MidwestWeekends.com - Cruiseshttp://www.midwestweekends.comen-us2008-10-11T09:54:55-05:00Michigan's Pictured Rockshttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/outdoors_recreations/hiking/michigan_pictured_rocks_national_lakeshore.htmlAlong Michigan's Pictured Rocks, there's no such thing as a bad view.

White sandstone cliffs line nearly 40 miles of national lakeshore, the nation's first when it was created in 1966. Named for the colorful swishes and whorls painted by mineral-laden water oozing through cracks, Pictured Rocks draws tourists from around the world.

]]>Wed, 14 May 2008 00:00:00 -0500Cruising to a lighthousehttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/history_heritage/lighthouses/lighthouse_festivals.htmlMany 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.

]]>Wed, 30 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0500Locking through the Soohttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/touring/cruises/soo_locks.htmlIn Sault Ste. Marie, tourists find out what floats their boats.

For most, it’s watching serious machinery moving through the Soo Locks. What really floats a boat, however, is 22 million gallons of water, which is what it takes to lift a boat through the Poe Lock, a liquid escalator between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

]]>Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600Cruising into fallhttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/best_trips/day_trips/fall_cruises.htmlAs wooded shorelines erupt in fall colors, narrated river cruises become especially popular. That's easy to understand — why not kick back and let the scenery come to you?

On the most scenic part of the Mississippi, a steam-powered paddlewheeler cruises past 500-foot bluffs and river towns filled with history, and pontoons glide into backwaters. In the northwoods, a pontoon explores a wild part of the Wisconsin River. And sandstone formations on the Dalles and in the Dells give passengers on paddlewheelers, launches and Ducks plenty to look at.

]]>Tue, 01 Jan 2008 00:00:00 -0600Cruising La Crossehttp://www.midwestweekends.com/plan_a_trip/touring/cruises/lacrosse.htmlWe'd been in La Crosse for barely an hour, and everyone we'd met was a certified character.

In Riverside Park, Frank and Faith Rimmert and Jonathan and Barb Rimmert were decked out in top hats, waistcoats and crinolines to meet the Mississippi Queen paddlewheeler, portraying the 19th-century locals who would have assembled.

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