Family Activities at the Sleeping Bear Dunes

good part of the history of our area relates, as you would expect, to the water and vessels plying it. A part of that history deals with shoals, lighthouses, storms, heroic efforts of the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Life-Saving Service and, of course, ship wrecks. A seemingly primitive but remarkably effective turn-of-the century tool used in the time of storms was the Lyle Gun which could fire a rescue line from the shore more than 400 yards to a ship in distress. A reenactment of the Lyle Gun firing is put on each day during the summer at 3:00pm at the Maritime Museum. Raggedy Ann & Andy are the shipwreck victims and the children are encouraged to participate in their rescue.

For more information, visit www.nps.gov/slbe/planyourvisit/maritimemusem.htm.