Toronto to Milwaukee by water

[moderne]

Hope I am not improperly posting in this topic. From the airport conversations there are some heavy duty road warrior travelers on the Rag, but they are not posting in this topic. I am a comparative homebody.

Only experience with Great Lakes was viewing Lake Michigan from Lake Shore Drive environs in Chicago. Never been on the water. So I thought it was time to see why this water gets the epithet "Great." The inland oceans, the sweet water seas, Gitchegoomee. 20% of the world's surface fresh water. Formed the same time as Niagara around 10 to 15 thousand years ago, a short time for such a major geologic feature.

Coming in on the direct Air Canada flight with a rather grimy looking cabin, landed in Toronto some distance from the terminal. Herded through a maze of corridors and up and down stairs for 15 minutes to customs. As bad as a first impression at KCI. Toronto is booming with an almost Asian intensity with immigrants from all over the British Commonwealth. Strange such a megalopolis in a nation with small and scattered population. As if USA had a city of 60 million. Traffic very clogged on arterials, freeways move with LA speed. Dozens of clusters of high rises, the suburb of Mississauga looking like a little Dallas. Downtown it is impossible to count the number of 50-60 story residential going up. There is a wide freeway coupled with wide rail yards that separate downtown from the lake front. The CN Tower and Rogers Center(Skydome) are on the lakefront. With prime developable land scarce, this area is finally being filled with yet more glass residential towers. Was told downtown 2bed2bath rent starts at $6-8,000 US. Stopped at area east of downtown,the Distillery District with antique brick buildings and brick streets. Surprisingly not a bar district but cutesy shops and cafes. Embarked ship in an industrial area east of city. Ship had 160 passengers and 80 crew. On board was a large group of traveling Rhodes Scholars that gave lectures every day on geology, history, current events and peoples of the lakes. Took only a few hours to cross Lake Ontario and enter Welland Canal to be raised over the Niagara Escarpment.

Niagara Falls Ontario is to Niagara Falls NY as KCMO is to KCK. Cannot even see falls head on from American side. Heading toward the falls from the canal the mist rises hundreds of feet into the air visible for miles away. On little boats that head up to falls they give passengers a poncho that is like a dry cleaning bag with a hoodie. Still got drenched underneath, the mist is like standing in a giant cool mist vaporizer. Heading into the center of plunge pool of the horseshoe falls can barely see the wall of water on 3 sides through the water vapor.

Next morning awoke berthed between the Browns Stadium and Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Was odd going through customs on Cleveland waterfront. Again another freeway between lake front and its attractions and downtown. Headed east on the coast hugging freeway to the Rockefeller Park/University Circle area. Cleveland reminds a lot of St Louis in size, Fortune 500 history, and loss of population in past half century. And this area reminded of the Central West End/Forest Park/Wash U area. It has botanical gardens, art museum, history museum,natural history museum, Severance Hall(symphony), Case Western Reserve University and hospitals, and the famed Cleveland Clinic. The art museum was the model for the Nelson in KC as an encyclopedic history of art museum. Even had Cleveland curators as paid consultants. Amazing how south facades of both so similar. Same scheme of 3 bays with neoclassical columns with 4 in middle and 2 on end. Interior smaller with no grand 2 story Kirkwood Hall or Rozelle Court. Dimensions overall seem smaller so I can imagine the consultants telling the Nelson board to build bigger. Consequently CAM has at least 3 additions. Would be as if Nelson built north wings on NW and NE corners then eventually joined them with a wings parallel to the original, making a square shape with immense courtyard. Courtyard then roofed in glass. Connecting to downtown Euclid Ave has a true Bus Rapid Transit. 6 lanes with median. Parking on sides, traffic in middle land, and center lanes bus ONLY. The stations are on the median, almost fully enclosed from elements, glass. This gives something most people at bus stops lack: shelter from weather, visibility, and dignity. Having dedicated bus ROW makes it attractive alternative to driving time wise. Downtown hit and miss. Lots of vintage office and retail buildings vacant and leasing signs indicate the are pitching them for traditional uses and not being converted.There is a wonderful retail space, the Arcade. Reminds of a shopping galleria in Milan. 6 floors with atrium and glass vault. Intricate detailing in railings floors, ceilings. There is an attached office structure in which there is a Hyatt, but the Arcade is empty but for a barber and nail salon. One lively spot on this Saturday afternoon was a narrow one block street that was completely pedestrianized. Lots of shops, cafes, bars, brew pubs. Busy and not one street level spot vacant. There was a grocery in an old bank that must be the only grocery in the world with a Tiffany stained glass dome over it. A bunch of 30-40 story modernist boxes on east end of downtown with the 3 tallest in town cluster on west. The Key tower and former BP overlook Public Square and a block away is the Stalinesque wedding cake 1930 Terminal Tower, tallest outside of NT and Chicago for 40 years. Public Square has a fussy old Civil War monument and has recently had a road diet and new landscape, but as lively as Davis Park here. The adjoining office towers lead to a dull area on weekends.

