Double Crossed (Part One)

Sometimes I have trouble understanding the words and lyrics singers are singing. For example, I always thought Gordon Lightfoot was saying ‘the big lake, they call it Shagumee.’ After listening to and singing The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald my way for about 40 years, my wife laughed and told me “The big lake is called Gitche Gumee, not Shagumee.” I was certain she was mistaken, and I think we even placed a bet on the correct lyrics. Well, it turns out she was right, but that wasn’t the only song in which I was unclear of the lyrics.
I first heard of Mackinac City, in Bob Seger’s song Roll Me Away. The song is about taking off on his motorcycle without a destination, trying to find himself. I loved the concept and thought I’d like to follow his lead and find the city of which he sang, but I wasn’t positive about what he was saying in the song. 
I found the lyrics to Roll Me Away on the inside sleeve of Seger’s album The Distance; “…12 hours out of Mackinac City, stopped in a bar to have a brew.” That’s odd. In the song, I thought he was singing Mackinaw City, but according to the written lyrics, he was saying Mackinac City. 
Since the song was about Seger riding his big two-wheeler, I wanted to ride my motorcycle to see what was there but never figured out where it was; I didn’t even know what state to look for Mackinac City, and it bothered me for years. (Keep in mind this was prior to the internet.) The Beach Boys sang about a place called Kokomo, an island which didn’t exist; Maybe Mackinac City was Bob Seger’s fictious paradise. At any rate, I gave up pursuing the town.  
Many years later, I was looking for a different route to get from Silver Bay, Minnesota, to Pennsylvania; a route that would keep me out of Chicago. No matter what path I took, there were two big puddles that had to be dealt with: Lake Superior and Lake Michigan. 
Researching my options, I found I could take Highway 2 across northern Wisconsin into the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Highway 2 eventually ran into I-75 and from there, it’s straight south to Toledo, Ohio. Although the route was longer, it would bypass Chicago, and it was well worth the extra miles. Besides, if I get caught in Chicago traffic, and I always seem to, I would save time on this alternate route. I’d never been to the UP, but had heard it is beautiful, so that was the route I would take. My only concern was how to cross the water between upper and lower Michigan. Is there a bridge or a ferry? I zoomed in on the map. 
“I see,” I said, while looking at the map. “From St. Ignace, I cross over the Mackinac Bridge, into Mackinaw City.” I stared at the map. “Wait a minute, Mackinac Bridge and Mackinaw City? Could this have something to do with the place Bob Seger mentioned in a song, some thirty-five years ago?” Old sparks rekindled into new flames, and I was excited once again about Mackinac City, albeit confused. Maybe the reason I couldn’t find this place was the spelling. Is it Mackinac, or Mackinaw? I’ll try to unpack this; it’s an international, historical mess.
The Indians thought Mackinac Island was shaped like a big turtle and first named it Michilimackinac, meaning big turtle. The French later used the island as a fur trading post and shortened the name to Mackinac Island. In the French language, the last C is silent, thus it was pronounced it Mack-in-naw. 
Later, came the British, who built a fort at what is today, Mackinaw City. But the British spelled their new fort the way it was pronounced: Mackinaw, with a W not a C. The French and Brits pronounced it the same, they just spell it differently. Anyway, during the American Revolution, the British thought Fort Mackinaw was too vulnerable to attack by the colonist, and moved the fort to Michilimackinac Island, and named it Fort Mackinac…with a C, not a W. Good Lord, this is giving me a headache. No wonder I couldn’t find the town. 
I was becoming passionate about this trip that would take me through Mackinaw City for the first time. Unfortunately, because my departure was late, I would be crossing the Mackinac Bridge after dark. So, I pulled onto the shoulder of Highway 2, along the north shore of Lake Michigan, and stopped for the night. I set my alarm to get up at the crack of dawn. I rolled down the window and fell asleep to the sounds of the waves rolling into the shore. I hoped I would catch a sunrise over the bridge, but I slept through the alarm.
The warm sun shining on my face eventually woke me. I didn’t drive long before I was awestruck by my first sight of the bridge. Amazing! I was instantly taken by her majestic stance. The bridge was tall with two massive towers. Huge cables spanned between the towers and then back to the approaches on each end, connecting them to land. I was in awe.
I paid for my toll and drove across the bridge. The approaches are paved, but when you get to the suspended part of the bridge, the center lanes have open grates. I moved to the center lane; I loved listening to the sound of my tires rolling over the steel grates. I turned around in the town and drove back north across again. After I paid my four-dollar toll, I stopped in an area with a view to admire the bridge. Finally, I paid a third toll and crossed one more time to resume my journey eastward. I was in love!
I liked Gordon Lightfoot’s song, The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. It had been nearly forty years since that boat sank deep into Lake Superior, which seemed like ancient history. But now, living by Lake Superior, I’ve met people who had relatives or friends working on the Fitz. The ships sinking took on a new perspective, far more meaningful than just a page from a history book. I wanted to learn everything I could about The Fitzgerald. Now, seeing the Mackinac Bridge for the first time, I wanted to learn everything I could about it
Construction began in May of 1954 and the Mighty Mac, or Big Mac as it is known, was open to traffic on November 1, 1957. Not only is she the longest suspension bridge in North America, it is also the longest suspension bridge in the western hemisphere. At five miles long, Mackinac Bridge is almost three times as long as the Golden Gate Bridge.
I had walked across the Golden Gate Bridge a few different times; now I wanted to walk the Mackinac Bridge. The bridge has very narrow sidewalks on each side, not suitable for foot traffic. But I soon learned that daily foot traffic (including bicycles) is not and never was allowed. But what about motorcycles? They must be allowed cycles; Bob Seger rode his motorcycle across this bridge, and now I wanted to ride mine over this beauty. In my research I learned the bridge is open one day each year to pedestrians. I immediately told Melissa, “I want to walk the Mackinac Bridge on Labor Day.”
“We can’t,” she replied. “We already have plans to go camping.” I suggested that we could change our camping destination to Mackinaw City. “There’s a lot of difference between driving an hour to Grand Marais and driving nine hours to Mackinaw City.” I wasn’t going to change her mind – at least not this year.
Over the next several years I had multiple occasions to cross Big Mac; each time increased my desire to walk that bridge. Finally, in 2023 I booked a campground and committed to the walk. Unfortunately, a family situation caused me to cancel. “I’m going next year, no matter what,” I told my wife.
In early March, I shared my plan to book a campsite in Mackinaw City and walk the bridge on Labor Day. “I’m not thrilled about the idea,” she said. “But we’ll see.” A few weeks before, I reminded my wife about the trip to Mackinaw City. “You can’t go now,” she said. “You’ll never get a motel room, or a campsite at this late date.” 
“I reserved a campsite last March,” I said. Despite my advanced planning, she was not onboard with the idea. 
“Traveling eighteen hours round trip, to walk five miles across a bridge with 35,000 strangers, doesn’t sound like fun to me,” she said. “And how are you going to get back across the bridge? They don’t offer any kind of shuttle or transportation.” I already figured that out, too. This trip was going to be a classic adventure, but I would be going alone. Well, Nova and I would go alone, we set out for Mackinaw City on Saturday afternoon….

To be continued next week; Double Crossed – The Walk.