Diary of a Wedding Guest: Part 14 - The $4 Non-Existent View: The GPS Strikes Again

After leaving the the reception, Lori and decided to check out a couple of lighthouses on the Detroit River. We thought it would be nice to see one lit up at night because we usually don't get to witness lighthouses at nightime. So, we pulled out our "trusty" Garmin and using the lighthouse Point of Interest (POI) file I had downloaded last fall, we set out for the Grosse Ile lighthouse. The directions were perfect. They took us through Detroit to an island in the Detroit River. Island visitors had to pay a $2.00 toll to cross a small drawbridge. Once across the bridge, the Garmin directed us to Lighthouse Lane. Unfortunately, as our luck would have it, Lighthouse lane is not a street. It is a private driveway! Yes, the GPS strikes again! The lighthouse sits in someone's yard and is not accessible to the public but once a year. Since it was dark, Lori and did not feel it was appropriate to ask permission to see the lighthouse. The lighthouse sits in a very well-to-do neighborhood and we didn't want anyone to think we were trying to rob them. After driving around the island trying to find even a miniscule view of the lighthouse, we drove back across the drawbridge and paid another $2.00 toll, making the our lighthouse site seeing a $4.00 non-existent view. Considering the island is completely residential with no grocery store, doctor, gas station, etc., it costs residents $1,500 a year in tolls just to live on the island. That's assuming that residents leave the island once a day and everyday each year.

In all fairness to the Garmin, the problem isn't with the GPS. It never really has been. The problem has been with the Lighthouse POI file I downloaded from the internet. This is the third inaccesible lighthouse we have tried to see using the POI file. If the file was meant to be a driving tour of lighthouses, it shouldn't include those that are in the middle of the water or those that are inaccesible from the street. In most other cases, the problems with the Garmin have been operator error, not fully understanding how the Garmin determines things such as distance and arrival times. So, I guess we will keep the Garmin, but maybe sans the lighthouse POI file.

We returned to the hotel disappointed once again. But at least we were able to spend some time together -- just the two of us.