Michigan Legacy Art Park, etc.Aug 30, 2009
|
|
entrance to the art park
Hammock Coffin
Nuthouse
On the way south to Manistee, I traveled country roads and found a ritzy-looking resort with a golf course and a park with sculptures attached. The park interested me and I enjoyed walking up and down the trail in the woods to look at all the sculptures. I was glad I got the only trail map they had because that helped to interpret the artwork I found.
In the mid to late 1990s, artists and students were invited to contribute artwork that would stand outdoors and represent something that Michigan gives to the country and the world. I could tell that some worked on their own with their own funds and some were sponsored by businesses. A few displays were just arrangements of rocks, spiraling paths on the ground, and cut out crate boxes. But one was a labyrinth inside a French fort that told the tale of the beginnings of White men in Michigan up until it was well settled and had entered statehood. I found this very interesting and informative.
After taking a walk in the woods along Bear Creek (which leads to Bear Lake), I went to the Weir at the Little Manistee River. The weir (pronounced wer) here is a dam with a fenced in area alongside it to divert water and take fish. In October, they take king salmon eggs to limit upstream migration. In April, they take migrating rainbow eggs to provide steelhead throughout the state. I don't understand this last statement because I thought they were two different kinds of trout! Anyway, the public is invited to watch the action. There is at least one eagle's next near here and that family must eat well out of this river! And who knew that salmon is present around here?
Last, but not least, I drove through the historic business section of Manistee to get to the shore and the lighthouse. This is another lighthouse that was operated by a cable from land out to the lighthouse. The cable turned the light I bet. The shoreline to the north of town is pretty and I think this is one of my better pictures of it.
