St. Clair County

Wednesday night we went to a Jackson Browne Concert in Ann Arbor and between that and the late Red Wings game I went to bed and got up late. So I really wasn't feeling it when I was trying to decide where (or if) I was going to walk. But the sun was shining and I was feeling guilty so I started looking for where I could walk in St. Clair County.


I found what looked like a neat place. St. John's Marsh State Wildlife Preserve. The website said that the road had paved shoulders so I was thinking that maybe it wasn't a busy road and that the road was really wide. Wrong! I drove all the way over there without a back up plan. The marsh was beautiful but I'm not going to risk my life to get a walk in. So I started driving up the road to see what I could find.

All I really know about this part of Michigan is that there are a lot of marinas and that Canada is right across the St. Clair River which is really a strait between Lake St. Clair and Lake Huron. At least in my opinion it's a strait (I just looked it up, technically a strait would be wider). I ended up in Marine City which is a pretty place with lots of antique stores and a quilt shop. This was originally Ojibwa territory and later the whole area was a center for lumber and shipping obviously.

Since I hadn't figured out the distance beforehand I figured I'd walk for 100 minutes that works out to a 20 minute mile which is a little longer than my usual pace. I walked up and down the sidewalks for a while with beautiful views of the river. There are beautiful old buildings.

I only managed to get 2.5 miles in at Marine City so I headed back up the road. I stopped in St. Clair which is another river city. Apparently about 100 years these river cities were also popular as summer excursions for people from the big cities. A lot of rum running went on during the Prohibition too since it's so close to Canada you can see the cars running up and down the road over there. They still find bottles at the bottom from the 30's. There is a nice long walk along the river so I got my other 2.5 miles in.




























There were some very beautiful houses right on the river. Here is where I might live if I ever win the lottery. Either of these places would work.

Then I went back to the car and had to drive back over I-94 during rush hour. So, YAY, St. Clair County is done!