Skip to Main Content

Kentucky Christian University's Young Library Great Lakes Lighthouses Virtual Vacation

A virtual trip in the Great Lakes area where you go on virtual tours of lighthouses and museums, read fiction and non-fiction materials about the area, explore local area favorite recipes, and watch movies about lighthouses.

Day 1 - National Aquarium - Baltimore, Maryland

 

 

 

Day 1 is a travel day and a great day find out more about the United States Coast Guard. The US Coast Guard is an important presence in the Great Lakes region.  Did you know that the Coast Guard was created by Congress on August 4, 1790 at the request of Alexander Hamilton?  It was known then as the Revenue Marine.  The United States Coast Guard is the oldest continuous seagoing service of the United States.  This branch of the United States Armed Forces is responsible for coastal defense, search & rescue, and maritime law enforcement.  In 2013, a typical day for the US Coast Guard looked like this:

  • Conducted 109 search and rescue cases

  • Saved 10 lives
  • Assisted 192 people in distress
  • Protected US$2.8 million in property
  • Seized 169 pounds (77 kg) of marijuana and 306 pounds (139 kg) of cocaine with a street value of US$9.5 million
  • Processed 238 mariner licenses and documents
  • Investigated 6 vessel casualties involving collisions or groundings
  • Had underway small boats for 396 sorties/missions
  • Flew 164 aircraft missions logging 324 hours
  • Boarded 144 vessels of law enforcement interest
  • Interdicted and rescued 14 illegal immigrants at sea
  • Opened 8 new cases for marine violation of federal statutes
  • Boarded 100 large vessels for port safety checks
  • Conducted 20 commercial fishing vessel safety exams
  • Responded to 20 oil or hazardous chemical spills totaling 2,800 US gal (11,000 l)
  • Serviced 135 aids to navigation
  • Monitored the transit of 2,509 commercial ships through U.S. ports
  • Conducted 377 vessel safety checks
  • Taught boating safety courses to 550 boaters

These are busy people!

The Ninth District of the Coast Guard is focused on the Great Lakes Region.

 

A great place to find out even more is to take a virtual tour of The National Museum of the Great Lakes!  Click here or click on the image below.  While you are there do not forget to also take a virtual tour of the Colonel James M Schoonmaker museum ship.

 

    

 

Books:  Books go everywhere and ebooks are easy to access on your phones!  Try one of these books to read about the Coast Guard from project Gutenberg.  Just click on the book cover and you can begin reading immediately.

 

                            

 

Food: Since we are heading first to Lake Michigan, it might be a good idea to try some Chicago dishes!  Look for recipes for Chicago Style Deep Dish Pizza loaded with cheese and chunky tomato sauce or try a Chicago Style Hot Dog topped with yellow mustard, sweet green pickle relish, chopped onion, tomato wedges, dill pickle, peppers, & celery salt.  Apparently, the dessert of choice is Twinkies - anything with cream filling has to be good!  Click on the pictures below for recipes!

 

 

 

                                            

Finally, end the day by watching Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba's Forty Thieves!  The link is located in the column on the left. Get some rest, tomorrow will be another big day!