Washington and Lee University
One of the great summertime idylls is once again close at hand, the tradition of the luxurious Great Lakes cruise—the crème-de-la-crème of American holidays a half-century ago. With vistas of lonely lighthouses on rocky shores, lush forested islands, Victorian villages, and Niagara Falls, a Great Lakes cruise an ideal way to enjoy the pleasures of a grand voyage without having to venture far from home. On the vast waters of the Great Lakes, you’ll rediscover the New World, where Champlain and Cartier first reached the shores of these inland seas in the 17th century, and, scanning the blue horizon for land, “drank it all in.” Aboard the elegant, 100-guest, all-suite Clelia II, we’ll recall their voyages as we journey through the history of North America—all while admiring dramatic natural wonders and feats of human engineering.
We’ll begin in Toronto, enjoying magnificent views of the city’s iconic architecture as we depart. Amidst the monumental endeavor of the Welland Canal, which opened the entire Great Lakes region to intercontinental commerce, we’ll delight in the awesome spectacle of Niagara Falls. We’ll sail past the skyline of Detroit, then experience the unique traditions of the Ojibwe people, who still hold their ancestral lands of Manitoulin Island as the only First Nations tribe never to cede title to their lands.
The centerpiece of our weeklong cruise is Mackinac Island. Horse-drawn carriages will roll us through perfectly preserved 19th-century lanes toward the colonnaded porch of the Grand Hotel.We’ll witness musketfiring demonstrations at Fort Mackinac, built by the British during the American Revolution, then, as we sail away, the soaring expanse of the Mackinac Bridge. On the Keweenaw Peninsula of Lake Superior, Gitche Gumme in Longfellow’s “Song of Hiawatha,” we’ll survey the ruins of smelting works from the Great Copper Rush on a drive through bucolic towns and mossy forests before continuing to Thunder Bay, where we’ll inspect a British fort beneath the Sleeping Giant headland.
Three centuries ago, hunters and trappers discovered the wealth of the Great Lakes. For more than 150 years, miners have thrived on the iron ore found in the hills here. From 1900 to 1950, the Great Lakes were the premier vacation spot for Americans. Join us as we recall what we’d forgotten—aboard the beautiful Clelia II—all so close to home.
Download the complete itinerary and registration form (.pdf)
Ed Spencer is the Ruth Parmly Professor of Geology emeritus at Washington and Lee University. A popular study leader, Ed has led W&L Traveller programs in the Grand Canyon, Nepal, Patagonia, Norway and Sweden, Australia and New Zealand, Switzerland, the Pyrenees and W&L’s “Around the World by Private Jet.” He has conducted research in Spain, France, Greece, Scotland, as well as throughout the United States. Ed is the author of several college textbooks on geology, earth science, environmental systems, and map interpretation. His fields of specialization include mountain belts, environmental geology, and fresh water conservation. Educated at Washington and Lee, with a Ph.D. from Columbia, Ed has been honored for his superior teaching by the Virginia Department of Higher Education. He is fondly known by his students as “Dr. Rock.”
