THE GOOD SHIP Grande Mariner
On July 27th the Grande Mariner floating elderhostel made its second stop (of 6 scheduled arrivals) at Beaver Island during the summer. On a typical trip, she leaves Chicago and stops at Holland, Frankfort, Beaver Island, and Mackinac. Then she cruises up the St. Mary's River and through the Sault Locks for a sniff of the colder and deeper water of Lake Superior before turning tail and moseying down Lake Michigan's west shore to complete her eight-day trip.
The passengers who came ashore here and took a tour in a Boat Company van or wandered around downtown said that the food on board was excellent. An added interest was having Fred Stonehouse as the resident historian. He spends a few hours each day telling stories from his vast amount of shipwreck lore; unless the weather is rough, in which case he switches to tales about our early settlers on the land. All in all, the $1,500 to $3,000 fare seemed like a good price to those on board.
The 183'-long front-loading ship is busy year-around, cruising the Mississippi down to New Orleans in the fall and spring and plying the Caribbean in the winter.
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