November 20, 2012

Mariners' Memorial Light

location-River Rouge, MI
built-2003
active beacon-yes
stamp-no
players-Jen, Lincoln, Spencer, Jackson and Grandpa


Our 2011 lighthouse season got off to an early start.  It turns out that we didn't have to wait until spring to start our explorations this year, we had a 54 degree day in February.  It worked out perfectly, because two days later we got hammered with another snow storm and had two snow days at school.  
We visited our first lighthouse on the east side of the state.  Since it's winter we wanted to pick one that is not tourable in the summer and we wanted something else fun to do nearby.  We picked Mariners' Memorial Light in River Rouge.  It was built in 2003 and is the newest lighthouse in Michigan.  It's located in a very industrial part of the city inside Belanger Park.  The park itself is very nice and very clean.  It has a great playground, although we didn't get to play in it today. Even though it was warm out, it was really windy and pure mud.  It was still great to be able to get outside with the kids and not have to deal with snow pants.



checking out the Ambassador Bridge
watching to Coast Guard boat go by







mommy and  boys
all the boys


checking out the train driving by next door

we ended with an innocent swing ride
that turned into a teary wipe out
On the way to the next part of our adventure we passed the apartment building Grandpa lived in when he first moved to Michigan in 1970.



The next part of our adventure brought us about 20 minutes away from the lighthouse to the Detroit Children's Museum.  It was recently reopened and remodeled.  It has some really cool displays and the kids loved it.  We picked a great day to go.  I think most kids were in school, so it was not crowded at all.







Children's Museum I am at



















ROARRRRRRRRRRRR

Wright Brothers airplane
proud to be an American!



















the doctor is in



amazed at the planetarium





















why don't they ever do this at hom
car ride home at 1:30














When we got back to Manya & Grandpa's house, Manya already left for work.  But, her homemade macaroni and cheese and homemade brownies were hot and ready.  Ummmmm.















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