3macboys 484 Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 (edited) Just in time for Christmas for the collector of all things transportation I just stumbled across this auction "Vintage steel deck grating from Mackinac Bridge" This is the actual link to it: https://www.govdeals.ca/index.cfm?fa=Main.Item&itemid=152&acctid=8676 I know that as a kid my parents took us on a family vacation and one of the big adventures was crossing over the bridge. More recently (11 years ago) we bought our cottage in Northern Ontario from a couple that lived just outside of Detroit and through discussions with Roger I learned that he had been posted there as an MP to guard the bridge in what I would only be guessing now when it was first built. I'm sure that there are a plenty of stories and connections with this iconic bridge. Don Edited November 11, 2020 by 3macboys (see edit history) 4 Link to post Share on other sites
keiser31 5,702 Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 (edited) When I lived in Michigan we walked across those grates. Used to be on every Labor Day, they would close off half of the bridge and folks could walk from the southern "mitten" tip to the upper peninsula. Edited November 11, 2020 by keiser31 (see edit history) 2 Link to post Share on other sites
1937hd45 3,213 Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 Great fencing material to impress "special" next door neighbors. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
3macboys 484 Posted November 11, 2020 Author Share Posted November 11, 2020 44 minutes ago, keiser31 said: When I lived in Michigan we walked across those grates. Used to be on every Labor Day, they would close off half of the bridge and folks could walk from the southern "mitten" tip to the upper peninsula. I'm not keen on heights at the best of times, there is no way you would catch me walking over the grates being able to see to the lake below, way below! 3 3 Link to post Share on other sites
Marty Roth 2,613 Posted November 11, 2020 Share Posted November 11, 2020 (edited) We have crossed that bridge many, many times while on Glidden and Chrome Glidden Tours, as well as several others - always an experience, and especially in the 1912 Oakland Touring with top and full side curtains in place with heavy winds coming sideways Should have said Crosswinds?) !! Edited November 12, 2020 by Marty Roth (see edit history) 2 Link to post Share on other sites
plymouthcranbrook 876 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I remember back in 1989 bringing a van load of Boy Scouts back from a canoe trip on The AuSable river in the lower section of Michigan. We stopped in the little park where the ferrys left to go to Mackinaw island. After letting them watch and look for a while we loaded up and headed into Wisconsin. Boys were being boys as we started over, loud and wiggly. But as we started across it got quieter and quieter and by halfway across you could have heard the proverbial pin drop. I looked in the mirror and could see faces staring out the window with mouths open. They stayed quiet till we we about a mile away. 1 3 Link to post Share on other sites
alsancle 4,816 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 A stay at the Grand Hotel has been on my list for a while. 6 Link to post Share on other sites
1950panhead 148 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 About 1975 or so. We were in the U.P. coming down US2 towards the bridge on motorcycles, wind was howling. There were cars and trucks parked on the side of I75 like a parking lot. We get to the tool both, attendant says 60 mph boys. Can we cross ? Yes, we won't stop you (these days they would close the bridge). We rode over at 30 mph, you could feel the bridge swinging left and right under the motorcycle. Oh to be young and crazy again ! 2 Link to post Share on other sites
keiser31 5,702 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 1 hour ago, 3macboys said: I'm not keen on heights at the best of times, there is no way you would catch me walking over the grates being able to see to the lake below, way below! I WAS a little queezy looking down through the slots. 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
B Jake Moran 602 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 1 hour ago, 3macboys said: I'm not keen on heights at the best of times, there is no way you would catch me walking over the grates being able to see to the lake below, way below! Yep. I have a fear of driving on bridges due to the inability to swerve or exit. When I go over the Mississippi, any bridge really I grip the bejesus out of the steering wheel and prey for no cross winds. In 2016 we took our family vacation from Iowa around Lake Superior enroute to Mackinac Island. I had an F150 and they were working on that bridge. I barely got across and my wife told me to slow down to whatever I was comfortable with. Looking down, seeing water, I about peed my pants. 2 1 Link to post Share on other sites
