Oooh...I don't know...I don't have any specific lights that would really be "destination lights" for me. I do, however, have a couple offbeat ones that I've always been intrigued by. They're not the type that you'd go to just to see them, but they're ones that have inspired me from my early years of lighthousing and stood out from the pages of my books and web travels.

1) Doubling Point Range Lights, ME. I just think they're the coolest. Between the odd shape, the isolated location, and the wooded feeling, I have been intrigued by these since I first saw them in F. Ross Holland's "Great American Lighthouses."

2) Bailey's Harbor Range Lights, WI. Another one for the unique list. The unique shapes, I think, are really cool. There's other identical ranges in the area, but there's something about the Bailey's ones I really like.

3) Munising Range Lights, MI. Think I have a penchant for quirky range lights? I think it's just so cool how the rear light here is shorter, but up on the hill, tucked into the woods.

4) Crisp Point, MI. A normal light! The road out to here seems to be one of those ones that expedition-y, explorer-y geeks like me dig. I get the same feeling from the far north of Canada. I've developed this feeling towards isolated roads through the adventures of the Land Rover community, and the drive out here sounds like one of those roads that we dream of...isolated, rough, and peaceful.

5) Anything in Canada. I get the same feeling with Canadian lights, and not just one region (though it's especially strong with Atlantic Canada). Even though it's not like the country's the boondocks (okay, yeah, it kind of is once you get past the 50km zone from the US border where something like 95% of Canadians live), there's something I've gotten from the photos and trip journals I've read of the area that makes me want to go there.


I guess a lot of my choices are based on feelings that I get...not even especially from the light, but from the journey. I want to visit plain lights like Munising for the feeling that I've gotten from photos. Canadian Lights and Crisp Point for the journey - a true "Getting there is half the fun" moment. Ones like Doubling Point and Bailey's Harbor for the quirky aspect.

As I said, these aren't really "destination" lights - I wouldn't go all the way to the Great Lakes to visit those three lights, or to Maine to just visit Doubling Point Range. (Canada's a different story, I guess). They may be, and very well could be, letdowns to me. But it's something about the photos I saw of these lights that has exacted a pull on me from that very first moment.

There's other places I'd love to visit...the Pacific coast...the Deep South (though it's obviously very different from how I planned it to be post-Katrina)...of course, the UK and other European lights...good thing I'm 16 and have plenty of time to see these...

Okay. I can now officially be declared the Dork of the group (though Bob Ott already knew that).