Any of you Midwesterners ever taken the Lake Express ferry from Milwaukee to Muskegon and/or vice versa? Starting to plan for the trip and thinking of different ways to get there from the west coast...I'd appreciate any thoughts, experiences, tips, etc.

Rock, How are you getting to the Midwest. Driving from CA or Flying. There are some wonderful lighthouses around Lake Michigan that are worth seeing if you have a couple of days.

Tentative plan: Fly into Milwaukee, take Lake Express across to Muskegon, rent a car and hit a few places/lights like Saugatuck, Holland, etc., on the way to Big Mack...just wondering if anyone around here has ever taken the Lake B4...

Are you planning on driving to any Wisconsin lights too? Flying to beertown to visit someone first?

If I was starting out in Milwaukee, I would drive north thru wisconsin into Michigan's U.P. there are a whole bunch of lights going that way, going around the top of lake Michigan to Mackinaw.

If you don't have a specific reason to fly to Milwaukee, you might consider flying to Grand Rapids. It's only about an hour and half to drive back to St. Joseph and work north from there, or a half hour to go from G.R. to Holland and start from there


Just a thought

BTW, I live at the southern edge of the lake and haven't had any reason to take the ferry, It is fairly new, open about a year or two I think.

Hey Rock,
How are you stranger?

We had Gary Martin at our club meeting this past Saturday and he took the Lake Express, and liked it. I guess that's all I can say. No bad experiences, and it was fast.
You might want to check if you pay for a vehicle AND yourselves or just the vehicle. He said it might be cheaper to be a passenger and then rent a car once you're over there. Which looks like that's what you will be doing! :rolleyes:

I'm sure you went to their website to get all the particulars?

Pam
Secretary Wisconsin Lighthouse District Club

Pam, sweetheart, thank you very much for your input...planning on jetting into MKE and then watching a Brewers game, staying the night, then taking the boat over to Muskegon to get a car...hope to see you in Michigan!

PS: Why are our avatars so blurry?!

Rock, avatars for some of us are blurry 'cuz John increased the size allowance to 75x75 pixels. So if you want to "unblur" your avatar you have to change the photo size.

Mombo,

So how do we change it? All avatars indicate that they are 75x75 pixels. Even those that are "blurry".

bobo

Rock, you can also take the Badger with the Ludington-Manitowoc Car Ferry for a more "nostalgic" trip across Lake Michigan. My in-laws and brother-in-law have both taken the LE and said they didn't care for it as much as the Badger. Sure, it's faster (2 hours versus 4), but you can only walk around on the back of the Lake Express. It's a catamaran ferry, versus the Badger is an actual restored 1950s coal-fired ship that you can walk everywhere on. Here are the websites to both:

Lake Express

Lake Michigan Car Ferry - USS Badger

Jen,

I gotta agree with your in-laws. The Badger is much more pleasurable and meaningful.

bobo

Thank you for your input, Jen.

Well I guess those original avatars got blurred when they were enlarged. So to have an unblurred one you'd have to create your own at 75 x 75, Bobo. (Not that an avatar will help you cross Lake Michigan, blurry or not. )

The Badger is the ONLY choice!!! It's history and the access to the areas of the ship are wonderful. There's food everywhere, now beat that!!! If I remember right I think it is the last operational passenger steamship on the Great Lakes and possibly the entire country. There's also a BAR!!! And BIG, they loaded I don't know how many semi's and tour buses on our trip and I think there was even a Volkswagon on there somewhere! Did I mention FOOD!! Only thing I didn't like, there was no blue moon ice cream, right John!!!