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Four Down and Four to Go in Marine City, Mich. -- Part II

6/18/2014

1 Comment

 
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I wrote last time about our first week playing Marine City's The Snug Theatre with "My Dearest Friend." We were very pleased with the critical review from Encore Michigan and the audience reaction to this wonderful historic play by Mary G. Kron. Since we opened, word of mouth has accelerated reservations for this coming week! Thank you to all who enjoyed the show! Tickets are going fast, but good seats are still available for all shows, online or by calling 810-278-1749.
But, there is more to do in our thumb area besides attend the theatre!

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Last Friday, Mary Beth, her Mom,  and Step , and I took the Blue Water Ferry across the St. Clair river to Sombra, Ontario, Canada for lunch at The Aft Cabin and a little shopping. Sombra has only about 250 residents, but the little town is charming and the food at The Aft Cabin was delicious! While in Sombra, I located the local historical museum, where I'm told a car owned by Al Capone for bootlegging is on display. Our older companions weren't up for the tour, so I didn't get to find out for myself -- maybe this week.

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Saturday was bright and sunny and so Mary Beth and I took the opportunity to indulge in another of our passions -- visiting lighthouses! Michigan is home to more than a hundred lighthouses and we've been to a lot of them, but our trip to the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse in Port Huron ranks as one of our best experiences.

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The Fort Gratiot Lighthouse is the oldest in Michigan, the current brick structure dating to 1829. That lighthouse replaced an earlier, wooden structure that was destroyed by a storm (Keeping with our Adams theme, the original lighthouse was completed in 1825, the year before John Adams died). The modern brick structure was constructed under the supervision of Lucius Lyon, a name very familiar to those of us in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Mary Beth and I first visited this lighthouse some years ago, but were not able to access the tower because it was still owned and operated by the Coast Guard. The Government transferred the lighthouse to The Friends of the Fort Gratiot Light, a restoration organization, in 2009. 

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The lighthouse has been given a new lease on life and still sends out its green blinking signal to guide ships navigating the Great Lakes. Our guide, Mike, a retired Coast Guard veteran, gave us a tour of the whole grounds and let us climb the tower (92 steps!). The view was spectacular!
Marine City has a lighthouse, too, but its function is more decorative than real. This is the Peche Island lighthouse, which was built in 1908 on Peche Island (an uninhabited island in the Detroit river), but by the 1980s it was about to collapse. The Coast Guard had the tower replaced and brought the old structure to shore. It ended up on display in Marine City. It still retains its 6th order Fresnel lens although it is inactive.

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As you can imagine, acting in a two-hour play where both Mary Beth and I are on stage the whole time can be draining.Well, we've found the perfect place to recharge: The Sweet Tooth in Marine City, just doors down from The Snug Theatre. This establishment has lots and lots of candy, as well as Hudsonville Ice Cream! I had the Black Cherry last week and it was to die for! I'm not certain what flavor I'll have this week, but I'm sure it will be very tasty. The Sweet Tooth offers candies and chocolates for sale before each performance of "My Dearest Friend" and during intermission. Mary Beth and I hope you will take the time to come to Marine City, Michigan and watch us play!

1 Comment
Fly with Anne link
9/4/2021 11:31:07 am

Lovely post, thanks for posting.

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