I Want to See the Great Lakes, She Told Me. I Was Puzzled

Oswego Lighthouse
Oswego Lighthouse

I remember in 2000 when I spent a summer living in the youth hostel on Martha’s Vineyard I met a young Brazilian woman there. “Where do you want to travel in the US?” I asked her. “The Great Lakes, I want to see those lakes,” she answered.

At the time I was a bit puzzled, that’s where you want to go in the US? I haven’t ever spent any time near a giant lake. For a few years I’ve had an invitation to visit a cabin in New York State on Lake Ontario. Today we will pack up the car with kids and grandchillin and make the five hour trek far west.

As a travel editor I’ve read and heard quite a number of stories about the great lakes. Michigan’s Upper Penisula on Lake Superior has been on my travel writing radar for a few years. Showing the lakes on the map to my grandson showed their enormous girth, nothing matches their girth, even big Lake Champlain is pitiful by comparison.

I’ve been told that this time of year is when there are salmon in the depths of the big lake, but we couldn’t set up a date that worked for my friend’s fishing connection.

But they’ve got two kayaks and a few other boats and we will paddle out and cast our lines and hope something bites.