Awoke in morning at Detroit River. First view was encouraging--lots of people on waterfront walking, biking,whatever. Really nothing to attract but the water. Behind the port building was a massive high garage servicing the next door fortress like Renaissance Center. Other direction endless 0walls of convention facilities and auditorium. Rightly criticize, but Crown Center was of the same urban renewal era as the Ren Center and I am so glad did not get something similar. One thing Detroit did not do that is something they did right. No freeway cutting of waterfront from downtown. Being the era it boomed, there are Art Deco skyscrapers galore. Some like the copper spired Fisher not downtown.In the middle of downtown is the splendid orange brick Guardian building. On a Sunday the doors were open and people allowed to walk around the immense lobby. Sort of an American Indian/Deco/Michigan theme in marble, fresco, stained glass, mosaic, metal grilles. Away from the lobby proper with security desk and elevator bank is a set of ascendant steps into a vaulted gallery leading to an altar like wall with a fresco of the silhouette of Michigan ascendant in glory. The baseball stadium and football stadium are neighbors on the edge of downtown. Would not wish this for KC. Concurrent Sunday games seemed to add nothing to downtown but fill block after block of surface parking lots on land that surely once had substantial buildings. Went to the African American museum. Presented chronologically it makes extensive use of tableaus using human figures, some animatronic. The first few hundred years of African American history so awful I was thrown into sadness and had to leave before getting to the happier days of accomplishment. Even going to Motown Hitsville could not pull me out of the funk. Leaving on the ship passing the northeast suburbs the river opened onto a lake I had no knowledge of. Lake St Clair is not classified as one the Great, but to a person from part of the country where a lake is a dammed drowned river valley, any body of water that has no land on the horizon when in the middle of it is impressive.

Crossing Lake Huron ran into a clear cold front. 5 foot whitecaps. The tiny ship was tossed. Most of the passengers stayed in their cabins that day.
Some people lost their stomachs in corridors and even on the stairs. Few at dinner that evening. The crew at well that night. The ship is a salty so was surprised it was such a rough ride in a lake. Entering into Georgian bay the waters calmed and revealed a world different than the southern lakes. Intense sky blue water, thousands of islands and islets, low granite mountains of the Canadian Shield, the southernmost of the boreal forest that circles the northern hemisphere, pines and birch. Like a vision of Longfellow's Hiawatha or the episode of classic Star Trek where amnesiac Kirk is on a planet that parallels a native american Eden. Stopped at Manitoulin Island, the largest island in the world in a freshwater lake. On the island is the largest lake on an island. Driving around the island were endless vistas of water, hills and trees where it was hard to determine if were seeing the island, or some other island or the mainland La Cloche mountains or if the water were Lake Huron, Georgian Bay, the North Channel or some interior lake of the island. The main town of Little Current is tiny but has an attractive downtown waterfront. Would be a great place to stay a few weeks to really get away from it all.

