First vehicles crossed the 'Mighty Mac' 62 years ago

https://www.wnem.com/news/first-vehicles-crossed-t...

I can remember when it was being built. My mother and I had birthdays in the same week in August. We lived in the northern part of Michigan's Lower Peninsula, and sometime during that week, we would always take a long day-trip up to places like Sault Ste. Marie or Tahquamenon Falls. We had to leave early in the morning because we had to take a ferry to cross the Straits of Mackinaw. And of course we had to make sure that we got back in time, before the last ferry returned back to Mackinaw City. Over the years we watched the progress as the bridge was being constructed, and then one year, we didn't have to take the ferry as the bridge was finally open. I can't remember how much the ferry cost, but I know my dad complained about the toll, which was something like $6.50 when the bridge first opened. I guess he figured that whatever he paid for the ferry, the ride was part of the adventure, but driving across a bridge, that was just a highway which his tax dollars was supposed to have paid for. Today, the toll is $4.00 for a passenger automobile. Note that I've driven a motorcycle over the Mackinaw Bridge on four occasions, that last time was in April, 1967, and I nearly froze to death, literally (when you hear that someone 'suffered from exposure', don't think that that's some minor thing. It's NOT, and it's something I hope I never experience again).

One other recollection. I mentioned that we used to go up to Sault Ste. Marie which is where the Soo Locks are, which allows ships to pass between Lake Superior and Lake Huron. The Saute St. Marie River also forms the border between Michigan and Canada. I can remember the first time we visited there on one of these birthday trips. It must have been around 1956 when I was nine years old. It was during the 'Cold War' and it was the first time that I saw armed guards with machine guns. At that time the locks were considered a critical part of nations infrastructure and as such was under protection by the military. You could only get as close as the street as there was an iron fence around the locks area and there were guard towers with the aforementioned soldiers with machine guns. And there were guards patrolling the sidewalk along the fence and if they caught someone with a camera, they would take it and rip out the film (they gave the camera back, just with no film). The next year we were there, the guards were gone and while the fence was still there, the gates were open and you could walk right up to where the ships were moving through the locks, and you could take all the pictures that you wanted.

John R. Baker, P.E. (ret)
EX-Product 'Evangelist'
Irvine, CA
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