Alpena and Presque Isle Counties

Alpena County

We woke up on Monday morning to a peanut butter and bagel breakfast. We headed out to Alpena. The ride over was interesting an abundance of trees. That's what "up north" is all about!

We found the BiPath in Alpena which winds along the Alpena Wildlife Refuge. We had downloaded a new book for Connie's Kindle so she was happy to sit in the car and read while I hightailed off. I was pretty impressed with the path and with the parks that were adjacent to it. I appreciate communities that care about the wildlife and realize what a boost it is to the liveability of a city to have places where people can get out and enjoy nature.

This is a view from the Bipath.

This snapping turtle and I had a little conversation. I told him/her I'd just take a quick picture and please don't bite me. Then I walked a few more steps and found a turtle nest with broken eggs next to it. I wish I could have seen the babies.

I got back to the car and still had about a half mile to go and Connie finished up that walk with me. I enjoyed Alpena more than I thought I would. We didn't go over to Thunder Bay since we were headed up to Presque Isle which is on Lake Huron so we'd be seeing the lake then.

Presque Isle County

We went over to 23 and headed north. Missed the turn to Presque Isle. The name in French means "almost an island". Grand Lake is west of Presque Isle and it is basically a long spit of land with two connectors to the mainland. We drove north to the other connector. Grand Lake is very beautiful to the east.

There is not much of a downtown which we found out as we were looking for a restaurant. We ended up getting yummy sandwiches at the deli across from the harbor and eating outside at the picnic table.

If you like lighthouses this is a great place to visit. The first Presque Isle lighthouse was built in 1840 but it deteriorated quickly and it was too short to be much help to sailors coming in to the harbor so it was replaced with a new lighthouse. I walked up to the top of the new lighthouse which is 113 feet high. I also just read that both of the lighthouses are haunted which I'm glad I didn't know when I was up there on top all by myself. It was easy going up except for running out of breath a couple of times but the walk down was not fun. The steps were see through wrought iron and I had a death grip on the railing. This lighthouse has a great gift shop and I spent lots of money on teeshirts and a pink hat.

View from the top of the New Presque Isle lighthouse.

Once we ate it was time for me to get to work and get walking. Connie parked at the old lighthouse which is through the trees from the harbor and I set off. There is a nice walk along the breakwall which I went up and down a couple times since it was so cool and I walked quite a way down the road. I then headed back through the trees and eventually got my 5 miles done. Another one bites the dust!!

View of the Old Presque Isle lighthouse from the end of the breakwall.

Up close view of the Old Lighthouse. Isn't it adorable?