Wisconsin, Michigan Finally Quit Driving Through Us

By Margaret Lyons on Jun 1, 2004 9:30PM

Wohoo! Less traffic in Chicago, thanks to a new high-speed ferry that keeps Wisconsin and Michigan folk off our delicious land. The Lake Express ferry runs back and forth between Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Muskegon, Michigan in about two-and-a-half hours, although it was behind schedule today on its maiden voyage. What was once a 280-mile haul through the Windy City is now a pleasure cruise across a Great Lake. The ferry is pretty swank—“state-of-the-art seating”—and it can carry 250 passengers and 46 cars, plus you can bring your motorcycle or bike, too. Yeah, $18 million buys a nice “vessel.”
Roundtrip tickets are $85 for adults, plus an extra $118 for the car. Riders under 15 are $40, and children under 4 ride free. Senior citizens get a sweet, sweet $3 discount—hello? They’re the greatest generation and we should honor them with a $3 bonus. Sure, this boat of the future is a bit pricey, especially because the boat of the future is an airplane, but they have “Modern Restroom Facilities…designed for the convenience of all passengers.” A cool perk, all joking aside, is that “Unlike the airlines, cell phones, laptops and all other electronic devices can be used during the passage.” It appears that the AP story about the voyage was filed from aboard the ferry.