Cannery Boat Museum

Situated on the water’s edge in Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, as a part of Glen Haven Historic Village, this cherry-red building emblazoned with white letters was once the Glen Haven Canning Co. Instead of packing stone fruit, it is now home to a boat museum. Inside are various vessels that tell the story of boating in Lake Michigan’s Manitou passage and surrounds, including an Anishinaabe dugout canoe that was found submerged in nearby Platte Lake, a green and black utility boat that was used between the 1920s and 1960s to transport crews and supplies to lighthouses throughout the region, and a 36-foot self-bailing and self-righting Coast Guard lifeboat that was used for foul weather rescue in deep waters. 

“My friend Jim worked on … rescue boats,” a museum volunteer says to visitors when showing them this mid-mid vessel. “He told me it took forever to go out on a run and that the helicopter really changed that.” Stay on dry land and search instead for the fresnel lens that came from the light station on nearby North Manitou Island or the ice harvesting tools that were used to keep fish fresh before the era of refrigeration. Don’t forget to take that photo before you go—the red building, blue waters, and yellow dune grass are a primary color lover’s paradise.