Mackinac Island Shall Explain My Absence (Part II)

Yesterday kind of got away from me--A long day on the project that brought me to Columbus means I finished the project early and am looking forward to crawling into my own unmade bed a night early. Once again, I've uploaded more photos to my Flickr Photostream.

When last we left this trip I had been to Mackinac Island and was had attended fireworks at the St. Ignace Marina... it really was beautiful with the light reflecting off the water, but since I was watching the fireworks rather than the viewfinder, not many of the photos turned out well...

After a good night's sleep and a late morning, some more visiting took place and my mom and I headed "downtown" to Bently's Cafe, a St. Ignace institution that has found at least one of my relatives behind the counter and is not lacking in 50's feel. Since I needed to be in Columbus, some seven and a half hours south, well rested for Monday morning, I started my journey south...

The Mackinac Bridge is the rest of the world's gateway to the Upper Peninsula, and the Upper Peninsula's gateway to the rest of the world. The toll on opening day in 1957 was $3.25 each way... the toll today $3.50 each way. Not bad for 53 years. The remainder of the drive south looked unsurprisingly like the drive north, just without the never ending sunset.

One of my favorite -- well, I can't call it a favorite -- but one of the pieces I most connect with in the Cleveland Museum of Art's collection is John Rogers Cox's "Gray and Gold" -- the symbolism is a bit hard to pick up from the version on their website, but in this 1942 painting storm clouds linger over amber waves of grain while political campaign posters are tacked to the telephone poles at the intersection of two quiet rural roads--it seems that each time I look it at I pick up another detail.

When I have a bit more time to travel, I enjoy letting my GPS take me off-highway... a quiet two lane road with a high(ish, this is Ohio after all) speed limit through farmland is more relaxing than being stuck behind a semi for 3 hours, and the time seems to fly with the scenery, with the occasional small town thrown in for good measure and a bit of variety. Perhaps because of this, the scenery shown in Gray and Gold seems so familiar.

This trip, for reasons of expediency, I was limited to mostly major highways, but nonetheless as I drove along there were scenes that reminded me of the essence of Gray and Gold -- just without the stormy overcast:

And with that and a few more hours of driving I arrived at my hotel in Columbus with a little bit more daylight and one more picturesque sunset for this trip...

And now, of course I am home...