# Geographic anomaly: Tiny bits of Michigan that drain into the Mississippi. Share your geo-anomalies **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 16, 2020, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033 "2020-02-16T17:56:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/61 "2020-02-17T22:24:24Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > \*Missouri River. All of Iowa is west of the Mississippi, but Carter Lake is stuck on the Omaha side of the Missouri. Oops, my bad! Should have proofread my post before submitting it! BTW, not all of Iowa is west of the Mississippi. Some of it is IN the Mississippi. ---
**Author:** ![Toxgoddess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Toxgoddess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Toxgoddess)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/62 "2020-02-17T22:25:22Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Maverick’s for big waves? > > I’ve had people not believe me that Atlanta is further west than Detroit. And what’s the closest US state to Africa? Answer: Maine. Look on a globe, not a flat map 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2020, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/63 "2020-02-17T23:34:23Z")
> [@Toxgoddess](#): > > And what’s the closest US state to Africa? > > Answer: Maine. > > Look on a globe, not a flat map 😃 Funny enough, it actually seems to work with a flat map, as well. (Using [this map](https://geology.com/world/world-map.shtml) and the ruler measurement tool in Photoshop, I can’t get a linear distance that is closer than Maine to Morocco, whether I include those little islands to the west or not.) ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/64 "2020-02-18T00:47:15Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > Night monkeys (unlike other monkeys) are tough to see, so congratulations. We went for a walk around the hotel looking for frogs and I heard rustling in a tree. I shined my flashlight up and there were 5 or 6 monkeys staring down at us looking both offended and curious. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/65 "2020-02-18T01:58:24Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > I’ve had people not believe me that Atlanta is further west than Detroit. And the westernmost point in the US is in Alaska, not Hawaii like most people assume. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/66 "2020-02-18T02:12:52Z")
> [@dasmoocher](#): > > Maverick’s for big waves? > > I’ve had people not believe me that Atlanta is further west than Detroit. It can also be surprising when you map North American cities onto Europe in terms of latitude. How many folks would intuitively realize that London is north of all of the continental US, and north of Winnepeg and Calgary? Or that Chicago lines up pretty much with Rome? ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/67 "2020-02-18T02:14:13Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > And these coordinates will take one to Misery Creek, which flows into Lac Vieux Desert in MI’s UP, a lake that drains into the Mississippi via the Wisconsin river. Questions! What is the story of Misery Bay, that’s gotta be a story? Is the desert part of Lac Vieux Desert some sort of French word for lake? Is Duck Island named for the fact it looks like a dead duck? Inquiring minds… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![CelticKnot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/celticknot/32/3392_2.png) [@CelticKnot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CelticKnot)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/68 "2020-02-18T02:22:30Z")
West Virginia is usually considered a southern state, but Wheeling, WV is about 60 miles from Canada. Or so I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/69 "2020-02-18T02:34:30Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > West Virginia is usually considered a southern state, but Wheeling, WV is about 60 miles from Canada. Or so I’ve heard. The best I’m getting from measuring on Google Maps is about 140. miles from Wheeling to the middle of Lake Erie where the border flips. To “mainland Canada” (so not counting Pelee Island), it’s more like 170 miles. Still, by US distances, that’s pretty close. If you get to the very northernmost tip of W. Virginia, you can decrease both those distances by 20 miles. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/70 "2020-02-18T02:35:30Z")
> [@CelticKnot](#): > > West Virginia is usually considered a southern state, but Wheeling, WV is about 60 miles from Canada. Or so I’ve heard. Not even close. More like 155 miles to the nearest Canadian border, which is in the middle of Lake Erie, and closer to 175 to the nearest Canadian land. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/71 "2020-02-18T02:41:43Z")
> [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](#): > > Not even close. More like 155 miles to the nearest Canadian border, which is in the middle of Lake Erie, and closer to 175 to the nearest Canadian land. Revised to say 150 to nearest Canadian land, a deserted island in Lake Erie. And a little less distance to the nearest Canadian water border ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/72 "2020-02-18T02:47:42Z")
