A Quiet Day in St. Ignace

We had a quiet day here in St. Ignace with only a short drive into town and visiting some attractions here.  It seems like today was much less busy in St. Ignace (Igg-Nuss).  We have been getting ready to pack up and move tomorrow, so we are re-stowing gear and getting the Forester ready to tow, including getting it washed.

Museum of Ojibwa Culture

St. Ignace was an Ojibwa settlement for many years with the natives moving with the seasons along the water to take advantage of the fishing in spring and summer and the big game, such as moose and elk in the winter. After watching a video on all that went into building a traditional birch bark canoe for transportation, we are glad that we are traveling in a comfortable RV. The museum is on the site of the first Jesuit mission, founded by Father Jacques Marquette, who was both a missionary and explorer. he died exploring on the Mississippi and the natives brought home his bones to bury here.

Statue in memory of Marquette

Father Marquette overlooking the harbor

After touring the museum, we had a nice lunch trying the smoked whitefish chowder. We have sampled the whitefish in several ways now, and while good, prefer salmon, which has more flavor. We enjoyed walking the boardwalk out to a lighthouse, overlooking the boat harbor. Learned that the off-shore mooring piers were used to dock tankers carrying jet fuel for the air force base that used to be on the Upper Peninsula. Lovely day in the mid-70's to walk around town a bit.  

St. Ignace Boat Harbor

We picked up enough quarters to rinse off the Forester in a car wash and headed back to the RV park to do a final load of clothes.  We have enjoyed our stay here, discovering more about history, geography and industry. Tomorrow, we look forward to new adventures when we head into Canada.  We have decided that we don't want to wait until winter arrives, so cold they hold the Pond Hockey Championships where the boat harbor is and the Great Lakes here freeze over hard enough that you can snowmobile over to Mackinac Island.

Best wishes to all, 

Neil and Pamela