• No, I can't see the other side
• There are waves
• Yes, you can surf on them
• - But really only in Winter, when the northern winds make them really big
• - A full-body wet suit and balls of solid brass are required.
• You can drink the water, but I wouldn't recommend it around cities like Milwaukee and Chicago
• - Most coastal towns and cities take their water from the lake
• - However, the Great Lakes Basin is a protected resource, so people outside of it have to stick to wells.
• Shipping can be dangerous for many reasons:
• - Think of them like a fresh-water sea. They're quite large and, as mentioned before, there ARE waves
• - No salt in the water = less buoyancy
• The lakes significantly affect the weather of the surrounding area.
• - Think of them like thermal batteries, the water is slow to change temperature, so the water is warm (relatively speaking) in early winter and cold in early spring.
• - This causes storms to break up or form, temperatures to vary wildly and snow to dump like all hell.

Blah blah blah. Add your own if you can think of anything.
 

---

Posted by foundling (Member # 6348) on :
 
There are water monsters living in their depths. We used to call them sea monsters, till someone pointed out how inappropriate that title was. Regardless, there are indeed monsters in the Great Lakes.
 

---

Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
 
Thanks, Primal.


There's also a water monster living in Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. It's called the Ogopogo.

Loch Ness does not have the market cornered.
 

---

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
Depends on which Lake you live on Primal

My closest is Lake St. Clair, and my closest Great Lake is Huron I guess. But I spend most of my summers on Lake Michigan, where you can barely body surf without a good storm.

So I never get much of the fun lake effect snow unless the storm blows in from a noreaster and passes over Ontario or Erie.

Most of my friends are in school on the other side of the state, the fun side But I'm stuck in plain old boring Detroit, where we only get a foot of snow at a time. Ho-Hum.
 

---

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 
One of 'em never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy.
 

---

Posted by Tarrsk (Member # 332) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by foundling:
There are water monsters living in their depths. We used to call them sea monsters, till someone pointed out how inappropriate that title was. Regardless, there are indeed monsters in the Great Lakes.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by Noemon:
One of 'em never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy.

---

Now I'm going to have that song in my head. Darn it!
 

---

Posted by Dan_raven (Member # 3383) on :
 
How do you do it?

"Living on a Great Lake"

I tried living on a lake once.

It was awfully wet.

So I moved to the shore.

My Computer doesn't float.
 

---

Posted by stihl1 (Member # 1562) on :
 
You get lots of snow when the cold winds blow off the lakes.
 

---

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
One of the fun things about global warming is that we get a hell of a lot MORE snow when it's warmer out. But not too warm.

Warmer than average winters mean less of the lakes freeze over, which means more surface area to contribute moisture to the air, and more snow when it falls over land. If it's too warm, it's just cold rain, but a few degrees means tons more snow.
 

---

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
It was Lake Superior....the water is so cold that bodies don't float. So she keep what she takes.


Modern Freighters have sunk in storms on the Great Lakes....not just wooden ones in the 1800's.


I lived in MI for 13 years, and my family still has a house on a smaller inland lake near Traverse City.


You DON'T waterskii on the Great Lakes, for the most part. The waves are too big, and there is a lot of storm activity. Also, in MI there are so many inland lakes that are better suited for it that it is silly to even try....unless you have a nice bay or inlet.


You can smell the fresh water long before you see it, particularly if you haven't been back in MI for a few years.


To me it will always smell like home. It is hard to explain, and it isn't something you notice until you leave and come back.
 

---

Posted by Lisa (Member # 8384) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Noemon:
One of 'em never gives up her dead when the skies of November turn gloomy.

---

Or so it's said.
 

---

Posted by Kwea (Member # 2199) on :
 
No, it is true. Even if Gordon Lightfoot sang about it.
 

---

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kwea:
It was Lake Superior

---

Or as the Indians called it, maize.
 

---

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
The Graveyard of the Great Lakes has more souls taken by nature alone per square mile (I'd make a fair wager), than any other waterway on the planet.