keiser31 5,702 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 1 hour ago, 3macboys said: I'm not keen on heights at the best of times, there is no way you would catch me walking over the grates being able to see to the lake below, way below! When I walked across, I dropped a very shiny penny through the slots and it took FOREVER to hit the water. Then you could see it toss and turn under the clear water for quite a while until it disappeared. Link to post Share on other sites
padgett 2,095 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Just if you stay at the Grand be aware that the rooms on the view side were for guests, and the one on the other side, many with stairs to fall down in the dark, were for servants. Link to post Share on other sites
ericmac 627 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I grew up in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and have crossed the bridge in all sorts of weather including a frigid walk from the UP to the LP (maybe they have changed the direction of the walk in more recent years). The most challenging crossing was in my Chevy 2500 pulling my 28' trailer with two Model Ts aboard in a 45 MPH crosswind. That was a 20 MPH drive, and scary at that. Link to post Share on other sites
SC38DLS 1,562 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Our first boat was a 25 foot Jaffco that was an older boat the insurance company would only insure it up to three miles of the Lake Michigan shore line. This was because Lake Michigan could be a lot rougher than the ocean as the waves are closer together. We sold the boat to a guy that wouldn’t believe any of it. On a group cruise of about 20 boats from Chicago to The top of the lake they hit a couple storms over the length of the cruise. As they were passing under the bridge the boat blew a plank and the boat when down in a couple minutes. No one was hurt as the two people just got on another boat. Now every time I went over that bridge I would think of that boat To me it’s the Jaffco bridge. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
3macboys 484 Posted November 12, 2020 Author Share Posted November 12, 2020 8 minutes ago, B Jake Moran said: Yep. I have a fear of driving on bridges due to the inability to swerve or exit. When I go over the Mississippi, any bridge really I grip the bejesus out of the steering wheel and prey for no cross winds. For me it's all the above and not being able to see over the crest, once I get over the top I'm usually good to go, unless of course the traffic suddenly stops...after 28 yrs of marriage my wife finally noticed that I really hate suspension bridges. A couple of years ago on a trip down through Savannah we entered the city over the Talmadge Memorial Bridge and to leave I found a ground level route - well worth the extra few miles of driving in my books. I sold it as seeing something different than what we saw driving into the city. Link to post Share on other sites
Jim Skelly 69 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 My uncle worked in Public Relations at Ford and was present for the bridge dedication. I have some document from that day which I think w as signed by some of the dignitaries there. The bridge walk is still an annual Labor Day tradition, but didn't happen this year due to the virus. The bridge opened in November 1957. Our folks drove us kids up to see it in our new '57 Bel Air hardtop. In later years, they told us that we were all too busy having fun playing on the floor of the back seat to even look at it! We were all under the age of five. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
plymouthcranbrook 876 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 (edited) I forgot to mention that we were all pulling trailers(three vehicles)one loaded with canoes. Now we can talk about Pittsburgh... Edited November 12, 2020 by plymouthcranbrook (see edit history) Link to post Share on other sites
George Cole 694 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 My first drive across it was in 1973, riding a brand new Harley Sportster. I was stationed at Kincheloe AFB in the UP, and had ordered the Harley from my previous assignment overseas, to be delivered in Cleveland. I took a bus from Sault Ste. Marie to pick it up. On return, it was nighttime when I hit the approach to the bridge at close to 10 mph over the limit, where I typically ride/drive. Those dimples on the grates dragged me all over the place. I couldn't stop swerving and it seemed to get worse as I tried to slow down. I seriously thought I wasn't going to make it to the other side. I remember it was a bright, full Moon night, and I could see the water glistening waaaay below. I never rode a bike across it again. Link to post Share on other sites
