Work in a Lighthouse on Vacation ... Be a Lighthouse Keeper at a Great Lakes Lighthouse

Have you ever thought about what it would be like to live in a lighthouse by the sea? Well, thanks to the Lighthouse Keeper Program, that dream can become a reality. They offer the opportunity to live for a week in a participating Great Lakes lighthouse and perform duties such as welcoming visitors, sharing with them the history of the station and working in the gift shop.

You must think of the program as an educational experience and not a vacation...or as some prefer to call it, a working vacation.

Most of the accommodations include a fully equipped kitchen (you provide your own food), bedrooms, baths and a common living area.

The price for this "Pay to Play" experience is very reasonable and the monies collected go directly to benefit the lighthouse for restoration and preservation.

Built in 1870, the Grand Traverse Lighthouse is located on the shores of Lake Michigan in LeeLanau State Park in Northport, Michigan. Locally known as "Cat's Head Point Light", it is open for program participants April through December each year. The cost per person is $195 per week and you are required to become a member of the Grand Traverse Lighthouse Museum for a $15 dues fee. Gift certificates are also available for purchase for the lighthouse enthusiast on your shopping list. What a unique gift idea!

An application for the Keepers Program at this lighthouse and a calendar with available weeks can be found at http://www.grandtraverselighthouse.com/keeper-program/

Another participant in the Keepers Program is Tawas Point Lighthouse located on Lake Huron in Tawas Point State Park in northern Michigan. The cost to attend there is $275 weekly per person and includes much the same amenities as noted above. You must be 18 years of age and there is room for 3 people to stay each week. An application and additional information can be obtained by calling the Tawas Point Lighthouse museum store at 989-362-5658.

Tawas Point Light was featured in the Great Getaways TV Travel Series which is broadcast in the Midwest US and Canada. Below is a video clip from that program

Esopus Meadows Lighthouse on the Hudson River

Potato Chips and a Lighthouse? The lighthouse on the Cape Cod Potato Chip bag

Cooking Up a Kitchen Lighthouse Theme

By coincidence, one of my fellow Hubbers, DearAbbysMom, has actually worked at the Grand Traverse Lighthouse in the Keeper's Program. I believe you will enjoy reading about the program from her first hand prospective. Click here for "I Was a Lighthouse Keeper...You Can Be Too!"

Several other stations on the Great Lakes are joining in on offering this opportunity for the public to learn about our maritime heritage and to experience "lighthouse living". For information about other participating facilities, please go to http://www.michiganlights.com/keeperbandbinfo.htm. The website also gives details about lighthouse bed and breakfasts in the Great Lakes region

Though the tasks that are expected of you during your stay are not exactly like the chores of the original Lighthouse Keepers and their families, you can imagine what their lives were like by staying in their former homes and soaking up the history of the area. What better way to spend a week long "working vacation"?