Where it all started

Well, I have to apologize for missing this post on Tuesday. It seems while we were out of town this past weekend (sorry, no lighthouses viewed), our cat Socks decided to attack all the wires and cables connected to the computer. She completely destoryed the cable between the computer and printer and the cable for our internet access. So please accept my apologies for the lateness of this post.

I was inspired by one of my reader's posts on their blog, about where their love of lighthouses started and decided to post a similar story on my blog.

Although I can remember visiting lighthouses in Georgia and Florida when I was a kid, I can't really say I took much interest in them at the time. Mom and Dad always vacationed in Florida and we stopped to see the lighthouse in St. Augustine (pictured left) and Jupiter Inlet on the Atlantic coast. We also stopped to see Tybee Island in Savannah because my uncle lived on Tybee Island for a while. On the Gulf side of Florida, I remember stopping near Carabelle. I believe we saw the lighthouse at Crooked River and St. George Island. (The lighthouse at St. George Island collapsed into the Gulf in October 2005.)

It wasn't until much later, when I became an adult that I first realized my love of lighthouses. I remember visiting family and friends in South Haven, MI and visiting the lighthouse there. I am not sure what sparked my interest, but from there I went to see the light in St. Joseph / Benton Harbor, MI. Later I would visit the lighthouses in Michigan City, IN. With each lighthouse, my interest grew and I began buying books about lighthouses and their locations. A few summers later, I took a trip up the west coast of Michigan and saw every lighthouse from St. Joseph / Benton Harbor, to Point Betsie. I attempted to make it as far as the Grand Traverse Light, but for some reason which I now don't remember, turned back before reaching it. Of Michigan's west coast lighthouses, the one I remember the most was Big Sable Point. I remember this lighthouse most because after parking in Ludington State Park, you have to walk 1.5 miles over a sand dune trail to see the light. It was well worth the trip, but come prepared. Walking 1.5 miles isn't that bad, until it includes walking over sand dunes.

After that, the rest is history. I have now visited Lighthouses in 18 states and 2 Canadian provinces. Some day I hope to make it out to the Pacific Coast and Hawaii, but for now, I still have a lot to see on this side of the world.

Passport to the Coast

Yesterday while purging some items in preparation for our move later this summer, (Yes, we have accumulated a lot of junk in our eight years in Morgantown and I don't intend to pay for moving it.) I "found" my lighthouse passport. It was never really lost. I knew it was with our vacation brochures from last year's trip to Hilton Head Island, SC, I just happened to come across it again and it inspired me to write this post.

The United States Lighthouse Society has a Passport book, similar to the National Parks Passport Book, but smaller. The book has four spaces per page for lighthouse visitors to get a stamp of each lighthouse they visit. When the book is filled up, it can be mailed to the United States Lighthouse Society for a special gift. At last check, the gift was a patch that said "I've Seen the Light". THe completed passport is returned to the owner with the special gift.

To get a stamp, the United States Lighthouse Society asks that visitors make a $1.00 donation to the lighthouse before the lighthouse staff will stamp the passport. This helps staff maintain the lighthouses for others to enjoy.

Although the Passport is printed by the United States Lighthouse Society, non-member lighthouses may still stamp the passport. This happened to us at the Dunkirk Lighthouse in Dunkirk, NY. At the time, Dunkirk was a member of the American Lighthouse Foundation, a competing organization. Lighthouse keeper Dick Lawson stamped our passport while explaining the chief differences between the two organizations. He indicated at the time that Dunkirk would not be renewing its membership in either organization because he personally felt the competition between the two hindered the efforts of each organization to carry out its goals.

Anyway, the passport book can be purchased as USLS member lighthouses which have a gift shop. I believe we picked ours up at the Tybee Island Light in Savannah, GA. We have had it for about 5 years and hopefully will have the book filled up soon.

Looking Back: My Most Memorable Lighthouse Experience

My most memorable lighthouse experience came over Memorial Day weekend in 2001. I was at a low point in my life because of my divorce a year and a half earlier. I was trying to sell my house and move on, but I wasn't having much luck. My stress level had gotten to the point that I told my boss to take a hike (in more unpleasant terms) and lost my job. The only thing I had going for me was the support of my best friend Lori, whom I had known since high school some 15 years earlier. I decided to spend some time with Lori and we took a little weekend trip to Lake Erie in Pennsylvania. (Lori is originally from Pittsburgh.)


While we were in Erie, Pennsylvania, we saw three lighthouses. Presque Isle was the most interesting. It sits right on the beach, in Presque Isle State Park, but it is a private residence and not open to the public. At the time of our visit, it was also overgrown and not well cared for.

While sitting on the beach, Lori closed her eyes to enjoy the warmth of the sunshine. I began reading a poem I had written for Lori to thank her for her support and the many years of her friendship. When I finished reading the poem, I asked Lori to marry me.

My proposal took her completely off-guard, mostly because of the timing. She knew I was having a difficult time financially with selling my house and putting my divorce behind me. She didn't know that I had bought the ring before things got really tough and that I just hadn't found the right time to proposal. The experience became my most memorable when she said YES!(The poem was later printed in a book of poems we gave away as our wedding favors.)

What is a lighthouse?

With today's automated navigation aids, the definition of a lighthouse has blurred a bit. GPS Point of Interest (POI) files include several "lighthouses" that are not really lighthouses, but rather automated pier lights or navigation lights. (See my post dated November 18, 2008.) Even some of the older "lighthouses" fall into this distinction. For instance, would you consider the Calumet Harbor Light in Indiana to be a lighthouse? Calumet Harbor Light Photo. Would you want to spend all day driving around trying to find this "lighthouse" only to find out it can barely be called a structure, let alone a "lighthouse"? Sure it "houses" a light, but let's really stop and think about this for a moment.

Accroding to Merriam-Webster, a "lighthouse" is defined as "a structure with a powerful light for guiding sailors."(1) What kind of definition is that? A "lighthouse" was suppose to designate an actual residence that provided a home for the lighthouse keeper. The house and light did not have to be part of the same structure, but they had to be relatively close to each other. This makes even some skeleton tower lighthouses suspect to the definition of a "lighthouse".

For me, lights like Calumet Harbor, Indiana Harbor (Photo), and Bluffington Harbor (Photo) are hard to define as lighthouses. (Sorry, Indiana - I am not picking on you. You'll always be my home, no matter where I go).

So, for my readers, what actually does consitute a "lighthouse"? In your opinion, how would you define a "lighthouse"?

Notes:
1. Merriam-Webster Dictionary. Merriam-Webster: Springfield. 1997. p.430.