Tales from the Book Tour: 4 Events in 4 Days!

I traveled Michigan's midsection this week touring with my book. It's always fun to meet people who care about our Great Lakes!  I had events in Glen Arbor, Alpena, Big Rapids and East Tawas.

Alpena Public Library

I also had time to poke around the old Rockport Mine for fossils.

Rockhounding at Rockport Mine

Pier at Rockport Mine

I spoke to the Rock, Gem and Mineral Club in Big Rapids. They meet at Ferris State University.

Science building at Ferris State

Petoskey stone (in the rough)

Boots, Books, and ROCKS 

Lecture venue in East Tawas (sponsored by the Friends of the Library in East Tawas)

Thanks to everyone who came out to hear me read or give a talk about our Great Lakes!

Rockport Quarry

I have always been a bit of a rock hound, so when I read about an abandoned quarry (now a state park) on my route, I planned to check it out.




The Rockport Quarry is located NE of Alpena along the Lake Huron shoreline.




On the way there, I came across nice specimens of fossilized coral.




This large pile of rocks are the tailings from the quarry operation. Note the people in the shot to grasp the scale.




The next photo is of the actual quarry. It's difficult to capture how large an operation this was. This quarry is over 300 acres and was the site where limestone was extracted for the supporting structures of the Mackinac Bridge!




I wish I had more time to poke around. Since I am backpacking, the only thing I took from the site were photos.








This baby groundhog (final photo) was more curious than frightened, so I chatted with him for a bit.

Learn more about this park HERE

Location:NE of Alpena, MI