If your family planning to visit a lighthouse, safety is something important to keep in mind, especially with children in tow!
As you will learn from various posts, we visit many lighthouses. (Refer to My Kid Loves Lighthouses, But I hate Heights) We’ve visited lighthouses on each of the Great Lakes, as well as both the Atlantic and Pacific Coasts. Some lighthouses are only accessible to view, while others are open to climb.
I’m not sure if it comes from my own fear of heights, my over protectiveness of my children, or simply my personality type, but I don’t take safety of a lighthouse tower climb lightly. Any time we visit a lighthouse open to climbing, there are certain expectations I have for my family. And that’s for both adults and children. Some lighthouses themselves have strict rules while others are more lax. But regardless of what the lighthouse guidelines are, implement the following precautions with my family.
With them in place, I feel most comfortable and confident as my loved ones climb to enjoy the spectacular views from atop a lighthouse tower.
My children always climb ahead of a supervising adult and decend behind that adult. The simple fact is, I want to be between them and the floor should any slip up occur. I want that chance to catch and stop any fall.
We all wear shoes that are secured to our feet. (no flop flops).
We ensure both hands are free and able to grip handrails. Any personal belongings such as phones or cameras are secured in pockets or bags worn on our backs or cross body.
We wait on landings for others to pass. If we hear someone approaching that we will need to cross paths with in opposite directions, we wait on the nearest landing for them to pass by.
I’ve never been too comfortable with heights, at least not when my stability is relying on my own two feet. Strap me into a roller coaster and although there’s rising unease as it accessed, I’m “OK”. But put me near the railing of a balcony more that two stories up and I’m crazy uncomfortable. Like literally saying out loud on repeat, “I don’t like this, I don’t like this…”
That’s exactly what I said all the way up the 85 steps of the open grate spiral stairway of the Tawas Point Lighthouse in the summer of 2011, during my first time climbing a light house. I’m always looking for new adventures, even in the most familiar of places. You see, this lighthouse is only about 30 miles from our family cottage in northern Michigan. I’ve spent time in Tawas every summer of my life. But I had not recalled ever visiting the lighthouse, though, something in me recalled there being one. I had wondered if my memory served me correctly and then I further wondered if it was open to visit. So I turned to Google. Yes, there was a lighthouse. And yes, you could visit it. Not only could you visit, you could climb the tower. This was all new to me, so with much excitement that I found something new for the kids and I to do, we set off to East Tawas on an afternoon drive to see a lighthouse.
I had no idea at the time that we set out on that adventure how significant and transforming that day’s excursion would be to a little boy.
We arrived at Tawas Point State Park that afternoon and headed straight for the little gift shop building located next to the lighthouse to buy our tickets to climb the tower. How exciting this would be….
We toured the keepers house, which is attached to the tower, decorated in period affects and then we headed towards the door to the tower. And that’s when I caught my first glimpse of the inside of a lighthouse tower as I looked up at the spiral stairway that stretched beyond my view. Here I stood with my fear of heights starting to kick into full gear and a 4 year old and a 2 year old by my side, anxious to race up to the top of this thing.
URGH!! What did I get myself into? With my son taking the lead and my over-protective-mom self taking up the rear, we started to climb. I just gripped the handrail so tightly, pleading with my children to do the same. I kept staring straight ahead and upward. “Don’t look down, don’t look down…” was a repeating chant going through my head.
As our elevation increased, the distance between the walls decreased as if they were closing in on us. Until finally we reached the top where we stuffed ourselves into a small little room surrounded by windows to take in the view across Tawas Bay on Lake Huron. My boy was ecstatic! He was so fascinated with every part of this experience from the architecture, the mechanicals, and the panoramic view.
Once we made the anxiety filled decent and returned to the ground, he was already so excited and anxious to do it again. He wanted to bring everyone back to climb that tower….dad, grandma, grandpa, friends…everyone. They simply had to see and do what he just did.
And so it began…this kid’s fascination and love for lighthouses.
And with that, this mom has been forced to repeatedly get out of her comfort zone, to facilitate and feed that kid’s interest in them. In the 7 years since, I have now climbed more towers than I’ve been able to count, and that includes walking out on the balconies of many. The fear is still very much within me, but I push through it time and time again for him. It’s amazing the things that we will do and the fears that we will face for the love of a child.
Have your kids pushed you to do things you wouldn’t do otherwise? Comment and share your story below.
