After breakfast, some cleaning up, and some baking we thought we would try one of the UP's signature dishes - the Pastie. I thought it was similar to chicken pot pie filling (but firmer and with lots of potatoes, rutabagas and onions) wrapped in a pastry shell and served with gravy. I tried the beef and Joani tried the chicken. Both were good as long as you have no inhibitions about consuming far more than a healthy number of carbohydrates. My meal stuck with me for quite a while and by that I mean it felt like there was an anvil in my gut for an hour or so.
Many people had mentioned that we had to see the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie while we were in the area. St. Ignace was as close as we would be to the Soo Locks for a while and it was a pretty day for a drive (plus I wasn't in the mood for hiking after the 5-pound pastie).
I tried to look at a schedule on-line showing ship transits, but it did not seem complete or up to date. I was just hoping to see something pass through the locks. Just as we arrived we saw this monster leaving the locks heading into Lake Superior. A tall security fence kept me from getting a very good picture. The Canadian Steamship Lines, CSL Tadoussac, launched in 1969 was 730 ft long and 75 ft wide.
We parked along W. Portage Ave and headed to the visitor center. Inside a schedule was posted showing a ship would be entering the lock in another 30 minutes. That gave us an opportunity to mosey along the street. Could you believe we found a fudge shop? Sault Ste. Marie was just slightly less touristy than most of the other small towns we visited in Michigan, but then we only had a few minutes to explore.
The Stewart J. Cort was right on schedule headed to Lake Huron as we returned to the viewing tower. It almost seemed at a standstill until you watched very closely. A large #1 painted on the ship commemorated this as the first 1,000 footer on the lakes when it entered service in 1972. It was 105 feet wide which explained why it was moving into the lock so cautiously - there was very little clearance between the sides and the lock walls.
As a bonus, we watched the State of Michigan pass through the locks at the same time headed into Lake Superior. With a length of 224 feet and a beam of 43 feet, this ship operated by the Great Lakes Maritime Academy looked small compared to the giant ore hauling ships. Because they were nearer to the viewing platform the 21 foot rise in the lock was much more dramatic.
I don't think we could have scheduled a better show of the locks operation if we had tried. We were very happy we made the trip to Sault Ste. Marie.
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