If you have been waiting for an exciting visit to Alpena, you are in the wrong place. I mean, it was entirely boring, but to be very honest, I kind of feel ripped off on this one. I guess ripped off might be too strong a word. Maybe disappointed is a better word.
As I mentioned previously, Viking includes a shore excursion at every port. Sometimes (though not often) we see one of their other shore excursions (for which they charge) that appeals to us, and we splurge on that one. Over the years of sailing with them, this has paid off. Our Nuremberg excursions, our Christmas Market river cruise a few years ago come to mind. A superb tour with a great guide.
In Alpena, we decided to take a glass-bottom boat tour to see shipwrecks all around the area. The Great Lakes are famous for shipwrecks, and we thought this would be very cool. The only problem was that it was the last day of the season for the glass-bottom boat, and you could tell the crew was rushing to get through our tour (their last before heading south for the winter) so they could go home and pack. Originally, the captain of the boat had told us we would see three shipwrecks. They mark them with buoys so boats can find them quickly. They try to hover over them, but they don’t always find them. As I said, we were supposed to see three shipwrecks. The first one was totally invisible due to murky waters. The second one, we could see the very tops of something. Not sure what part of a ship it was. Then we headed to the third one, and as we got to where it should be, they announced that someone had removed the buoy, so we would not be seeing this one. That was it. For $154. I would not usually do this, but I am going to give you all the pics I took of the “shipwrecks” just to show you what you will get if you do this excursion. Then you can save yourself a quick $154.
After our shipwreck-viewing adventure, we headed to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center, the headquarters of the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. We heard all about their work in one of the largest marine sanctuaries in the USA. They help protect nearly 100 historic shipwrecks in Lake Huron, off Michigan’s coast. Through research, education, and community involvement, they’re working to keep these underwater treasures safe for future generations. They also work to stop new invasive marine species and restore the Great Lakes' underwater habitat for native flora and fauna.
We heard about an hour-long talk by their superintendent, a man who is very passionate about his work and an excellent speaker as well. Check out their website by clicking here. They are doing some pretty impressive things up there in Alpena. One reason Viking stops in Alpena is that it partners with the Marine Sanctuary to support education and scientific research.
After the talk, we were back on the tender, headed out to Octantis. It was a fairly uneventful day, and the afternoon off gave me a chance to hit the gym, work on processing photos and do some writing. You can probably tell that from the three quick posts over the last two days. This one will make four.
So here are the photos. Only a couple of them do anything for me photographically. All the green ones are skippable after you see one tiny part of a shipwreck. To be honest, I am not sure what I expected, but certainly more than we saw. Feel free to look at all these on your phones.
Antiquities are history defaced, or some remnants of history which have casually escaped the shipwreck of time. —Francis Bacon