Ravs - Lake Superior

[Tarmac]

Ravs, what was the big deal about Michigan and Lake Superior?

Being born and raised here, the Great Lakes are everyday to me.  To me, the oceans are just big Great Lakes that taste yucky and have lots of hostile marine life in them.  

Just curious.  One of my favorite parts of visiting other countries is sharing my impressions of the place with the locals, and hearing their impressions of my home.  It's not everyday I talked to someone who knows Michigan beyond Detroit and cars.

[Stringer]

Tarmac,
This one time at band camp......

Actually I went to Interlochen Arts Academy for a summer up in Interlochen, near Traverse City.

We used to go to Point Betsy alot on Lake Michigan.

It was really a beautiful place.

Good Times.......Good Times.....

[ravells]

When I was a kid, I was bred on books.

My parents were very canny. They didn't try to 'teach' us anything, they just left lots of books lying around the house. Also two magazines...National Geographic and natural history magazine called 'Animal World',  and English periodical call 'Look and Learn' (people of my age group in the UK will know that one).  We ordered this UK pulp novel seres called 'Commando' 4 booklets every week, each with a derring do story about WW2 and we and books about Ancient History in Greece the Robert Graves ones, English History...Jack London Novels,..they were very clever.

But my favourite books when I was a kid was a series of books published by Disney and another series by Arthur Mee. The Disney ones had the most incredible pictures of explorers in canoes going up the great lakes. The Great Lakes just became a 'dream place' I had to see. It's hard to explain, but when you're a kid, certain things take on a huge importance. The other one is the Northern Lights. There's that story about John Bunyan and well that's stuck with me too.

When they knew we grew out of books they would disappear and new ones would appear, like 'My Family and other Animals' or 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' ....... and as kids, we would just absorb them.

So you can understand, when I went to see Lake Superior, it was like a pilgrammage for me. For 30 years I wanted to be in this place and finally I got to see it. It was a very spiritual experience.

I've been very lucky.

Ravs

[midnight Target]

We spent last Thanksgiving at my In-laws home on Lake Superior near Big Bay, MI in the Upper Peninsula. Beautiful country.

[NUKE]

Originally posted by ravells
When I was a kid, I was bred on books.

My parents were very canny. They didn't try to 'teach' us anything, they just left lots of books lying around the house. Also two magazines...National Geographic and natural history magazine called 'Animal World',  and English periodical call 'Look and Learn' (people of my age group in the UK will know that one).  We ordered this UK pulp novel seres called 'Commando' 4 booklets every week, each with a derring do story about WW2 and we and books about Ancient History in Greece the Robert Graves ones, English History...Jack London Novels,..they were very clever.

But my favourite books when I was a kid was a series of books published by Disney and another series by Arthur Mee. The Disney ones had the most incredible pictures of explorers in canoes going up the great lakes. The Great Lakes just became a 'dream place' I had to see. It's hard to explain, but when you're a kid, certain things take on a huge importance. The other one is the Northern Lights. There's that story about John Bunyan and well that's stuck with me too.

When they knew we grew out of books they would disappear and new ones would appear, like 'My Family and other Animals' or 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe' ....... and as kids, we would just absorb them.

So you can understand, when I went to see Lake Superior, it was like a pilgrammage for me. For 30 years I wanted to be in this place and finally I got to see it. It was a very spiritual experience.

I've been very lucky.

Ravs

Ravs, sounds like you have great parents

When I was  kid ( parents divorced at 10), I would read through the encylopedia set my mom had. I swear, I ended up reading nearly everyone of them, A-Z by the time I was 14. I would ride my bike about 5 miles just to go to the library and research whatever I was interested in at the time, like kites for example.

I often wonder what it would have been like to have the internet when I was a kid.....all that information in an instant.

Anyway, very nice story Ravs, thanks for sharing it.

[ravells]

Arn't encyclopaedias wonderful?

Ravs

[Octavius]

Glad you finally made it to hell, err the Great Lakes

Ditto 100% what Tarmac said.  I live right on Lake Michigan.  I can walk outside, look up, and there's this beautiful lake.  Oceans, like tarmac mentioned, taste funky and are inhabited by tan people (Florida, Cali, etc)... unlike us pale midwesterners.  Aside from the lake, we have idiots (da yoopers) to the north of us and *******s (FIBs) to the south (chicago).

What I never understood was that we have this huge lake right here within yards of my doorstep and I don't own a boat.  I'm tempted to buy a rubber raft and throw a trolling motor on it.  

For me, the most beautiful place on the great lakes has to be in Door County on the peninsula (NE of Green Bay).  Go there in late September, you will not be dissappointed.

[Replicant]

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe is a great book!  Pure escapism, literally!

[Flossy]

Originally posted by ravells
and English periodical call 'Look and Learn' (people of my age group in the UK will know that one).

LOL, we used to get that from the very first issue.... my mother used to index them all so that if we had a project at school we could look a subject up an find which issues had information in them about that subject.  Then we'd cut out pictures to use in the projects.  

or 'The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe'

That was a great favourite of mine when I was young (many years ago!).  My teacher used to read a chapter out loud to us each day, and I remember looking forward to hearing the next chapter each time.....

[gofaster]

Do the Great Lakes still catch on fire from time to time?