Climb Aboard The SS Badger
Embark on a four-hour adventure aboard the last coal-fired passenger steamship in the U.S. by Elizabeth Granger
Passengers who wouldn’t be caught dead playing Bingo in their home towns rush to the lounge aboard the S.S. Badger when it’s game time. I know, because I’m one of them. For years I coveted the deck of Badger playing cards. When I did win, it was always after someone else had already chosen the cards. It was so frustrating that I whined to a couple seated at my table during a crossing last year, giving them my tale of woe. To my great surprise, the woman won the very next game. She picked the cards, and she gave them to me. The free Bingo playing, with Badger-related prizes, is a seasonal thing because 8
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the Badger’s crossing of Lake Michigan is seasonal. This year, beginning May 16. The huge car ferry sails between Ludington, Michigan, and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. It’s part of my route to northeastern Minnesota, where I grew up. It’s a four-hour cruise, covering 60 miles. The Badger’s water route is even considered to be part of U.S. 10. It eliminates driving all the way to the Mackinac Bridge and then across most of the Upper Peninsula. It also means no driving through Chicago. Ahhhhh. And it’s just plain fun. “The Badger offers a really unique experience,” says Thom Hawley, in public relations. “It’s like nothing else in the world.