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Lago Huron Mille Miglia Lake Huron Thousand Mile Tour July 29-31, 2007 |
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Trip Highlights |
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TRIP HIGHLIGHTS
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Welcome to your first event of the 2007 AROC convention. Our Alfas were designed to be driven hard ― assembled by people that always focused on building competitive cars. Our Lago Huron Mille Miglia (Lake Huron Thousand Mile Tour) was conceived to provide just such an opportunity but on public roads while observing the posted speed limits. We’ll be competing ― sort of anyway, because maximum fun will be our reward ― for reliability, good humor, good road manners, and safety. Only the last day will be long although still scenic and close to Lago Huron. We can’t offer the Alps, but you’ll see more varied geography than any ordinary visitors to the middle of this continent. Our route circumnavigates most of Lake Huron and half is in Canada. It is mostly on fine two-lane roads not traveled by many trucks ― although an RV might occasionally block someone’s view ahead. The only suburbs you’ll see will be at the start and finish and at our second border crossing. You’ll see lots of water, an edge of the Michigan Basin ― the Niagara Escarpment with the Canadian Shield, and cross the largest fresh water island in the world using a shortcut. You’ll drive your Alfa on board two ferries. The first will be small and the second big enough to serve lunch and a good hour on deck, probably in the sun. You’ll also cross water on three bridges. The first bridge is a center pivot style at Little Current, the second an arched truss style over the Soo Locks, and the third ― the world’s third longest suspension bridge which has been connecting Michigan's two peninsulas ― separated by four miles ― since the first Giuliettas arrived on our shores. |
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Participation in the Lago Huron Mille Miglia (LHMM) requires that you complete all six steps as soon as possible since space is limited. Blocks of 30 rooms are being held for us until May 1st in both Tobermory (among three motels) and Thessalon (single motel on the beach). It is equally vital you make your priority reservation for your Alfa, driver and passenger(s) with the ferry company ASAP since this will be peak tourist season. |
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The generously estimated Alfa motoring times indicated below are educated guesses which attempt to account for traffic, delays, detours, and pit stops. Our route is selected to maximize our enjoyment of the journey and our Alfas. Our destinations are accomplishments and treats, so early arrival will be a bonus. We’ll be traveling, eating, sleeping, and recreating for approximately 50 hours. Your Alfa will love these thousand miles and about twenty hours of driving and you’ll love your Alfa for the memories. |
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Saturday, July 28. You will arrive at our AROC convention hotel (Detroit Marriott Pontiac at Centerpoint). They know that there will be Lake Tour participants who will want to make reservations here for Saturday night and then check some of their luggage the next morning if they don’t want to take everything to Canada and back. On Saturday you can prepare your Alfa and get to bed early since we will be departing early the next morning.
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Sunday, July 29. On Sunday morning, you will pack your Alfa, eat a good breakfast, and check out in time for a 7:30 a.m. departure. Lunch will be in Bayfield, Ontario ― approximately 130 miles (four hours) and one ferry ride and border crossing away. We’ll divide into squadrons of six or so Alfas and depart at five-minute staggered intervals so as to avoid the anxieties and stresses of a traveling circus trying to get through traffic lights, bunching up at the ferry, and overwhelming gas pumps and restrooms. Its about 43 miles to the border and the Blue Water Ferry dock at Marine City. >> Details on the Sombra Ferry at www.bluewaterferry.com |
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Blue Water Ferry From Marine City (Michigan) Across St. Clair River to Sombra (Ontario) |
After crossing the St. Clair River on the Blue Water Ferry to Sombra, we will gather at a park with restrooms on the Canadian side of the St. Clair River. At this point we can reconsider the makeup of Alfa squadrons to better accommodate the driving styles and preferences of the LHMM participants. Our goal for lunch will be Bayfield ― a quaint and artsy tourist destination with multiple lunch options so as not to overwhelm one establishment and delay our progress purely due to the size of our group. Bayfield is approximately halfway between Pontiac and Tobermory. >> Details on Bayfield at www.villageofbayfield.com |
