involved additional unanticipated adventures.
The MS St Laurent in Detroit
A month before we were due to join the Haimark Line’s MS Saint Laurent, it was involved in an accident, hitting one of the locks in the St Lawrence River, when it had been hired by a completely-separate charter group sailing between Montreal and Toronto. Repairs meant that our embarkation was put back a couple of days, so instead of sailing north on Lake Michigan, we had an extra day in Chicago (we’d planned four there, anyway) and were then driven by coach with our fellow would-be shipmates through the Lower Peninsula of Michigan to the Dutch town of Holland.
There, we toured the Windmill Island Gardens, had an exhibition of clog dancing, visited the gardens’ 250-year-old working windmill, and met miller Alisa Crawford. The following day we were back on the coach en route to Mackinaw City in the north of the peninsula to catch the hydro-jet ferry to Mackinac Island, Michigan’s first (and the USA’s second) State Park. Scheduled to be one of the stops on our cruise, it is a step back in time. Cars have been banned since 1898, which means ‘rush-hour’ traffic involves cyclists and horsedrawn carriages … and guarantees of plenty of work for the 20 pooper-scoopers employed on the island.
A 20-seater carriage, pulled by Joker and King, took us to the splendid Grand Hotel, which opened in 1887 and is best known for its magnificent 660ft-long, colonial porch (said to be the longest in the world). Overlooking the Mackinac Bridge and Lake Huron, it featured in the 1980 film Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.
A SUMPTUOUS LUNCH AT THE GRAND AND A BUGGY RIDE
The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island is said to have the world’s longest porch
Lunch at the Grand is something else, with white jacketed staff and a buffet so sumptuous that it was difficult to tear ourselves away to board a three-horse, 35-seater buggy for a visit to Fort Mackinac. A military outpost for both British and American soldiers from 1780 to 1895, it now features soldiers re-enacting a court martial at which the audience are asked for their verdict.
Also on the tour: dramatic Arch Rock, with beautiful views over the lake, and Surrey Hill Square, with its collection of old carriages, a fire engine and hearse. A subsequent stroll along Main Street revealed that every second shop seemed to be either selling fudge (a great favourite since the 1890s) or renting out bikes to tour the island.
Back on the mainland, we drove on to Sault Ste Marie on the border of the US and Canada, where 10,000 ships a year drop 21 feet through the Soo Locks between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. Meant to be the first stop on our original itinerary, Sault Ste Marie was where we were supposed to meet our ship … only to be told it had been delayed en route from the shipyard by the sheer number of freight ships (which take priority) along the way.
So the next day we flew on a chartered Boeing 737 to Windsor, Ontario, across the Detroit River from Detroit, where, as we crossed the Ambassador Bridge, we looked down and finally saw … MS Saint Laurent, moored at the dock!
The 210-passenger ship – or ‘boat’, as all vessels on the Great Lakes are called – was built in 2001 but has been fully modernised and refurbished for this year’s cruises. Our Category AA stateroom had direct access to the open-air promenade and featured fresh fruit on arrival, a queen-size bed, two robes, a minibar, an armoire, a safe, complimentary laundry service, free wi-fi, a flat-screen TV with several channels and evening canapés. All meals, beer, wine and house spirits were included. The ship (sorry, boat) itself is very tastefully decorated in a simple, classic style and has five decks, with two restaurants, a bar and a lounge.
Following a buffet breakfast in the open-air Cliff Rock Grille & Bar, we joined our fellow shipmates for … another coach trip — to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, on the outskirts of Detroit. To be fair, this was on the initial itinerary, too, and absolutely fascinating it was with a dazzling array of cars – from Model T Fords to Presidential limos (including the one JFK was riding in Dallas on that fateful day in 1963) – but it also includes a circular ‘house of the future’ (from 1946), the bus that Rosa Parks rode that sparked the challenge to segregation, and a replica of the plane in which the Wright Brothers first took to the air.
A RECREATION OF 300 YEARS OF AMERICAN LIFE
Nearby Greenfield Village, which recreates more than 300 years of American life, includes the birthplace of Henry Ford and the relocated Wright Brothers’ home; if we had more time, we could have had a ride in a Model T Ford or a real steam locomotive.
Back then to the boat and from then on it was all, well, plain sailing. We could either dine in the Shearwater Dining Room – with a changing menu each night that always included a Chef’s Special – or in the Cliff Rock Grill & Bar, where you cooked your own meat (Filet Mignon, New York Sirloin or New Zealand Lamb Cutlets) or fish (Alaskan Salmon or Fillet of Halibut) on a granite hot stone.
Cruising north on Lake Huron and into Georgian Bay, sometimes called the sixth Great Lake, we reached Canada’s Manitoulin Island – the world’s largest freshwater island and home of the Ojibwe First Nation people. The small town of Little Current is home to the Immaculate Conception Church, built circular in shape to represent a tepee, fire pit and circle of life. Combining First Nation beliefs and Catholicism, it features paintings by local artists.
At the Ojibwe Cultural Foundation, we watched a demonstration by the First Nation’s Steven ‘Red Sky’ Antoine of the traditional ‘smudging’ ceremony, a cleansing smoke ‘bath’ used to purify the body and clear negative energy. The Rolling Thunder Dance Troup then entertained us, the highlight being the Hoop Dance featuring a female dancer encased, at one point, by 22 hoops.
As we cruised onwards on Lake Huron and then into Lake Erie lecturer and author Fred Stonehouse, an expert on maritime history, filled in the gaps in our knowledge of the Great Lakes. And in the evening we were entertained by the talented SoulJourn duo, Montreal-born Roxanne Charette and Nashville native Reb Clarke. VISITING NIAGARA
FALLS AND THE THOUSAND ISLANDS
Relaxing on the deck as the boat cruises past some of the Thousand Islands
Then, while our boat negotiated its way through the eight locks of the Welland Canal, we headed to Niagara Falls, which, no matter how many times you’ve seen them still make a dramatic impression with their sheer power and spectacle. Clad in red ponchos on board the excursions boat Hornblower, we sailed past the American Falls first, then the smaller Bridal Veil Falls, and, finally – for the most exhilarating experience – to the foot of the world-famous Horseshoe Falls.
Back on land, a visit to the 24-acre Peller Estates Winery, close to Niagara-on-the Lake, included wine tasting and an excellent dinner in the winery’s cellar. Then we were on the home stretch, sailing through Lake Ontario (the smallest of the Great Lakes) and into the St Lawrence Seaway, home to the Thousand Islands, actually a misnomer as there are around 1,900 of them. One of the best known is Heart Island, home to Boldt Castle, built in the early 1900s by George Boldt, general manager of New York City’s landmark Waldorf-Astoria, as a present to his wife. When she died, it was left unfinished. Some smaller islands without any buildings had families picnicking on them while others had space for one house and nothing else.
We passed through the Eisenhower Lock, where our boat had its accident, without incident and had a night cruising towards our final destination, Montreal, disembarking from a fascinating cruise that was certainly eventful.
Note: The Ms Saint Laurent has subsequently made several completely uneventful, and successful, cruises on the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River.
