Day One
My first stop was for a double espresso at Mojo's Coffee and More in Bay Village, OH. The staff was very nice and liked my cup. It was very busy, so we didn’t talk much.
Even though I got out of the hotel on time, I was already forty-five minutes behind. I wanted to get to the Ford Factory tour on time, so I had to skip the stop at the National Museum of the Great Lakes. I arrived at the shuttle bus for the factory tour just as it was loading. The Rouge F-150 factory is a twenty-minute bus ride from the welcome center. There are six exhibits, two of which are movies that I skipped. The most fascinating exhibit is the catwalk around the final assembly line. Much to my surprise, most of the final assembly is done by human workers, not robots. The large parts, like the doors, cabs, and beds, all arrive at the workers' stations on conveyors, where they attach the various parts. The small parts are all delivered to the stations in containers by other workers. I spent about an hour watching and decided I did not want their jobs. I ate lunch in the parking lot after the tour.
Ford Factory, Dearborn, MI
I spent about twenty minutes stretching my legs at the Fort Gratiot Lighthouse. It was interesting, especially the plaque that described the "White Hurricane" that lasted four days and the 40-foot waves that nearly knocked down the lighthouse. I never found the Huron Milling Co Steam Engine but I did take a swim in Lake Huron at Judge James H. Lincoln Memorial Park in Harbor Beach, MI. I realized that I missed swimming in Lake Erie, but it was too late to turn back. Swimming in four out of five of the Great Lakes will have to do. The water was clean and not too cold. The beach was sandy, so there was no need to wear shoes in the water. The water was very shallow; even at the warning buoys, it was still only three feet deep.
Ford Factory, Dearborn, MI
Fort Gratiot Lighthouse, Port Huron, MI
9/12/2025
Westlake, OH to Midland, MI
457 Miles
View of Canada from Port Huron, MI
Ford Factory, Dearborn, MI
Beach at Port Austin, MI
I followed route M25, which is part of the Michigan Circle Tour, through Port Austin and arrived in Bay City at 6:30PM, too late for coffee. Bay City is a very cool place to visit; it has lots of old houses and many blocks of unique shops and restaurants. There was even a band playing on Center Street. OK, it was just two dudes playing guitars. I had lake fish and chips at Gatsby's Saloon. It was very good and a huge portion (six pieces of fish), all for $20.00. Afterwards I got a coffee ice cream at Shamrocks Dairy Bar. I was able to eat about half of a child’s portion.
I followed State Road 10 to Midland; it has a 70-mile-per-hour speed limit, so I drove 85 to 90 all the way. Unfortunately, my GPS and Google Maps couldn’t find the hotel. Finally, I used the Waze app on my phone to locate it from a list of hotels. I never did figure out the correct address.
Bay City, MI