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Tobermory is about 135 pleasant miles due north of Bayfield. You’ll look out over Lago Huron many times on your left ― with large farms left and right ― and pass through several comfortable and unpretentious small towns with very few fast food franchises. About an hour before Tobermory we’ll head inland to drive up the spine of the Bruce Peninsula. >> Details on the Bruce Peninsula at www.brucepeninsula.org This terrain is nearly impossible to farm because its so rocky and boggy. Grazing horses and cattle and split-rail fences dominate the landscape. It gets a little hilly here and you’ll see a beautiful bay at Wiarton, the last good place for gas etc. before Tobermory. We will have three choices for lodging in Tobermory. It’ll be most efficient to make several group reservations for dinner some time in June (to be posted on this web page). After dinner we’ll be able to mix it up walking around Tobermory and plan our early morning activities ― breakfast, shopping, hiking, Alfa tinkering, etc. At the Chart Shop on the other side of Little Tub Harbor (an easy walk) you can purchase souvenir articles of clothing, embroidered with your choice of about forty designs. Tobermory is in a time warp. It’ll make your Alfa feel young again, hopefully you too. >> Details on Tobermory at www.tobermory.org
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Cove Island Lighthouse Photo by Russ Heinl
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Monday, July 30. This is our easiest day and one which might stir some of the earliest memories your Alfa has. At 10:50 a.m., all Alfas have to be lined up to drive on board the MS Chi-Cheemaun. At 11:20 a.m. we’ll cast off and “steam” for Manitoulin Island. You can check out the cafeteria where lunch is available and scout the deck, for and aft. We can claim some deck chairs and bench space for the group and then take turns going to the cafeteria for lunch. We’ll be sailing for almost two hours, motivated by 8,000 shp! Manitoulin Island is terraced by nearly horizontal layers of limestone and laced by lakes and bays. We’ll be crossing the eastern end and we have only 160 miles ahead of us once we depart the MS Chi-Cheemaun. At a rest stop with a trading post we’ll disengage ourselves with the traffic from the ferry, regroup into squadrons of about six Alfas, and stagger our departures just a little to ease our tour through the next towns. From this rest stop you’ll see a great vista of smaller islands to the north and east and the Canadian shield beyond. As soon as we cross the pivot bridge at Little Current we’ll be in hard rock country and by tea time we should be in Thessalon and on the beach. Andrew Weigel, proprietor of the Carolyn Beach Motor Inn is expecting us. >> Details on Manitoulin Island at www.manitoulin-island.com >> Details on Little Current at www.continuouswave.com/north-channel/ |
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Surfing on the
Rough Water on the
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Tuesday, July 31. Today we’ll need an early start as we have about 420 miles and more than nine hours of driving ahead of us. We’ll stagger our departure just a little and plan on regrouping at the Soo Locks on the U.S. side in about 55 miles (two hours). The locks are plainly visible from the bridge to your left. At this border crossing, you should have more than one piece of I.D. ― like either a birth certificate or a voter’s registration card in addition to your driver’s license. You don’t need a passport to drive into the U.S. until next year but if you have one it may speed up your entry into the U.S. At this point, we’ll plot our route to Mackinaw City on the northern tip of Michigan’s lower peninsula. Its about 60 miles (60 minute) via I-75 or 70 miles (80 minutes) via Cedarville along the lakeshore to the Mackinaw Bridge on secondary roads. In Mackinaw City we’ll look for carry-out lunches and meet at Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse just east of the bridge. >> Details on Sault Ste. Marie at www.saultstemarie.com >> Details on the Mackinac Bridge at www.mackinacbridge.org >> Details on Mackinaw City at www.mackinawcity.com >> Details on Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse Park at www.mackinacparks.com >> Details on the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse at www.lighthouse.boatnerd.com From here it is 265 miles (four hours) to Pontiac via the boring I-75. Alternatively, we could drive 320 miles (six hours) via US-23 and the shores of Lago Huron to Bay City and hop onto I-75 for the last 90 mile to Pontiac. On this route we do have the option of stopping for a quick swim, etc. We can make our decision at lunch based on the weather and our enjoyment of the tour so far ― an expeditious run down the expressway to Pontiac for dinner at our hotel the night before the first day ― or a tour with options along Lago Huron including a last dinner on the road yet arriving at our hotel before sundown. Since it is early in February, we don't need to make this choice until the last day of July. Originally this tour included a third night on the beach which prevented AROC board members from participating in the LHMM (the board meeting is on Wednesday morning). Some of you could still consider this option if you do not want to arrive at the convention hotel until Wednesday. >> Additional details on Michigan tourism at www.michigan.org/travel/ |
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ATTENDEES |
In advance of our tour, I will provide route maps and additional details. You may want to view our route using Google maps ― toggling to satellite images from the map and viewing the images for places along the way. Zooming in on Sault Ste. Marie, the I-75 bridge from Canada, and the Soo Locks is entertaining. In the interim, please feel free to contact me with your questions. I can be reached via: >> E-mail at pleitner@enjoyclassiccars.com >> Phone at (734) 662-3487 Visit this page over the coming months as additional information is added. I will also be posting a list of registered LHMM participants and contact information so that you can begin networking in preparation for the tour. Peter Pleitner LHMM Tour Leader
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