Friday, August 17: I invited Brendan to the beach today and then for a sleepover. We were SO excited! We went to Pere Marquette Beach because it is one of our favorites. It was drizzling rain when I picked Brendan up from his house at 2:00. But we were not going to let a little rain spoil our day!
I knew there was a possibility that the Pierhead Light might be open for tours ... AND IT WAS!
Brendan was so excited to see it's door wide open and welcoming us in!
Two volunteers spoke to us for a few minutes and showed us around. It turns out that what you are seeing right here used to be the "basement" of the lighthouse, used for storage, etc.
Our charge was $4 for an adult and $2 for a child to go up, up, up and see the view from the top.
We paid our fee, plus we made a small donation. This is Brendan (below) putting our donation into the slot in the lighthouse display ...
This picture (below) is me pointing my camera from the basement to the top of the inside of the lighthouse.
We passed a few pictures of what this little lighthouse USED to look like! It was once WHITE! AND it had a catwalk?!?!?
We learned, too, that this lighthouse was built prior to the breakwater being put in about 100 years ago. Its pier was much longer and a catwalk connected it to an outer building (very similar to Grand Haven). But Muskegon is a busy port and the breakwater was very necessary. Once the breakwater was complete (along with its very odd lighthouse), this pier was shortened, the catwalk was removed, and voila! Paint it RED and it looks like it does today.
About half way up, Brendan peeking through a porthole.
Our view from on top ...
When the circular stairs end, you climb an eleven-step ladder to get to the top ...
More of our view ...
This gentleman volunteer gave us interesting information ... he was very interesting.
A small vessel coming into port ...
See the raindrops on the windows of the lighthouse?
We finally descended the stairs, visited with the volunteers for awhile, and then walked the pier back. On our way, we met Frank, Floyd and Fritz on their respective poles ...
These gulls are not very timid ...
And then we wandered around by the bouys so that Brendan could have a closer look at them.
When we were playing with my photo program, Brendan designed this LEGO frame just for the fun of it ...
Brendan--you are the dearest little chum of a grandson!
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