The Festival

   
     On the west bank of the aqua blue water of the St. Clair River, just north of Detroit lies a quaint, historic little town known as Marine City. The Festival Fanatics Josh, Don and I, accompanied by Don’s daughter Taylor, made the two-hour trip from Lapeer County to attend the Marine City Music Festival which has been held there since 2009.
   The four-day event included a wide variety of musical tastes from the “premier” Jimmy Buffet tribute band Air Margaritaville that kicked things off at the Beach Party on Thursday July 14th to the sweet four-part harmonies of the Strathroy Vocal Federation and The Spirit of Detroit Barbershop Chorus  that closed the festival on Sunday. From across the ocean, the Austria student band from Central Music School, Oberwart entertained the crowd followed by The Bel Airs 50’s & 60’s Band and The Ambassadors of Swing.  Scottish and Celtic music livened up the crowd on Saturday with traditional music from the Michigan Scottish Pipes and Drums of Troy, Michigan and the Equinox Celtic Band with members from across the thumb region of Michigan.   
     Adding to the unique flavor of sounds at this year’s festival was Monsieur Guillaume and his Zydeco Hepcats performing their brand of lively music with a Louisiana Cajun flair followed by Los Bandits de Michigan from Southwest Michigan who have performed their Tex-Mex style music all over the country.
     The headliners of this year’s festival were The Howling Diablos from Detroit. With their funky rock and blues style, this rockin’ band had many festival goers on their feet dancing as the pounding amplifiers shook the hot night air. Together since the 90’s, they have toured with many recording artists and have recorded their own CDs and are well known for their local hit “Green Bottle.”         
     While the great line up of musicians was pleasing to the ear, the beautiful scenery along the river offered a pleasant distraction to the eyes. In addition to listening to the wide variety of music, festival goers could watch the nearby ferry to and from Sombra, Ontario, Canada as it loaded and off-loaded its passengers, or they could watch the wide array of pleasure craft cruising up and down on the cool, blue water. The sight of which made me wish that I was out there with that cool spray blowing in my face. Needless to say, it was hot.  The occasional soothing breeze that drifted off the water offered a much needed relief from the heat of the day however. 
     The pleasure boaters and even the breeze, it seemed, gave way when the massive hulks of the passing freighters entered into the picture. As they made their way up and down the river, the seemingly endless lengths of the ore boats and ocean going freighters passing by brought a sense of surrealism to the pleasant scenery. It was amazing to me that vessels that large could even stay afloat, let alone quietly slip through the water making their way north up the river.
     With a blast of their mighty air horns, the opposing leviathans turned the attention of this festival goer from the entertainment to the amazing spectacle of a ship as large as a skyscraper gently slicing through the water making the smaller boaters, it seemed, flee for their lives. Where were they heading? Where had they come from? What were they carrying in their cavernous cargo holds? One could only imagine. It truly was a sight to see for a land lubber like me whose only experience with water craft was on an occasional row boat or pontoon. This is the true blue water experience that can only be found from the shores of Michigan’s Lakes and seaways.

                                                                           Some History

     Historically, Marine City was one of the earliest settlements in Michigan. Once home to native tribes such as the Fox, Sauk and Kickapoo and later the Chippewa and Adawa (Ottawa) the navigable waters of the St. Clair and Belle rivers soon attracted French fur traders to the area. Eventually other Europeans would come to settle and farm the land along the river. With growth came the need for a name for the settlement and the area became known as Yankee Point. The shores known today as Marine City were once covered in old growth forest right up to the water’s edge and as a result, logging and wooden ship building soon became the main industries in the area.
     The town that sprang up has had many names in history such as Ward’s Landing, named after a ship builder named Samuel Ward who set up shop along the river. Later, after St Clair County was formed, Ward himself named the area The Village of Newport. None of these names were ever legally registered however. The town was also known for a while as Belle River.
     When the Erie Canal was opened in 1825 and connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River, Michigan soon became connected to ports in the outside world. Many of the captains and sailors who sailed the St Clair River settled in Marine City and the town continued to grow.         
     More ship builders came to the area after Ward and soon the little town was known for the building of great wooden ships. Some 250 wooden hulled ships were built in Marine City and launched in Belle River and the majority of the residents of the town were employed in the logging and ship building industries until the advent of steel hulled ships in the late 19^th century.  The city hall building designed by renowned architect Ralph Richardson was built in 1885 and the village of Marine City was incorporated in 1887, finally giving the little town an official name.

                                                                         A Sense of History

     I love going to historical places and I have long thought that I possessed a sixth sense, which enables me to place myself in the time period and to "feel" and "see" how life must have been for the people who lived there.  As I walked the streets of Marine City, it wasn’t hard for me to imagine this little port in the days of old. If I listened closely over the sound of the cars traveling up and down Water Street, I could almost hear the sound of the ship builders’ saws and hammers as they toiled in the heat building their great wooden sailing ships.
     As I sat on one of the wooden benches in Lighthouse Park with Peche Island Lighthouse keeping constant vigil in the background, I could also almost envision these great ships in full sail navigating downstream, sailors scurrying about the decks as their captain barked out orders to them. With a small smile on my face, I watched in my mind’s eye and enjoyed the cool wind blowing off the deep aqua blue water until the blast of an air horn brought me crashing back to reality. Another mighty ore ship had come into view and slowly my thoughts were returned to the festival going on down the street. Back at the beer tent, I had another beer, listened to another great song from the stage and the images of the past soon faded away, but still lingered somewhere in the deep recesses of my imagination.  
     Modern day Marine City, a landmark of the state, has evolved into a real destination place for many Michiganders looking for great places to eat such as the Riviera Restaurant, that sits at the water’s edge or The Little Bar located on Chartier Street, both providing a cutting edge menu and offering a unique dining experience.
     After the main course, one can head off down to South Water Street to a place that hearkens back to yesteryear known as the Sweet Tooth Candy Shop. This old fashioned penny candy store allows customers to travel back in time and enjoy the nostalgic candies of the past or partake of the wide variety of homemade chocolates. When you visit the Sweet Tooth make sure to save room for the hand-dipped ice cream made in Michigan.  Later, if you can still walk, you can visit the antique shops like Old Times N Such, on Broadway Street, a store filled with rare and excellent collector pieces or walk the Nautical Mile Park and view the last ship rudder built in Marine City. Later as you stroll the sidewalks of the city, you can take in the view of the revival and Victorian era architecture that Marine City is known for.             
     Marine City’s Music festival was a great event and the little town of Marine City is a great place to visit. The Blue Water Traveler and this Festival Fanatic look forward to attending next year. May the wind always be in your sails.

Tim Thornsberry

The Blue Water Traveler.com