(906) 632-3658
Corner of Johnston & Water, Sault Ste. Marie, MI 49783
www.thevalleycamp.com
If you’ve always wanted to go aboard a Great Lakes freighter, check out the S.S. Valley Camp. It’s a five-hundred-foot freighter that sailed the Great Lakes for over fifty years. Now it’s a floating maritime museum, and it’s an outstanding experience. Up on deck you really get a feel for what it must be like to spend time on one of these great ships. Every detail of the ship has been left exactly as it was when it was retired.
Below deck is a completely different story. The entire cargo bay of the ship has been turned into a fascinating maritime museum with some very cool exhibits. The most notable thing on display is one of the actual lifeboats from the ill-fated Edmund Fitzgerald. All hands were lost when a huge storm took it to the bottom of Lake Superior in 1975. Standing next to this life boat really gives you reason to pause. It’s tough to put into words.