This post was actually written in early September shortly after we walked the bridge. Somehow I never got around to publishing it. So here's a look at a very warm day about 3 months ago.
1. The Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Bridge joins Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The bridge opened to traffic on November 1, 1957. The next year, Governor G. Mennen (Soapy) Williams and other officials walked the bridge on Labor Day, 1958. Starting in 1959, the public has been allowed to walk across the 5 mile suspension bridge. That made this year the 51st anniversary of the bridge, but the 50th annual Bridge Walk.
2. Walkers ride school buses from Mackinaw City on the south side beginning at 5:30 AM. We arrived shortly after that time and didn't have to wait in line at all.
And the buses aren't the only way to get there! We saw vans, pickups, and SUVs crammed with people.
3. We arrived on the north side around 6:10 AM. There were thousands of people waiting already. We were so far back in the crowd that we couldn't make out the words of the people on the stage - even with the huge speakers. There were beach balls flying around (I actually had one bounce off my head!), a band, and an MC. Poor D's blurry because MWH's arm was bumped.
4. By the time Governor Jennifer Grandholm arrived to start the walk at 7:00, the sun was almost ready to pop up over Lake Huron.
The Governor talked to the crowd for a minute and then she and the people who registered for the Governor's Physical Fitness Fun Run started jogging across. The rest of us had to walk.
5. According to Wikipedia, the average number of walkers each year is between 50,000 and 65,000. In 1992, when George H. W. Bush was running for re-election, Governor John Engler invited him to walk the bridge. All traffic was stopped while the President and the Governor walked. That year there were over 80,000 who walked. I remember standing in line for the buses during that time. We could see the bridge with no vehicles. The President didn't walk the entire bridge. When they were beyond the suspension he was taken off by helicopter.
6. Just before reaching the finish line, officials hand out numbered certificates. Each merchant in Mackinaw City has numbers posted in their front window. If your certificate matches the number in the window you receive a free gift or a discount in that store. My certificate number was 5309.
You can see the finish line to the left of my head and the sign for getting certificates to the right. Yes, I look tired. We were up at 3:30 to get there early enough to start with the Governor. And I'd just officially walked 5 miles PLUS the walk from the car to the bus and standing in the crowd for almost an hour before we started! I also still have that silly grin! This was a miracle walk for me. As recently as 6 months ago I thought I'd never be able to walk the bridge again. But, God!!!!! And I'm so incredibly blessed to have my Most Wonderful Husband(MWH) and such good friends to help make it a memorable day. Here we are with our certificates.
7. Every year people buy T-shirts or patches to commemorate their walk. We go for the T-shirts. There were people wearing shirts proclaiming this as their 50th walk. We saw one couple with shirts that said 'Dad's 50th Bridge Walk'. Their son's said 'Grandpa's 50th Bridge Walk'.
8. The next few items are all facts from the official web site of the Mackinac Bridge Authority. This site has great pictures, history, technical facts, and a web cam showing the bridge. I think you'll enjoy what you find there. Can you tell that I'm a little bit crazy about this bridge? I'm not really sure why, but I'm like a giddy little kid whenever I'm near it. I just can't get enough of it!
9. The cables supporting the bridge were spun, yes, spun using 42,000 miles of wire. They had a spinning device that carried the cables back and forth from one anchorage, across towers to the other anchorage 12,580 times. The diameter of each wire is 0.196 inches. In the picture below right you can see two of the wheels used for spinning the cable. These cables were then bound together with bands and then wrapped with wire. The picture below left shows the bands and the device used to wrap the cables. The final diameter of the main cables is 24.5 inches.
10. The two towers soar to 552 feet above the water. Sadly, they won't let me up there. I'd love to see the view from the top! The towers go down to 210 feet below the water. Half of that depth is thru the overburden down to solid rock. I'll skip that view, thanks.
11. There are 4,851,700 steel rivets and 1,016,600 steel bolts in the bridge.
12. The total weight of the Mackinac Bridge is 1,024,500 tons. WOW!!!
13. The best place to go for breakfast after walking the bridge is Mama Mia's Pizza in Mackinaw City. The pizza is great, but what's upstairs is the best! The Mackinac Bridge Museum is on the second floor of the restaurant. J C Stillwell owns the restaurant and museum. He is an iron worker who helped build the Mighty Mac.
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