Tips for Setting up a Fireworks Display

From safety to aesthetics, www.wikihow.com has all of the tips for having a safe and fun fireworks show for the 4th of July. Remember that in Michigan it is illegal to shoot off fireworks that explode, spin or leave the ground. If you want to see showers with a myriad of colors launching into the deep summer twilight you really should find a local town that is hosting a fireworks display. Leave the big time pyrotechnics to the experts and have a safe 4th. Here are a couple of my favorite tips at www.wikihow.com for fireworks displays -

• Never try to make you're own fireworks.
• Never leave fireworks inside you're pocket.
• Things you will need in addition to water and fireworks - a smart head

To search for a fireworks display in your neck of the woods in Michigan check out www.MichiganFireworks.com. I was really impressed with the extent of the listings they had. You can search by Date and City or you can manually view the 461 listings they currently have available. Meg Geddes is the gal behind the website and devoted a ton of time to put these excellent listings together.

Video Tour Inside of South Haven's Lighthouse

Other than one weekend out of the year during South Haven's Harborfest (which took place June 16-18) you don't get the chance to go inside the South Haven lighthouse. Well, not anymore. I am helping you out by providing a link to a short (just under 1.5 minutes long) video showing the inside of the lighthouse along with some history of the lighthouse provided by Rich Shadduck from Harborfest. My wife and I toured the lighthouse a few years ago during Harborfest. The interior was rather boring as there isn't anything in there but the stairway and the red light at the top. However, the view at the top was great! It was kind of hazy the day we were there, but you could still see quite a way in all directions.

Watch the video, courtesy of WWMT Channel 3, here.

Expect to Pay More for Gas Across Michigan This Weekend

Conflict in the Mid-East, increased demand for holiday travel, more costly summer fuel. Whatever excuse the big oil companies are using, you can expect to pay more for gas across Michigan and wherever else you might be traveling this weekend. Around southwest Michigan the prices jumped more than $.30 from $2.77 to $3.09 during the night this past Tuesday. AAA's Fuel Gauge Report is showing the average price of regular unleaded gasoline in Michigan to be running about $2.91 per gallon. That is up about $.07 from the Michigan average at the beginning of this week.

Mysterious Egg Found in U.P. Explodes in Vehicle

The truth, it is said, is stranger than fiction. This is one of those true stories. In May, Mary and Elmer Irish discovered a rather large egg in the woods. The egg weighed around 3 pounds and measured 19.5 inches on the long side by 15.5 inches around the middle. Based upon photographs and the measurements that the Irishes provided, an expert from the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History determined it to be an ostrich egg.

The mystery is if it really is an ostrich egg, how did it come to be in a remote woods in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. No one has come forward to say they are raising ostrich's in the area. Ostrich's are native to Africa. Is this merely a prank? Will this go down as one more of the legends and lore of our lovely Upper Peninsula?

Well, as Paul Harvey says, now it is time for the rest of the story. Elmer was traveling in Michigan's southern peninsula with the egg recently. On one of our hot days he had left the egg on the backseat in his truck. 95 degree temperatures plus one huge egg equals one huge mess.

The egg had exploded in Elmer's truck. When he went to hop in, he quickly hopped back out. Rotten egg had blown itself all over the truck's interior.

Note to self, when traveling with a mysterious ostrich egg in the summer do not leave it in the full sun on the back seat of your vehicle. It will explode and leave you with a rather large cleaning bill unless you don't mind the aromatic scent of rotten egg.

You can read the article here in The Mining Journal.

Touching Story of an Upper Peninsula Hermit

Susan Ager is still traveling across Michigan visiting places that folks tell her to go. Her most recent request came from Hank DeSautel who lives in Adrian. He had not seen his brother in 25 years and at age 88 can not make the trip up to Grand Marais himself. He told Susan -

"Please go to Grand Marais," the old man told me, his voice crackly on the phone, "and see if you can find my brother. He's a hermit, and he lives in the woods 9 miles outside town, in an aluminum trailer, with no electricity and no water.

Hank told her that in order to find his brother all she needed to do was "go into any tavern, and ask for Dapper Dan." Which is exactly what Susan did. She arrived at the Lake Superior Brewing Co. around midnight and asked for Dapper Dan. She doesn't receive directions to his place, just his life story as told from the good folks that reside in Grand Marais.

I will not relay the whole account here. Just go to this page of the Detroit Free Press and read about Susan's adventure. It is simply a really touching story of a guy (Dapper Dan) who retired at the age of 42 and moved to the only place he knew he could afford to retire to at such a young age - Grand Marais. Dapper Dan chose to live the simple life.

Do yourself a favor and check it out. Check Susan's blog over the weekend as she is supposed to have her account of spending a weekend at a lighthouse on the Great Lakes.

Video of J.W. Westcott Delivering Mail on Detroit River

Did you know that freighters traveling the Great Lakes receive their mail by a pail on the Detroit River? The J.W. Westcott Company has been delivering the mail by boat for over 100 years. Today, the mail is sent up the side of freighters via a five gallon bucket - affectionately known as "Mail by the Pail!" I found a nice little documentary on YouTube that gives some history of the J.W. Westcott Company as well as video of a typical mail delivery. It is pretty neat stuff and the video is right around four minutes long.

Some quick facts about the J.W. Westcott II -

• First ship issued its own zip code 48222
• Only non-military vessel to have a zip code
• High traffic days see about 60 deliveries made
• The ship and crew deliver mail 24 hours a day

While looking up information about the J.W. Westcott Company and the ship, J.W. Westcott II, I had forgotten that it had capsized and sank in October of 2001. The sinking took the lives of the ship's Captain and deckhand and the J.W. Westcott II was later salvaged and put back into service. Find the U.S. Coast Guard's report on the investigation of the sinking from the here.

You might also like to see a nice photo display of the J.W. Westcott II along with notes and some history. The photos and documentation were put together by James W. Hebert. Head on over to continuouswave.com/boats/westcott/index.html.