"Mighty Mac" Departure

The "Mighty Mac" is, of course, the Mackinac Bridge, which connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. It's a fantastic structure - last year, we were able to go on a "Tower Tower"!

All the ferry lines offer a more accessible option, ferry departures to Mackinac Island that include a brief detour under the bridge. We inadvertently  were on one of these "departures" recently - enjoy the trip!

And heading for home!

Taking to the Waters: Male Bathing Costume Construction Details

If you ask most reenactors what men wore to swim in during the mid-19th century, you would probably be told "nothing - men always swam in the nude."

Well, I'm sure there certainly were times when men swam in their skin, but a bit of research tells us that it was definitely not a case of "always". 

This scene, "The Bathe at Newport", by Winslow Homer circa 1858, shows a good reason why - in America, bathing was not gender segregated, as on the continent - and while the Victorians were not the prudes they are ever so frequently portrayed as, group nude bathing was definitely not a socially acceptable activity! 

Clues to what men actually did wear, are tantalizingly few. I choose to use this example in the collection of the McCord Museum as my inspiration. The original is wool, trimmed with braid.

The museum's description notes that men's swimming suits of the period were closely styled on underwear - and that's exactly what I used for the basic shapes when creating my custom pattern.

 

 

I took the pattern pieces for men's drawers and a square shirt and combined them into one piece. 



 

 

My initial "muslin" (actually an old flannel sheet) was a bit short in the torso, so I added an additional 3" - thus, the piecing you can see on the muslin.

 

When I first asked Robin if he would be willing to wear a period bathing costume, he readily agreed: if it was ORANGE, so if he ended up floundering in the waves, we could find him. As fate would have it, on our first attempt to find appropriate fabric, what did we find but bright orange wool! However, it was blanket weight and would have had him floundering in the waves for sure, so we settled on this color scheme instead

 



 

And behold, my version of an 1860's male bathing costume, which has come to be nicknamed the "Civil War Onsie"! It was never my intention to 100% replicate the McCord Museum piece, but to use it as reference. The basic shape is very close, but I used bands of red wool as my trimming and the mother of pearl buttons were great accents.

 

 

As the "test driver" so to speak, Robin reports that it is both functional and comfortable.

 



Taking to the Waters: We Did It!!!

Well, our "Baseball & Bathing" weekend is over, just a fond memory now!

We started by gathering to watch a period baseball tournament, sponsored by Grand Hotel and enjoyed a fabulous picnic.

It's a great time for a period picnic, with so many fresh items available and appropriate. We had many great interactions with the modern spectators, who were quite intrigued by both our outfits and our lunch!

We strolled about town and then it was time for a bit of rest before our bathing excursion. It's about a two mile hike down to British Landing, and yes, we received more than a few stares as we made our way down to the water.

Here we are, in all our bathing glory (plus a couple non-bathers).

There had been a couple storms in the preceding week, which had unfortunately brought cold water to the surface - but it really wasn't too bad - or maybe we just became numb!

It was amazing how well all our ensembles came together - not that we don't all plan on a few "tweaks" now that they've actually been put to use.

Four of us submerged up to our shoulders, one decided the Lake Huron was just too cold and stayed on the shore

I suspect this may become an annual event for us - we had such a good time and hope we can convince a few more friends to join us in the future.

Our evening ended with a gorgeous sunset and another two mile hike, uphill this time, in our wet wool which was really not as unpleasant as it sounds.

I plan to post in depth details regarding the two bathing costumes I created - one male, one female, so more to come soon.

Tower Adventure

Yes, really!!!

We won a trip to the top of the Mackinac Bridge, a once in a lifetime opportunity.

After signing  a waiver form and donning some oh-so-stylish Bridge Authority vests, our guide drove us to the south tower and opened the hatchway:

We then entered a very small elevator, maybe 2' x 3', which took us most of the way up the tower:

After that, we had to climb through a series of tiny hatchways and ladders, approximately 40' total:

And when we popped our heads through the final hatch, this was the view looking south, 552 feet above the water:

Looking north:

Looking towards home, Mackinac Island:

The cables are amazing:

One of the giant beacons on the top of the towers:

The towers don't allow a panoramic view to the east or the west:

Then it was time to climb down again, here's a shot of the entry hatchway:

If you look closely, you'll see the note, "This way out" penciled above this hatchway - it's a bit of a maze inside the towers and it all looks alike, it would be really east to get all turned around!

Every Labor Day, thousand of people walk across the bridge - the only day that's allowed, but only a handful of people are ever able to ascend one of the towers. I've been in a boat under the bridge and drove over the bridge dozens of times, but I never thought I'd be at the top of the bridge - it was a true adventure!

A Winter Ferry Ride

Arnold Transit started running ferries on February 28th this year, the earliest start since we've been living on Mackinac!

There's still some ice out there, as you can see - the scraping of the ice on the steel hull of the boat makes for some interesting sounds.

Most of the ice is thin as paper, just a skim on the water. It makes some really interesting patterns as it breaks and moves in the wake of the ferry.

That thin layer of ice acted somewhat like a mirror, catching the reflections of the Grand and the cottages on the West Bluff.

We obviously had some snow while we were away.

Coming around the break wall:

And approaching the harbor:

Coming into the dock:

There's our bikes, looks like we'll be walking home!

But that's okay, it's such a gorgeous day here on Mackinac.