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Other stories in "Lighthouses"

• Lighthouses of Door County
  On this long peninsula, beacons are reminders of a more rugged past.
• Living in a lighthouse
  The first keepers were ready to assist and rescue. Now, volunteers are returning the favor.
• The Lighthouse Express
  Between Duluth and Two Harbors, vintage trains take passengers back to the past.
• Dwelling in the past
  Around Lake Superior, overnight guests can try out life at a lighthouse.
• Lighthouses of the Apostles
  Allure of a bygone lifestyle pulls visitors to island beacons.

Cruising to a lighthouse

In summer, boats give visitors a chance to see historic beacons.

Many people turn lighthouses into a hobby. In summer, they travel from beacon to beacon, photographing them and collecting stamps in their U.S. Lighthouse Society passports until they've got 60 and can move onto the next passport and, eventually, the "Platinum Circle'' patch awarded after 240 lighthouse visits.

It's not easy to get to every lighthouse, however. Many are on islands or inaccessible by car, so aficionados are quick to sign up for the special boat trips offered during lighthouse festivals.

Below are some of the cruises that will take visitors to lights in the western Great Lakes in 2010. On many, places go quickly.

Memorial Day weekend to mid-October, Copper Harbor Lighthouse tours. On the tip of Michigan's Keweenaw Peninsula, boats ferry tourists to the light because private owners block access. 906-289-4966.

June 15-Sept. 16, Lighthouse cruises from Mackinaw City, Mich.  The Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association and Shepler's Ferry offer frequent lighthouse cruises from June through September that pass under the Mackinac Bridge, $52.50, $27.50 for children 5-12.

The eastbound straits cruise passes six lights and the westbound straits cruise four lights. They also offer all-day cruises to St. Helena Island Light on June 25, July 7 and Aug. 6, $90 for members (membership is $35), including lunch. 800-828-6157.

June 11-13,  Boat tours around Door County for Lighthouse Festival. The Door County Maritime Museum in Sturgeon Bay sponsors expeditions, including a cruise to Plum Island, in the middle of the Death's Door Passage. For the first time in festival history, passengers can get off the boat to explore the 1895 range lights and the ruins of an 1848 lighthouse.

The Island Clipper Tour, which takes passengers to Rock Island for a hike to the 1837 Pottawatomie Light, Wisconsin's oldest, and past Plum Island and the 1873 Pilot Island lighthouse, also is very popular. 

A third tour leaves from Fish Creek for Chambers Island, home of an 1868 lighthouse. Tickets for the three cruises, $55, go on sale to non-members April 1 and sell out immediately. Call 920-743-5958.

Other boat tours cross the Death's Door and explore lights in Baileys Harbor and Sturgeon Bay. On the Keepers' Kin Tour of Sturgeon Bay, relatives of lighthouse keepers will share stories and memorabilia.

Throughout the tourist season, trips to Washington Island from Gills Rock on the Island Clipper include views of Plum and Pilot islands. The launch makes several trips a day from late May to early October, $11.50 round-trip, $5.50 for children 6-11.

June 19, Lighthouse Excursion Around the Door Peninsula from Rowleys Bay, Wis. An eight-hour tour with lighthouse views, including Chambers Island. Cost is $166 for members of the Great Lakes Lighthouse Keepers Association (memberships are $35), $148 for children 12 and under, including meals.

June 19-Aug. 28, Cruises to Michigan's DeTour Reef Light from DeTour Village at the easternmost tip of the Upper Peninsula. The DeTour Reef Light Preservation Society offers two-hour guided tours on Saturdays except Aug. 14; that week, the cruises is Sunday, Aug. 15. Cost is $95, half tax-deductible, 616-874-9458 (from June to August, 906-493-5648).

June 27-July 1, the Ultimate Southern Lake Michigan Excursion past 38 lighthouses with host Terry Pepper of the Great Lakes Light Keepers Association, It starts in Holland, Mich., goes to Sturgeon Bay, Wis., and ends in Charlevoix, Mich.

June 29-Aug. 22, Cruises to Raspberry Island Light in Wisconsin's Apostle Islands, with two hours on the island, Tuesday and Friday-Sunday from Bayfield, $42, $25 for children 6-12.

There's also a daily cruise past the island, $31 and $18, and a weekend sunset cruise past the Raspberry, Sand and Devil's island lighthouses, $40 and $24. Apostle Islands Cruise Service, 800-323-7619.

June-September, St. Marys River Lighthouse Cruise from Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. Soo Locks Boat Tours offers a 4½-hour tour through the Soo Locks and along the St. Marys River to Point Iroquois Light and Canadian lights that include Gros Cap Reefs. Boats leave at 8 a.m. Wednesdays June 30-Aug. 25 and Saturdays on July 5  and Sept. 4-25. Cost is $49, including breakfast. 800-432-6301.

Aug. 25-Sept. 11, Apostle Islands Lighthouse Celebration out of Bayfield, Wis. The festival is the only time the Apostles Islands Cruise Service offers tours of the lights on Sand, Devils and Michigan islands as well as a cruise to Long Island to see the two lights there, 800-779-4487.

Sept. 25, Fall Color Lighthouse Cruise out of Charlevoix, Mich. See 11 lighthouses on a 10-hour cruise, $140, including a continental breakfast, lunch and hors d'oeuvres. Keweenaw Excursions, 906-482-0884.

Oct. 7-10, Great Lakes Lighthouse Festival in Alpena, Mich. Five Lake Huron lighthouses, at Tawas Point, Sturgeon Point, Forty Mile Point and Presque Isle, will be open for tours, and visitors can take boats or helicopters to see the lights on Middle Island and Thunder Bay Island. Lighthouse associations from all the Great Lakes are invited.

Last updated on March 27, 2010