Blue Water: A Visit to St. Clair County

On the eastern shore of Michigan lie nine quaint waterfront communities and 140 miles of coastline. Parks, boardwalks and beaches (and antique stores!) border Lake Huron and the St. Clair River. The waters in this area are cobalt and turquoise and sapphire. But would you expect any less from something called the Blue Water Area?

Due to travel plans which were altered at the eleventh hour for Memorial Weekend, we decided to resurrect our idea to tour the Thumb. Neither Mark nor I had ever visited this part of Michigan before and figured we could cover a lot of ground over the holiday weekend. St. Clair County is at the southern end of the Blue Water Area and where we began.

First stop St. Clair. What a charming little town! Palmer Park is a primo riverside public area earmarked for recreation and relaxation. The St. Clair River is one of the heaviest traveled rivers in the world, and connects the southern end of Lake Huron to the northern end of Lake St. Clair. As part of the world’s longest shipping canal—the 2,347-mile St. Lawrence Seaway—it’s not uncommon to see freighters passing up and down the river. And across the waterway? That’s Canada, eh!

A bit farther is the Blue Water Bridge. Opened in 1997, the international border crossing is a major trade and transportation link between Port Huron in the U.S. and Sarnia in Canada. Not sure if it’s an everyday occurrence or just a holiday thing, but on the day we were there it was lined with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

But my favorite part of the county, though I’m sure this comes as no surprise, is the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. The oldest in Michigan, it was built in 1829 by Lucius Lyon who became one of Michigan’s first two U.S. Senators. The light marks the entrance to the St. Clair River from Lake Huron.

The grounds are an active Coast Guard facility, but recently became part of the Port Huron Museum.

It is closed to the public, as was evidenced by the barbed wire surrounding the property. We had to walk down to the beach from Lighthouse Park in order to get a photo-worthy perspective of the building. I was so intent on finding just the right angle that I didn’t watch where I was going. I tripped over a piece of downed fence and managed to spear a toe. Ouch! Ah well … not only have I managed to tour another Michigan county, but by bleeding into Lake Huron I left a part of me there as well!