Michigan Maritime Museum, Michigan, United States

5corinne O 5:00 PM Sep 5, 2022

Highly recommend sailing on the Friends Good Will Tall Ship
The museum is small but lots of info and beautiful boats. Jim who is a part of the crew on the tall ship shared his knowledge of history of the ships prior. to going aboard. We took the ride on the Friends Good Will Tall ship out into Lk Michigan, which we very much enjoyed. The crew was Awesome ! The staff dressed in period clothes which gave a glimpse into the life of a great Lakes sailor. We had the opportunity to assist the crew take down the sails. We were able to go below deck to see the bunks. I highly recommend.

4veryuniquetraveler 5:00 PM Jun 10, 2021

great day on the water
We spent nearly all day at the museum and went for rides on all four boat excursions and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. We went on a covered river launch boat ride up the river to the Kal-Haven trail covered bridge. It was very peaceful and relaxing and looked like a great trail to hike. It reminded me of the jungle cruise ride at Disney. We had an exciting ride on the coast guard motor lifeboat bouncing in the waves. It was a little bit cramped. I think it would be better if they only sold 4 tickets for that boat instead of 6. The sailboat was very interesting and exciting. It was very educational, watching them raise and lower the sails and learning the history of the ship from the costumed crew. Chauffeured cadet ride was a treat. It reminded me of something the you would see the Kennedy's riding around in back in the day. We drove through the different marina's and enjoyed reading the interesting names of all the boats. We had such an enjoyable day, I just wish all the rides could have been a little bit longer. You can just look over the boats when they are at the dock, but I highly recommend riding all of them. I would also recommend visiting at the beginning or end of the season. I can't imagine how crowded this harbor area would be in the middle of the summer, especially on weekends. There would be SO much traffic congestion, I would imagine it would be difficult to navigate the marina. The main museum was a little disappointing. I expected a little more interesting exhibits than what they had. The coast guard buildings were very interesting and contained 3 ships and exhibits about rescues. I have previously seen similar examples around the Great Lakes and New England, very educational. Also had a boat workshop and an outboard motor collection. It would be a nice touch if they could set up a small theater area in one of the buildings where you could sit down and watch the video of " The Finest Hours", since the motor lifeboat was used in it's filming.