Lighthouses

I recently bought a map of Lighthouses of the United States, an illustrated map and directory to all standing lighthouses in the U.S. The total number of lighthouses is approximately 688, and 31 out of 50 states has them. If you deduct the 9 in Hawaii and 13 in Alaska, the bulk of the total number is in the lower 48.

I looked through the list of states and locations and was surprised at what I found. Contrary to what I may have expected the top 5 states, in reverse order, are as follows:

#5 is Wisconsin, with 46 lighthouses

#4 is Massachusetts, with 51

#3 is Maine, with 65

#2 is New York, with 70,

And Tah dah . . .

#1 is MICHIGAN, with 114 LIGHTHOUSES!!!

I mentioned this fact to one of the volunteers here, and he said, "Oh that's right, they have the most coastline. I was thinking Wisconsin." So the Great Lakes area seems to be a good location if you want to visit lighthouses.

Also a surprise to me, were the lighthouses on inland lakes and rivers. Take Tahoe has one at Rubicon Point, and Lakes Champlain and Oneida have quite a few, as does the Hudson River. Washington has quite a few on Puget Sound, but the big surprise (to me) there is how far Puget Sound extends inland. I am embarassed to say I know very little about the geography of that state.

The very large map is also topographical, and shows all the mountain ranges throughout the U.S. as well as rivers and tributaries. The actual map on one side measures 27 x 39 plus a large border containing pictures of some of the lighthouses surrounding the map plus insets for NY Harbor, Maine, Alaska, etc.; all the lighthouse information is on the reverse. I think I paid $7.95 for it, and it has provided me with hours of pleasure. When I'm at work and no customers are in the store I sometimes look at a copy of the map there, and I have my own personal copy at home.

The Lighhouse Society of America has a passport program similar to that of the National Parks, and I bought my own passport which is stamped for Tybee Island and Cockspur Island lighthouses. I won't be driving past any on my way west, but who knows, I may try to swing by some in the lower portion of the Great Lakes on my way back to NY this year. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania together have a good number.

The predicted snow didn't reach this area although I understand kids were building snowmen in some areas of Savannah. Worse than snow is the fact that the water temp of the moat around the Fort is too low to heat in the geo-thermal heating system, so I had nothing except fireplace to stay warm today. The firewood has not been properly seasoned, so it is not burning well nor does it put out a sufficient amount of heat. I use an artificial log and top it with real wood, so there is a constant flame but not much heat unless you are standing right in front of it. There were times my fingers were numb or hurt so badly I could have cried. Two more days of this and then I have three off - my propane should last until then! I started on my second tank yesterday, but the furnace which is set at 55F, kicked on and off a lot last night.

I want to be complaining about being too hot for a change!