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We're usually pretty busy thinking about our performances when we tour with a show, but we try to get out and about at least a little bit and see what the area we're performing in has to offer. This past weekend, Mary Beth and I had the chance to spend some time it two quaint Villages: Algonac, Michigan and Sombra, Ontario, Canada.
Marine City and Algonac, Michigan were, during the 18th and 19th Centuries, devoted to shipbuilding. Both cities were home to firms that built ships designed to move passengers and freight among and across the Great Lakes. In the 20th Century, Algonac moved into a different sort of shipbuilding - racing boats. Beginning in the 1920s, two partners, Chris Smith and 'Gar' Wood built wooden racing boats - the Miss Americas. Those boats set water speed records of over 120 mph. Later, Smith separated from Wood and formed the Chris Craft company, makers of premier wooden speedboats and pleasure craft.
This boat-making history is memorialized in the Algonac City Park, located right on the St. Clair River. There are statues commemorating Smith and Wood and the Algonac shipbuilding tradition, along with a soldiers' memorial.
We're usually pretty busy thinking about our performances when we tour with a show, but we try to get out and about at least a little bit and see what the area we're performing in has to offer. This past weekend, Mary Beth and I had the chance to spend some time it two quaint Villages: Algonac, Michigan and Sombra, Ontario, Canada.
Marine City and Algonac, Michigan were, during the 18th and 19th Centuries, devoted to shipbuilding. Both cities were home to firms that built ships designed to move passengers and freight among and across the Great Lakes. In the 20th Century, Algonac moved into a different sort of shipbuilding - racing boats. Beginning in the 1920s, two partners, Chris Smith and 'Gar' Wood built wooden racing boats - the Miss Americas. Those boats set water speed records of over 120 mph. Later, Smith separated from Wood and formed the Chris Craft company, makers of premier wooden speedboats and pleasure craft.
This boat-making history is memorialized in the Algonac City Park, located right on the St. Clair River. There are statues commemorating Smith and Wood and the Algonac shipbuilding tradition, along with a soldiers' memorial.
Directly across the river from Marine City is the small hamlet of Sombra, Ontario, Canada. Home to approximately 250 permanent residents, Sombra (derived from the Spanish word for 'shade') began in the early 19th Century as a source of lumber. Later, after the trees had been mostly cleared, the area was mostly agricultural and then, still later, had a somewhat thriving tourist industry. Now, it is a quaint village of small shops and restaurants. It also has a historical museum which contains artifacts pulled from the river due to shipwrecks and, in one instance, due to deliberate sinking. The museum has a car that once belonged to gangster Al Capone that was sunk in the river to avoid authorities because it contained illegal liquor. Mary Beth and I had lunch at the Aft Cabin where the food was quite good.
Access to Sombra is via a small ferry that travels across the river numerous times a day. We drove our car, but the pedestrian fare is only $3, making it possible to "walk to Canada."
Access to Sombra is via a small ferry that travels across the river numerous times a day. We drove our car, but the pedestrian fare is only $3, making it possible to "walk to Canada."
The Thumb area of Michigan has a number of wonderful diversions for those willing to get out and find them.
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