ericmac 627 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 37 minutes ago, George Cole said: My first drive across it was in 1973, riding a brand new Harley Sportster. I was stationed at Kincheloe AFB in the UP, and had ordered the Harley from my previous assignment overseas, to be delivered in Cleveland. I took a bus from Sault Ste. Marie to pick it up. On return, it was nighttime when I hit the approach to the bridge at close to 10 mph over the limit, where I typically ride/drive. Those dimples on the grates dragged me all over the place. I couldn't stop swerving and it seemed to get worse as I tried to slow down. I seriously thought I wasn't going to make it to the other side. I remember it was a bright, full Moon night, and I could see the water glistening waaaay below. I never rode a bike across it again. I lived in Sault Ste. Marie at the same time you were there. Oddly my first antique car came from a seller stationed at Kincheloe. The car was a '47 Nash 600. The Nash was the first car I drove over the Bridge. I didn't have the nerve to try the grates in it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
8E45E 1,119 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 (edited) 10 hours ago, Jim Skelly said: The bridge opened in November 1957. Our folks drove us kids up to see it in our new '57 Bel Air hardtop. My dad & mom married in November, 1957, and immediately left for their honeymoon. As per my mom, one of the highlights of their honeymoon was driving over the Mackinac Bridge on their trip. Apparently, it was only opened for traffic the morning they drove across it, even before the official public 'grand opening'. Craig Edited November 12, 2020 by 8E45E (see edit history) Link to post Share on other sites
Robert G. Smits 465 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 12 hours ago, alsancle said: A stay at the Grand Hotel has been on my list for a while. Stayed there many times. When you arrive by ferry you are met with two aromas, chocolate and horse sh-t. (No cars other than emergency vehicles) Experiencing High Tea is worth the stay. Beverages and scones on the grand porch with a Harp playing in the background. Nice to experience how the rich lived in "the day" for a kid who grew up on an Iowa farm without electricity until I was eight. 4 Link to post Share on other sites
George Cole 694 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 1 hour ago, ericmac said: I lived in Sault Ste. Marie at the same time you were there. Oddly my first antique car came from a seller stationed at Kincheloe. The car was a '47 Nash 600. The Nash was the first car I drove over the Bridge. I didn't have the nerve to try the grates in it. Interesting that your Nash would have only been 26 years old at the time...the equivalent to a 1995 car today. Would you drive across it today in a 1995 car? I guess to me it would depend on the car. Link to post Share on other sites
SC38DLS 1,562 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 14 hours ago, alsancle said: A stay at the Grand Hotel has been on my list for a while. If you go there be sure to walk down to the Mission Point hotel for a drink or dinner. The structure is beautiful with massive pine logs in the shape of a teepee and the views are amazing. dave s 1 Link to post Share on other sites
TAKerry 392 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 Would like to get there one day, but having hit ice buildup on the old Woodrow Wilson bridge (Washington DC) whilst riding a motorcycle, and sliding the rest of the way, those old grates are not high on my list of fun things to look at! Link to post Share on other sites
Roger Walling 638 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 I for one, will not purchase any parts of the bridge. I have too much money tied up in the Brooklyn bridge to invest more.🤑 2 7 Link to post Share on other sites
Locomobile 445 Posted November 12, 2020 Share Posted November 12, 2020 21 hours ago, 1937hd45 said: Great fencing material to impress "special" next door neighbors. No, that's what box springs and old bicycles are for 😁 1 2 Link to post Share on other sites
Paul Dobbin 962 Posted November 17, 2020 Share Posted November 17, 2020 Made a couple trips over it on the 2001 Glidden Tour. 2 weeks post 9/11 Coldest wetest Glidden Tour ever. Went back to closed car touring after that one. 1 Link to post Share on other sites
28 Chrysler 513 Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 I have been looking for a bridge to buy - I have burned all of mine. 2 4 Link to post Share on other sites
motoringicons 455 Posted November 20, 2020 Share Posted November 20, 2020 (edited) I remember crossing the bridge on the same 2001 Glidden in my former 1921 H.C.S. touring car. Glad I had the top down. While it was a cold tour, it certainly was a lot of fun. Great memories. Edited November 20, 2020 by motoringicons (see edit history) 2 Link to post Share on other sites
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