Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: August 23, 2023
I posed at a sign demarcating the spot halfway between the equator and the north pole.
45th PARALLEL Mancelona, Michigan
AMERICA’S ONLY Y BRIDGE Zanesville, Ohio
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: August 13, 2023
We drove over this unique bridge that spans over where the Muskegon and the Licking Rivers intersect. We were driving on National Road (Route 40) and it was strange stopping at the traffic light in the middle of the bridge and seeing two roads branch off. Ripley’s Believe It or Not claims that this is the only bridge in the world that you can cross and still be on the same side of the river. Aviatrix Amelia Earhart once said that the Y bridge made Zanesville “the most recognizable city in the country”.
CONTRILL’S SIDEWALK OF SCULPTURES Zanesville, Ohio
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: August 13, 2023
An incredible collection of bronze figures adorns the sidewalks outside of artist Alan Contrill’s studio in downtown Zanesville. Everything from astronaut John Glenn, athletes, presidents, animals, and soldiers. On the funny side is the sheep wearing ice skates and the sheep with a penguin riding on its back.
OLYMPIC SIZE PIT SPITTING ARENA Glen Arbor, Michigan
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Jacque Kelly, Elizabeth Kelly, Nick Kelly, Rosie Miller
Date: August 21, 2023
At Cherry Republic is North America’s Official Pit Spitting Arena. Spitting the pits of cherries is popular in this part of the country. Official spitting rules are posted, and many are very funny. The wood posts on each side are marked every three feet to make it easy to measure your distance. I went back inside the gift store and ate two free sample chocolate covered cherries. I carried the pits outside to the arena, leaned against the rope and gave it a spit. One cherry pit went about 12 feet. Nearby was a challenging game. A nail was hammered into the wall, and you stood ten feet away and swung a metal ring attached to thin rope towards the nail trying to attach the ring to the nail. I thought this was impossible, but Nick and Jacque achieved it in a short time. I finally got it after about 50 tosses. The food here was fantastic as I had delicious chowder, fish tacos and a cherry beer.
BEE BIKE RACK Glen Arbor, Michigan
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: August 21, 2023
The town is proud of this roadside attraction – a yellow metal bee/yellow jacket that has tennis rackets as wings and doubles as a bicycle rack. Nearby were hilarious signs.
WORLD’S LARGEST CHERRY PIE PAN Traverse City, Michigan
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: August 23, 2023
Traverse City and Charlevoix competed for this honor. In 1987, Traverse City baked the largest cherry pie, an incredible 28,350 pounds, 17.5 feet across and two feet deep. A total of 35,000 pieces of pie were served. Rosie posed by this giant pie pan.
GIANT SITTING PAUL BUNYAN West Branch, Michigan
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller
Date: August 24, 2023
This 20-foot-tall Paul Bunyan statue was outside a lumberjack restaurant. I walked behind Paul and got a little frisky trying to remove his wallet.
GIANT STEEL STURGEON Indian River, Michigan
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Tracy Harpster, Mary Grace
Date: August 23, 2023
Built in 2017, this quarter inch thick steel plate fish is 32 feet long and weighs about four tons. It supports the claim that the area is the “Sturgeon Capital of Michigan”.
MICHIGAN’S SMALLEST LOCK Alanson, Michigan
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Tracy Harpster, Mary Grace
Date: August 23, 2023
With Captain Tracy piloting the boat, just past the Village of Adamson on the Crooked River we came upon Michigan/s smallest lock (which I am trying to determine if this is America’s smallest lock). It raises and lowers the water level 3 to 12 inches between the Crooked River and Crooked Lake. The lock is only 60 feet long and 17 feet wide and just 7 feet deep. Only two pontoon boats can fit in the lock at one time. I was laughing because one canoe was coming through the lock when we pulled up.
WORLDS SMALLEST OPERATING SWING BRIDGE Alanson, Michigan
Expedition Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Tracy Harpster, Mary Grace
Date: August 23, 2023
With Captain Tracy Harpster at the helm, he piloted us across Burt Lake and up the winding. Crooked River (part of the Michigan Inland Waterway). Miles upriver at the small village of Alanson, we motored under the world’s smallest operating swing bridge. On a nearby barn hung a sign, “Sound Horn to Swing Bridge”. When built in 1901, a manual key and large hand crank was used to open the bridge until the 1960’s. A hydraulic motor is now used to turn the bridge. We had a few feet to spare but taller boats or a boat with a mast would have to notify the operator to swing the bridge 90 degrees to permit the boat to pass safely. A Swing Bridge Walk is held on Labor Day and a short walk it is indeed, but the event draws a big crowd. Why? Because it is the “World’s Shortest Swing Bridge Walk”. A tiny city park with free boat parking was nearby and two restaurants were two blocks away. Tracy said there was a porta john in the park and there wasn’t. So, I had to embarrassingly water the grass. I am sure that Tracy will fabricate a tall tale about this funny incident.
A history side note: while researching old Dayton Herald files, I discovered a swing bridge was once operating in Moraine near the Dryden Road and Northlawn Avenue location. A swing bridge was used to cross the Miami & Erie Canal.