> [@Lucas\_Jackson](#): > > Questions! > What is the story of Misery Bay, that’s gotta be a story? > Is the desert part of Lac Vieux Desert some sort of French word for lake? > Is Duck Island named for the fact it looks like a dead duck? > > Inquiring minds… > 🙂 Wiki sez: > [@](#): > > the lake was named by French fur trappers, who were some of the first Europeans in the region. They translated the name into French from the term used by the Ojibwe of the area: Gete-gitigaani-zaaga’igan, meaning “Lake of the Old Clearing”, or “Old Garden.” Misery Bay may be named that because of all the mosquitoes. Nearby Rice Bay is called that due to the wild rice found there, a stable of the aforementioned Ojibwe, who still have a village on that bay and still harvest the wild rice the traditional way. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/73 "2020-02-18T03:02:16Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Not exactly a geographic anomaly, but certainly a cartographic one. In Albuquerque you’ll find the spot where [Northeast Circle SW intersects with Southeast Circle NW](https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B006'05.6%22N+106%C2%B040'21.6%22W/@35.1015525,-106.6726014,19.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d35.1015556!4d-106.6726667?hl=en). Bonus- it’s only a block away from where Northwest Circle NW intersects Southeast Circle NW. Traverse City MI’s busiest intersection is where West South Airport Road crosses North US 31 South. > [@K364](#): > > For the optical illusions, the most famous (at least in Canada) is Magnetic Hill, near Moncton New Brunswick. Moncton also has a river that alternately flows north or south, depending the tide. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/74 "2020-02-18T03:11:16Z")
In New Orleans, Downtown is north of Canal Street, and Uptown is south. Both bridges to the West Bank go almost due east. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/75 "2020-02-18T04:14:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It can also be surprising when you map North American cities onto Europe in terms of latitude. How many folks would intuitively realize that London is north of all of the continental US, and north of Winnepeg and Calgary? Or that Chicago lines up pretty much with Rome? Similarly, Most people don’t realize that near!y all of South America is more easterly than the US. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/76 "2020-02-18T04:51:45Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Similarly, Most people don’t realize that near!y all of South America is more easterly than the US. And the distance between Brazil and Africa is less than half the distance between New York and London. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/77 "2020-02-18T05:02:57Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Not exactly a geographic anomaly, but certainly a cartographic one. In Albuquerque you’ll find the spot where [Northeast Circle SW intersects with Southeast Circle NW](https://www.google.com/maps/place/35%C2%B006'05.6%22N+106%C2%B040'21.6%22W/@35.1015525,-106.6726014,19.25z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0x0!8m2!3d35.1015556!4d-106.6726667?hl=en). Bonus- it’s only a block away from where Northwest Circle NW intersects Southeast Circle NW. :smack: The next town over from me has a lot of streets with names like 3rd Street Court, 4th Avenue A (and B, and C), 2nd Court B, etc. Yeah, it’s confusing. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/78 "2020-02-18T05:08:02Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > And the distance between Brazil and Africa is less than half the distance between New York and London. Well, duh, there IS a bridge between Senegal and Brazil… or was that the game _Risk?_ ---
**Author:** ![RioRico](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f04885/32.png) [@RioRico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RioRico)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/79 "2020-02-18T08:56:14Z")
Many so-called “geographic” anomalies are mere political artifacts, debris of line-drawing by cartographers and their masters, leaving jurisdictions with odd geometries. I’m more amused by a lake in an island in a lake in an island in a lake, and rivers and lakes atop watershed divides, flowing into multiple seas. But I note boundaries, too. > [@kitap](#): > > It’s the Navajo Nation which observes DST; the Hopi do not. A fairly short drive from Grand Canyon NP via Tuba City, Hopi mesas, and Keams Canyon to Petrified Forest NP sees Arizona (no DST), Navajo (DST), Hopi (no DST), a pocket of Navajo again, Hopi again, Navajo again, then Arizona again. Oh wait, I forgot about Moenkopi (Hopi) so there’s another Navajo-Hopi-Navajo skip, seven total. We lacked GPS last time we made that trip. Will the GPS clock go crazy in June? ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2020, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033/80 "2020-02-18T10:20:55Z")
I do get people on Sundays of time changes sprinting (sometimes literally) towards me, cell phone facing me as they ask “is this the correct time?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geographic-anomaly-tiny-bits-of-michigan-that-drain-into-the-mississippi-share-your-geo-anomalies/848033.md?page=5)