Were scheduled to go through the Soo Locks and spend day in Lake Superior. But again gale winds reared up and captain said it was too dangerous for small ship to enter locks and maybe a gust could slam the boat against the wall. So spent day in Sault Ste Marie. The Canadian side is a small city, the American side is a small town. It is the third oldest town in the USA founded in 1668. Seemed incongruous in the north woods when we think any old town in US has to be east coast. Lots of historic buildings, museums, glassed in viewing at locks watching thousand foot loaded ore ship transiting. One museum had some crumpled life boats found after the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. After seeing the sudden weather before winter, the old song was made more vivid. A local food experience was a pasty. It is a hand pie filled with ground pork and rutabaga. Much too large to fit in the mouth and eat by hand.

Last port was tiny Mackinac Island. Almost too precious to be real, more like a Disney reality. A late 19th century resort with whitewashed Victorian homes and hotels overlooked by a fort captured by the British in War of 1812 and Grand Hotel featured in 1980 Christopher Reeve romance "Somewhere in Time." Only way to get there is by boat, though the 5 mile straits bridge is on horizon. Automobiles have always been banned, even though this was a getaway of industrialists from Detroit and Chicago. Only walking, bicycle or horse carriage. E bikes have made life easier, but you can get a bike speeding ticket. Horse carriages come in 2 horse drawn or 3 horse drawn. The 2 aromas on the streets of town are fudge and horse manure. There are the only motorized contraptions on the island that scrape the manure constantly. The island is deserted in winter with few year round residents. Even the draft horses go to the mainland. Cheaper to bring the horses to the hay than the hay to the horses.

Heading south into Lake Michigan I still felt a little discombobulated to be crossing boundless water yet be in the middle of the Continent. What is the future of the lakes? 1% of the water enters the system each year and 1% exits over Niagara falls. Takes a long time for any pollution to get out. Already the ecosystem devastated by invasives such as lamprey eels and zebra mussels. The lakes no longer freeze over in winter so will increased evaporation lower lake levels? Will the parched west coast and southwest try to dip a straw in all that yummy fresh water? Will the availability of one of the most needed resources to live and industry boost the fortunes of lake cities?

Disembarked at Milwaukee in front of the Calatrava designed art museum rising like a gull taking flight over the lake.

[dukuboy1]

wow, that's a pretty cool trip. Distance wise I'm sure it's as long as a Caribbean cruise or Mediterranean Cruise, which is kind of wild when you think in those terms. Maybe not as long but I am sure its close.

[Cratedigger]

Love northern Michigan and Mackinac Island. Did you get to see the Sleeping Bear Dunes?

Happened to be in Milwaukee this weekend - cool city! Enjoyed the vibe of the place, the breweries and the cheap drinks. For instance, for $5 you can get a Hamm's, a shot of Jameson and a lottery ticket! What a place.

Like KC, locals I met were proud to all themselves Milwaukeeans and slightly surprised my group chose that city to visit just for the hell of it. Lots of parking lots downtown next to gorgeous late 1800s/early 1900s buildings. Haven't done much research but got the vibe there were quite a lot of teardowns. While there is a streetcar, it is limited. We never used it.

Sorry for the tangent, but had been meaning to post some of these thoughts. Seems like a good enough spot

[DaveKCMO]

Viking? What did you pay?

[normalthings]

Looked this up. $6K on Viking!

[alejandro46]

Great write up.

I’ve been on a Viking cruise in Europe. Pricy but they really go above and beyond. It’s worth it if you can afford it.

[moderne]

Was American Queen cruise lines. They have identical sister ships Navigator and Voyager. Was a little less expensive than Viking. Retro looking boats like out a film noir. Viking boat is much larger, looks like a huge sleek yacht. It is too big to dock in some Great Lakes small ports. They were using tenders to take passengers to land at Mackinac Island and they were there 2 days. It was repositioning out to sea for the southern hemisphere summer going to Antarctica.