The World’s largest crucifix and stumbling on an unusual museum, Michigan

So after complaining in my last post that I wasn’t writing as much as I’d like to, then promising I’d be posting more, this is my first post in three weeks. I have got the dreaded flu but am now thankfully on the mend. I’ve had covid previously and that doesn’t begin to compare to how I’ve been feeling. I felt so awful and was suffering from terrible fevers which made me have the most vivid dreams. In one of these dreams, the cat woke me up to tell me I was late for school which sent me into a world of panic. So I hope you can understand I haven’t really been in the right frame of mind for blogging (or anything for that matter). Now that I’m back to reality where I no longer worry about missing school and unfortunately cats don’t speak, I’m ready to get back to it.

Back in November, we headed up to Mackinac Island for Mitch’s birthday. Although very cold and little is open this time of year, it was still a great time to visit and we loved our trip. (Seperate post to follow).

On our way to the island, we stopped at a few roadside attractions a long the way, one being the The Cross in the Woods Shrine.

Declared a national shrine by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in September 2006, this crucifix currently holds the proud title of being the largest in the world. If you look closely at the photo, you’ll see there’s a squirrel for size reference.

Carved from a single redwood tree, this crucifix stands at a towering 55ft and 22ft wide. The bronze figure attached to the cross, weighs about 14,000 pounds and is the work of sculptor, Marshall Fredericks.

Although the crucifix is the main attraction, bringing more than 300,000 visitors per year, this site is also home to a rather unusual museum which we stumbled upon when searching for the loo.

Another world record breaker, this museum holds the world’s largest collection of religious order dolls. It currently contains 525 dolls and 21 mannequins.

I don’t think many people are that keen on dolls, I know I’m certainly not, but this collection was quite impressive, even if it was a tad eery!

Before we left, we stopped to look in the church which offered a beautiful view of the cross through its windows. It was silent enough to hear a pin drop, I expect the atmosphere is the very different when service is running!

As always thank you for reading!