Time for a tender moment in Alpena

Our next port stop was to a town called Alpena located along the right side of the upper peninsula, continuing our visits around the state of Michigan. Visiting Alpena requires the use of a tender which in our case meant using the ship's own life boats to ferry groups of passengers back and forth to shore. Those booked on the morning tour sessions were to report to Manfredi's before being called by tour number to board the next available tender. Those booked on the afternoon tour sessions were required to plan their time accordingly so that they got themselves on the tender at least 30 minutes before their scheduled time to meet on the pier. Every tour today except the Thunder Bay Catch and Cook required the use of the QuietVox.

The tender/lifeboats were some of the roomiest I've seen on a cruise ship. We had some decent room to spread out and the crew was always ready to lend a hand getting in and out. 

When we were looking at the options in order to plan out which excursions we wanted once they were open for booking, I fell in love with the Lighthouses of Michigan tour especially when I confirmed that you can climb them both. The options beforehand did not list this tour as included but I was ready to book it regardless. When it came to book excursions, I was pleasantly surprised to find that this one was listed as included as well as the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage tour. The other three tour options that were an extra cost only had one time slot each - Thunder Bay Catch and Cook (as it took 7 hours), Flora & Fauna of North Point (3.5 hours), and Cheers to Alpena (3.5 hours). The Flora & Fauna of North Point tour was only in the morning and Cheers to Alpena was only in the afternoon. I guess they didn't want anyone drinking for breakfast.

Dad was not as excited about climbing all the stairs involved in a lighthouse so he spent the morning on the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage tour. The tour is listed as easy and lasting three hours. The small Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center is located right by the pier where the tender boats dock. While Dad's tour included a guided escort through the museum, my tour group was not only paraded through to get to the bus at street level but we also had the option of browsing on our own after our tour returned. The rest of his tour featured a glass bottom boat ride to view shipwrecks. Dad said it was "nice for an included tour" but wouldn't have felt like it was worth the money if he'd had to pay for it. I did take the time to browse the museum after my tour and was very tempted to join the many people who were purchasing hot fresh popped popcorn from the gift shop. 

My Lighthouses of Michigan tour lasted three hours and was listed as moderate. There is nothing saying you have to climb the lighthouses. Looking at them from the outside and exploring the surrounding grounds reading the information can still be entertaining. We first visited the older and smaller of the two lighthouses, the Old Presque Isle lighthouse at a height of 30 feet, and met the manager who gave us a little bit of history before we climbed. Since the platform at the top is so small, the manager only allowed about five to eight people at a time to climb. I joined the group that made a beeline for the lighthouse versus exploring the grounds and was the last one allowed in that first group to climb. We could hear our fellow tour members urging us to come back down so they could have a turn. There is normally a fee of $5 for adults to climb but that fee was waived for us on the Viking tour. 

This bronze bell was moved here when the old city hall was torn down. Our guide joked that there's always somebody on a tour who goes over and chooses to test out the bell. No one did until I was back on solid ground. I can only imagine what it sounded like to the people currently climbing.

Our bus pulled up to the first lighthouse right in front of the statue of Patrick Garrity, Sr. that sits in front of the lightkeeper's house as a tribute to all Presque Isle Township lighthouse keepers.

Our second stop via bus was the New Presque Isle Lighthouse built in 1870 at a new location more inland so that its light could be seen from further away and around all sides of the coastline. This newer lighthouse reaches a height of 113 feet. We also were allowed to climb this lighthouse which was a notably more taxing effort. Our bus driving guide stood watch at the base of this lighthouse to help keep the groups going in at one time to a minimum for comfort sake. This lighthouse had little platforms the width of the windows as you climbed so anyone who needed a break could step off and out of the way of other climbers. There was also a little lightkeeper's house on the property that you could tour but it didn't open right away due to lighthouse staff not being able to come in as planned. The manager of both lighthouses had to rush over from the first lighthouse and man the lightkeeper's home rather than give us a tour of the grounds. A new roof was being put on the lightkeeper's home but it did not inconvenience climbing and exploring the grounds. Unfortunately, being historic lighthouse structures, there is no handicapped accessibility in place. While most of us in the group did make the climb, a few opted to just walk the grounds outside. 

This lighthouse had metal spiral steps and a handrail but was still tight quarters until you reached one of these platforms.

Thank you lighthouse for the words of encouragement!

The steps themselves were narrow about the width of one of my feet on the wall side

One of the window alcoves you could step off into to rest and/or enjoy the view

The exit/entrance to the outside platform at the top

The view from the top

Back down on solid footing I took the time to walk around the grounds.

My joints certainly felt these climbs for the next day or so but I love the challenge and the aerial views. I'm glad I took the time to walk at home routinely leading up to this trip. It was important to me to accomplish this goal and I'm proud of having "stepped" up and succeeded.