Modern ships suffer almost as much as the old wooden ships of my ancestors. Don't have to look any further than the Edmund Fitzgerald for that. The Soo Locks are the busiest lock system in the world, and I think, the Great Lakes are the busiest waterways in the world too (considering their size, location and such, that's not a surprise).

They are incredibly dangerous, especially in winter. And I remember a conversation I had with Tatiana about how she could never swim in Lake Michigan, it's too cold (even in the summer!). Personally I love Lake Michigan, and can't imagine anything comparing with the beautiful beaches and clear fresh water.

My brother's girlfriend has two houses in Munesing (spelling is off, but her grandfather apparently built half the town), including a fantastic lake house on Superior. They also have a ski lodge on Crystal Mountain and a house where they live in Ludington. I go to Silver Lake to go camping every year, which is just off Lake Michigan.

I know I might have to move away from Michigan for awhile when I get out of school, but being surrounded by these lakes is in my blood (well, a little more than the average person's 80% water content in their bodies ) But I LOVE these lakes. Michiganders are marine mammals through and through Home for me will always be by a lake.

Edited for stupidity.
 

---

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Lyrhawn:


Modern ships suffer almost as much as the old wooden ships of my ancestors. Don't have to look any further than the F. Scott Fitzgerald for that.

---

quote:

---

To me it will always smell like home. It is hard to explain, and it isn't something you notice until you leave and come back.

---

Exactly how I feel about L.A.
 

---

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
Same here.
 

---

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
 
New Jersey has it's own special smell, too, you know.
 

---

Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
 
Yes, but I've mostly managed to erase that from my memory.
 

---

Posted by ketchupqueen (Member # 6877) on :
 
They misspelled "garbage" in the state nickname.
 

---

Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
 
Oh! You mock! You jest! That's all right. New Jerseyans quickly develop a thick skin. Some say that this is a mutation caused by the huge number of Superfund sites in the state, though.
 

---

Posted by GaalDornick (Member # 8880) on :
 
"I know, you;lkl think i"m doujmcb for driknking, but booze feels so good, you have no idea"

I could be wrong, but I think only one ' is necessary in between the "i" and the "m" in "I'm". I think you may have made a typo there.
 

---

Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
 
I"ve got a lifetime of work ahead of me.
 

---

Posted by Jon Boy (Member # 4284) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Noemon:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kwea:
It was Lake Superior

---

Or as the Indians called it, maize.

---

quote:

---

Originally posted by GaalDornick:
"I know, you;lkl think i"m doujmcb for driknking, but booze feels so good, you have no idea"

I could be wrong, but I think only one ' is necessary in between the "i" and the "m" in "I'm". I think you may have made a typo there.

---

 

---

Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
 

quote:

---

Originally posted by Jon Boy:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Noemon:

quote:

---

Originally posted by Kwea:
It was Lake Superior

---

Or as the Indians called it, maize.

---

*snort*
That was far funnier than it had any right to be.

---

I was hoping that that appealed to someone besides me.
 

---

Posted by Homestarrunner (Member # 5090) on :
 
*Raises hand*

I grew up in Duluth, MN, and feel at least a small bit of ownership of Lake Superior.

I've been swimming in it in early summer when there's still ice chunks floating around.

I've watched the icebreaker tugs clear the way for thousand-footers into the harbor.

It's a cold, wonderful lake.
 

---

Posted by Primal Curve (Member # 3587) on :
 
I'd definitely give Superior the award for most appealing large-sized lake in its class.
 

---

Posted by Lyrhawn (Member # 7039) on :
 
I vote for Michigan.
 

---

Posted by Astaril (Member # 7440) on :
 
Noemon, that made me smile! Another thing about the Lakes is how they go from calm to a hundred knots so fast they seem enchanted.

Also, you're all neglecting the beauty of Georgian Bay on Lake Huron! That's my home. I love it, although my town is about half an hour from the actual water, which is too bad. In the winters, though, we have snow from about October until April. (Usually by January there's about 4 or 5 feet of it on the lawns and such, which stays for a few months, before it starts to melt in April.) In the summers, it is the perfect temperature - about 80F on hot days, and probably 75ish otherwise. It's perfect. And the air is so fresh! We're so far from the cities.

Aw, I'm all nostalgic now.
 

---