Christie Hall was the winner of our raffle for a Mackinac Bridge tower tour and here she shares her once-in-a-lifetime experience.
An interview with Christie also ran on the MyNorth website. Read that article here.
I brought my sister Katharine Boles along with me! Here we are at the admin building, already wearing our “so-they-can-find-your-body” vests, about to head over! (And wearing my custom-made Petoskey stone and jasper necklace by Heart and Soul Beading as my good omen, of course!)
This is the little door we have to go through! One leg in first, then crouch down and get the rest of yourself in! The inside passages were similar shape and size, but perhaps a bit larger, and much lower.
Once we got in the tower at the street level, we immediately squished into an elevator obviously intended for no more than two! This is Todd Mayer, our Bridge Authority Tour Guide, who did a fantastic job!
After going though several sideways tunnels, and then up the rung ladder through a few openings, I stopped to take a picture of the view down.
Katharine made it up! 🙂
my first view….just amazing, especially with the North Tower and UP in the background.
View to our south of Mackinaw City
The only moment that my stomach lurched was when I leaned out over the roadway to take this pic!
Todd specifically took us to the top of the South a Tower so we’d be able to get this shot of a barge crossing from Lake MI into Lake Huron
Amazing moment of the barge being halfway between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron! (I love all the colors – the green bridge, the deep blue water, the white wake, and the red barge.)
Katharine and I on the west side of the south tower. Such a beautiful bridge, with its color and symmetry. Todd explained to us that the thick “pipes” off to the sides are actually solid cables. Incredible.
The symmetry and lines of the bridge make such a lovely contrast with the hazy clouds and the churning water.
Again, loved the churning, dark blue water, with the sun shining on it briefly, contrasted with the sharp, unyielding lines of the bridge and the highway and the truck passing by.
Again, loved the churning, dark blue water, with the sun shining on it briefly, contrasted with the sharp, unyielding lines of the bridge and the highway and the truck passing by.
Time to head down! The trip has been amazing! (That’s the North Tower and Upper Peninsula behind us, and a few more miles of the almost-5-mile bridge!)
Katharine beginning the journey down!
Made it back safely! Didn’t even lose our cameras! 😉
