Those old lakers from the golden-age of shipping in the Great Lakes sure are beautiful though. They are essentially just self propelled barges and absolute death traps, but damn they are good looking ships.
I love them! Every year, we head up to the Soo Locks so I can get high and stare at them for a couple days. I really miss the old style freighters with the pilot house in the front. At least there are a handful left. I love looking at pictures of the freighters that were built in the 1900's. They're made of steel, but it's like going out there in a canoe compared to the thousand footers
I used to spend all my summers in Lake Erie growing up and loved watching the lakers go back and forth by Put-In-Bay. It's impressive that some of those old lakers are pushing 100 years old and still in service. I've never been to the Soo Locks, but i know that i have to make my way out there at some point to see the thousand footers in action.
It's pretty great in the Soo. Get a hotel across the street from the locks, and download a free ship tracking app, and then you just bar hop (or walk around if You're sober) between arrivals. The boat tours are great too. If you time it right (ship watching app) you can be in and around the locks with the freighters and get really close.
A couple summers ago, we took our canoe up to a place called De Tour Village. It's where the st Mary's river connects to lake Huron. It's about a mile wide in De Tour, so you can canoe right out there and float with them