Great Loop: Leaping from Leland to Ludington

The Steam Ship Badger Departs Ludington for Manitowoc Wisconsin

Our stay in Leland was truncated, as we saw our weather window was closing for being able to continue south on Lake Michigan.  Determine to achieve a port as far south as possible, we planned for an early start the next morning with Frankfort as our initial destination and Ludington as a stretch goal if the weather cooperated.

Fortunately it did.  We had plenty of fuel remaining as we passed Frankfort, and more importantly, the wind waves were 2' or less and winds were less than 15 knots.  So we pressed on.  In total, we travelled 90 miles for the day.  This is twice our typical distance.  But we made it to a port much closer to Grand Haven.  This was important as my daughter Katie was going to be in Grand Rapids for the upcoming weekend and we hoped to see her.  

The Big Sable Point light house is located just north of Ludington

One of the prominent landmarks along the way

The Ludington Light House is located on the end of the breakwater

As predicted, the weather changed to squalls with wind over 15 knots and 3-4' waves

We enjoyed walking Ludington's waterfront.  There is a Maritime Museum next to the Coast Guard Station.  There is a also a very nice beach on both sides of the northern breakwater.  The Ludington Lighthouse is located on the end of the breakwater.  It is open for visitors.

Yes, the day we walked to the lighthouse, it was windy.

For $8/person you can go inside and to the top of the lighthouse

Downtown Ludington had interesting vintage brick store fronts.  It was busy too, and clean.  It had a that good feeling that comes from being a viable commercial center of town.  

Available wall space was often occupied by murals

The "House of Flavors" is known for it's hearty breakfasts and ice cream.

Steamship trip to Manitowoc

Ludington is home to the last coal fired steam ship in North America.  The SS Badger makes a daily roundtrip to Manitowoc in Wisconsin.  It is a 4 hour voyage to across Lake Michigan.  We made the roundtrip voyage and spent a night in Manitowoc.  Here you can see the Badger raising steam for the morning departure.

The SS Badger was built in 1952 to carry train cars across the lake.  It continued in this role until trucking took freight business away from the railroads.  When moving railcars was no longer profitable, the vessel was converted to carrying trucks, cars, and passengers.  It was full of all three on the day we travelled.  Many of the passengers played Bingo in the lounge until we docked on the far shore.  

If weather allowed, there were lounge chairs on bow of the boat.

The SS Badger has been declared a National Historic Landmark

We enjoyed walking and exploring the ship.  On the car deck, you could still see vestiges of the railroad tracks peeking through the asphalt paving that had been laid on the deck.  Another interesting discovery was that much of the crew live aboard.  I suspect this is so they can stand overnight engineering watches on the vintage steam boilers and engines, as well as prepare for the next day's roundtrip.

People waving as we departed Ludington

A giant Badger statue greeted us upon our arrival in Manitowoc Wisconsin

The Badger welcoming us to Wisconsin

The SS Badger at dock

We visited the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.  Here we discovered that a Manitowoc shipyard produced 28 Gato class submarines during WW2.  Once completed they travelled through Chicago and down the Mississippi river to New Orleans where final preparations were completed prior to being sent to their wartime deployment location.  The museum also had an interesting gallery on Lake Michigan shipwrecks.  Old shipwrecks are remarkably well preserved and the pictures were stunning.

Here is a picture of the forward torpedo room of the USS Cobia

Here is the room in which diving and control functions took place.

Beth is ringing the bell.  It was stowed when on patrol.

We were surprised to find a map of America's Great Loop Trip posted prominently inside the museum.  Yes!  This is the trip which we are close to finishing.  We feel very lucky to have been able to spend a year doing a water based exploration of the eastern United States and Canada.  Would we do it again?  Absolutely!

Manitowoc Restaurants

• We had an unexpectedly good dinner at Izumi Sushi.  It is an Asian Fusion restaurant across from the Wisconsin Maritime Museum.  The offer more than Sushi.  They also have Chinese food, Bento Boxes, Tempura, Hibachi, and Teriyaki.  The food was reasonably priced and very tasty.  We highly recommend!
• We ate lunch at the Fat Seagull Bar & Grill.  It is clearly a "locals" bar with a good menu and reasonable beer selection.  Their Happy Hour and daily specials also make it worth visiting.  We had a shrimp wrap which was terrific.  On Monday's they have $6 cheeseburgers and $2 beers during happy hour!
• Beernstsen's Confectionary - If you enjoy a top notch ice cream sunday or chocolate delicacies, this is the place to visit.  It is like an old fashioned ice cream parlor.  Prices were reasonable and quality was excellent.

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Berthing Information

• We berthed Amy Marie in the Ludington Municipal Marina
• Phone: 231-843-9611
• The marina has fuel, pump out, showers, restrooms and boaters lounge.
• It is close to downtown and restaurants.
• We did not find groceries within walking distance

Trip Log

SS Badger Trip
Ludington - Manitowoc Roundtrip