Jacobsville Lighthouse B&B, Michigan

Jacobsville Lighthouse, on Lake Superior on Michigan's Upper Peninsula, was opened as a B&B April of 2005 by Mike and Cheri Ditty. There are five unique guest rooms, including one with a sitting room.

The lighthouse is near the east entrance to the canal (called the Portage River) that runs through the Keweenaw Peninsula. The canal was not originally completely open, but was dredged for shipping purposes to open it up in the 1800s.

Over the years the canal was dredged and straightened to allow larger vessels to pass through, helping the area to develop as a center for the copper industry. It is still a ship canal today; ships up to 700 feet in length come through to escape gales on the lake and to deliver road salt and gravel.

Jacobsville, now a ghost town, was a quarry town in the 1800s. The establishment of the lighthouses on the Keweenaw Peninsula was due to lobbying by the copper industry. Jacbsville Lighthouse served a dual purpose, as it guided ships to the river entrance for copper and rock quarry operations. Jacobsville sandstone was re used in the construction of many structures all over the world. Most of the town is gone now, except for a few houses and an 1888 restored church and an old one-room schoolhouse.

Cheri and Mike Ditty have extensive cruising experience on Lake Superior, and they enjoy sharing stories and information about Lake Superior and its history. Their photos, taken over 25 years, are available to view and purchase.

For more information about this remote and beautiful B&B, go to the Jacobsville Lighthouse Inn website.

The 10 best lighthouses to stay in

Nice story about British lighthouses with overnight accommodations at TimesOnline.com - click here.

Stay Overnight at an Offshore Maine Lighthouse!

Goose Rocks Lighthouse, in the Fox Islands Thorofare in Maine, is the only offshore "sparkplug" type lighthouse in the U.S. that is available for overnight stays. The lighthouse is owned and managed by Beacon Preservation. Click here to learn all about this exciting opportunity, and to check availability.

I just heard from Ginger Allison, a volunteer at the Maine Lighthouse Museum who has spent a night at Goose Rocks. Here's what she wrote:


I loved my stay. It was great sitting on the catwalk sipping wine and watching wildlife and passing ships. Casey Jordan and family/friends have done an awesome job decorating. Everything is comfortable. I even slept ten hours in a warm, toasty bed. I volunteer at the Lighthouse Museum in Rockland and Casey has a wonderful display there. I make sure all the people I take around stop and check it out and also tell them what a great place it is to stay. I hope they are wonderfully successful. -- Ginger Allison

News from East Brother Light Station, San Francisco

East Brother Lighthouse in San Francisco, California, is a beautifully restored Victorian Lighthouse Bed and Breakfast Inn perched atop an island in the strait that separates San Francisco and San Pablo Bays. From the island, visitors take in the spectacular views of the San Francisco skyline, Mount Tamalpais, and the Marin coastline. The Inn began operations over 26 years ago as a means of earning money for upkeep of the restored lighthouse and facilities. Here are some items from the newsletter of the East Brother Light Station. Thanks to Jutta Stingl for passing them along!

The Race Is On

East Brother Light Station is an island of beautiful contrasts; a mysterious combination of old and new, wild and refined, secluded and friendly. One of the best ways to experience this contrast is to visit the island on a day when a race or regatta is slicing through the water.

Several local yacht clubs host events that take dozens of boats around the North Bay, occasionally coming so close to East Brother Light Station that you'd think you could hop on one for a quick loop around. These sleek ships are quite a sight as they quietly shoot past the islands with their full, multi-colored spinnakers pulling them along, or as they tack through the wind and heel over dramatically.
Tiburon Yacht Club will hold its last two Midwinter Regattas on February 13th and March 13th, which sometimes come very close to East Brother Light Station. The most spectacular race to watch from the island every year is the Great Vallejo Race from the Vallejo Yacht Club. In 2010, it will be held on May 1st and May 2nd.

To find out when other races or regattas will be nearby, check out the calendar at Latitude 38.

Landscaping Project Update

Over the past couple of months, we've been working hard to redesign the landscaping and have built raised beds with rocks and soil that our volunteers hauled to the island. In November, we finally started the fun part of our project that we've been waiting for - the planting. Under the supervision of our landscape designer Diane Bloom, we planted native, drought-tolerant plants that will get established over the rainy season and enhance the beauty of the island.

Since our funds for landscaping are limited, we'd like to express our gratitude to The Watershed Nursery, a native plant nursery in Richmond, who supported us with a generous donation of plants and great advice. Information about The Watershed Nursery is available on-line. We'd also like to thank Oaktown Nursery in Alameda for another generous donation of native plants.

Many of you saw our work in progress; now we invite you to come and visit us again to enjoy what we created as our plants mature.

If you would like to support our improvement projects, any donations are greatly appreciated. Donations to East Brother Light Station, a 501 (c) 3 non-profit corporation, are tax deductible.

Free Romance Package

To extend the festivities, we have turned Valentine's Day into Valentine's Month. Book a reservation for any day and room in February, and we will have a free Romance Package waiting in your room upon your arrival. The Romance Package includes one bottle of chilled Domaine Chandon, 2 signature glasses, and a box of Belgian chocolates (value $72.00). Offer valid with new reservations only. Please mention "Valentine's Special" at time of booking.

Offer Expires: February 28, 2010

Click here for more on the East Brother Light Station.