Marine City, Michigan + Sombra, Ontario + Fawn Island

[flar]

Marine City and Sombra are on opposite sides the St. Clair River. Marine City is a small city of 4600 and has many beautiful
Victorian homes. Sombra is a Victorian village of 500 with a small shopping area. There is a ferry service and international
border crossing between Sombra and Marine City. Fawn Island is an island of cottages nearby in the St. Clair River and is
accessible only by boat. There are no cars on Fawn Island.

The ferry...

...and the dock on the Canadian side:

Marine City, Michigan

Fawn Island

Sombra, Ontario

​

 

[marcus_a_j]

Thanks Flar, another set of amazing pictures!

 

[JasonParis]

Amazing pics of somewhere I really knew nothing about!

I gotta say "wtf" about this one though...

 

[Edward Skira]

Maybe the top floor is storage? Or more retail.

 

[Mustapha]

Quaint places, both. Yonge and Eg they aren't.

 

[flar]

^^a very long way from Yonge and Eglinton, Sombra is by far the smallest place I've ever photographed. I have a lot of family there so I know it well.

I think someone lives above the Pic 'n Pay, they must like their privacy.

 

[Long Island Mike]

Interesting Marine City,Michigan and Sombra,Ontario pics!

Flar: Another good photo tour of a interesting pair of communities on the US-Canada border. I would like to know about the Ferry between them-how much does it cost and how often it operates and is going thru Customs any hassle?
Crossing there may be a good alternative to Port Huron/Sarnia as a good example.

Since Fawn Island is in Ontario I wonder how boat traffic is regulated to travel there-do Michiganders live there also?
Thanks-LI MIKE

 

[detroitbootybass]

More wonderful photos!

I really look forward to seeing what you'll post next!

 

[flar]

^^thanks

Flar: Another good photo tour of a interesting pair of communities on the US-Canada border. I would like to know about the Ferry between them-how much does it cost and how often it operates and is going thru Customs any hassle?
Crossing there may be a good alternative to Port Huron/Sarnia as a good example.

Since Fawn Island is in Ontario I wonder how boat traffic is regulated to travel there-do Michiganders live there also?
Thanks-LI MIKE

The ferry is a good alternative to the Bluewater Bridge, often much faster, there are rarely lineups and it only takes a few minutes to cross. It costs $6 per car and you can also go on foot. The river is patrolled a lot more than it used to be. Actually it was not really patrolled at all 20 years ago. We used to go across all the time as kids to buy cheap toys and candy from the Ben Franklin store (closed long ago) in Marine City. The border is much tougher now, not just since 9/11 but also because Chinese people were being smuggled across the river in the mid 1990s. When I went over for these pics US Customs took me in for questioning because of my camera. They couldn't understand why I wanted to take pictures of Marine City. Finally I had to show them this website and SSP so they could see that lots of people take pictures of buildings. Still, there is a good deal of cross border interaction in this area. There are actually people that cross the river to go to church. Quite a few of the cottages on Fawn Island are owned by Michiganders, I don't know for sure but they must have some arrangement with customs.

There is another ferry crossing 15 minutes south at Walpole Island, ON and Algonac, MI. There also used to be a ferry just a few minutes south of Sombra between Port Lambton, ON and Roberts Landing, MI but it went out of service about 15 years ago.

 

[smuncky]

When I went over for these pics US Customs took me in for questioning because of my camera. They couldn't understand why I wanted to take pictures of Marine City. Finally I had to show them this website and SSP so they could see that lots of people take pictures of buildings.

wow!