Labor Day weekend Part 3 : Light House

On Sunday we decided to take a tour of the Lighthouse before lunch. It has been restored and we got to go all the way to the top.

Living quarters

Ready for the tour

Almost to the top

View of the bridge

 From the top 

Old Light used at the Lighthouse

Living quarters, Light house, and Bridge

Us with the bridge

They had a really great set up to teach about how the light house worked and was used by ships. They had re-set up the living quarters and had good displays. We really enjoyed taking the tour and then enjoyed a fun pot-luck lunch with everyone.

Labor Day weekend Part 2 : Sault Ste Marie

Once we got to Sault Ste Marie we crossed into Canada so my parents would get a chance to use their passports and Dan and I were hoping to get a stamp. But I didn't really express that well so they never stamped our passports :( But we did go to the Locks and get to watch a 1000 foot ship come through. To give you an idea it is almost as big as a Air Craft Carrie.

Crossing the bridge

The Locks from the bridge to Canada

Customs in Canada

 Back at the Locks...

Tour boat on the left and big ship on the right

Close up of the ship

The whole ship

I took pictures of the ship as it was being lowered to the Lake Huron side of the Locks

It is always amazing to watch the process happen as they lift and lower these giant ships. This one was caring Copper Ore. After watching the ship we headed back to Mackinaw to grab some pizza from our favorite place,

 Crossing back over the bridge

Labor Day weekend Part 1: Bear Ranch

Dan and I again went up to Mackinaw for Labor Day weekend. On Saturday we decided to head into the Upper Peninsula to see the Oswald Bear Ranch. So with my parents in tow we headed out in the morning. It was rainy and hazy out but as the day progressed it did become really nice out.

 Crossing the bridge

 We did take a video of actually crossing the bridge but I can't get it to up-load :( The road we took to get to the bear ranch was amazing and had us right along the lake.

 The bear ranch is for rescued bears because it is illegal in Michigan to breed or sell Black bears. They had really great enclosures for the bears and the cubs were adorable :)

Baby Cub

Waiting for apples :)

(my parents) 

Loved the view of the hills and lake.

Me and Dan

One of the female bears

 We headed through town after seeing the bears and ate at Timber Charlies which was really good. I got fish and chips to enjoy the local fresh catch :) It was really good

 Our next stop was to the Sault Locks and my dad had a chance to take a nice nap while I drove to Sault Ste Marie.

Glass Exhibit

They are having a Glass Exhibit at the Art Museum and on August 24th we went to check it out. I have been wanting to go all summer but kept forgetting on the weekends we were in town :) Some of the pieces were amazing and reflected the artist's experience in the Antarctic which meant lots of blues which we really liked.

So Sparkly!!

Close up :)

Dan's favorite shade of Blue

The main piece

 Before we left we went to check out the Japanese Garden they have as part of their partnership with their sister city in Japan. We had fun checking it out and walking around on the stone path.

It was a fun way to spend our Sunday and it was such a nice day out we were glad to spend the time downtown.

Metal Ball

As part of our dance lessons they have a Metal Ball where you can "check out" from what ever level you have been dancing. They have certain dance steps and techniques they teach at each level. Dan and I were checking out of Bronze I. They have it set up to start with Beginners, Bronze I, Bronze II, Bronze III, Bronze IV, Silver I, Silver II, Silver III, Silver IV, and then Gold. We have enjoyed our dance lessons immensely this year and were excited to metal out.

They had it set up to have different groups of students dance different Demo's of each type of dance at the different levels, which was fun to see as we don't always ask people what levels they are at. They went through the Major Dances (Tango, Fox Trot, Waltz, Cha Cha, Rumba, and Swing) as well as the Minor Dances (Samba, Hustle, Salsa, West Coast swing, and Lindy Hop). After all the Demo's they had between 3 and 4 different couples (either students and their teacher or couples like me and Dan who are taking lessons together) at a time out on the floor to dance 3 different dances which were called out after they were on the floor. We were in the 4th heat out of 5, they had a Professional Dancer from another studio there to watch and make comments on our dancing to help us get an idea of how we are doing from someone who doesn't watch us dance all the time. We had to dance Swing, Cha Cha, and a Waltz for them.

After the dancing we had time to get all dressed up to have dinner at Joseph Decuis (Dee-Quee) in Roanoke. We had a lovely time with everyone and after an amazing dinner we received our awards and danced in their out door court yard.

Ready to eat!

All dressed up

Our room for dinner

The tables set up, we each got a magnet

The Menu

Desert :)

Us with our award and Dance Teacher Ms. Arroyo

Dancing

The courtyard