Marquette

We stopped in Marquette for a day, the first time I've been in the city. Frankly, I was very impressed with this town. Downtown was vibrant, clean and busy. They've worked over the waterfront and put in parks, a boardwalk and bike paths. They appear to still value the history of the town. Of course this was August, I'm not sure I would feel the same way in January.

They do have a working lighthouse which you can tour. You have to sign up and be escorted, since the only access is through the Coast Guard base. The strange part is, there are no fences or guards, just a few no trespassing signs promising long prison stays. We were told the base only has 18 personnel, and I think there main job is to keep the light going. They have a couple small boats, but no helicopter or ship. It was kind of strange considering all the ship traffic going to the iron mine a couple miles down the coast.

I will have to go back and spend more time around this town. There were plenty of photographic possibilities I missed.