You Can Cruise the Great Lakes for $89

Ludington — If you've ever wanted to cruise across one of the Great Lakes, the S.S. Badger is easily one of the coolest and cheapest ways to do it.

Last week, I climbed aboard the historic ferry in Ludington for a trip across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The crossing takes about four hours and covers roughly 62 miles, and was a much more interesting experience than sitting in Chicago traffic.

A trip on a Great Lakes cruise ship will run you $5,000 or more. A ticket on the S.S. Badger is $89 each way.

There is another ferry option connecting Michigan and Wisconsin. The high-speed Lake Express ferry runs between Muskegon and Milwaukee and can make the trip in less than three hours. But while the Lake Express is much faster, it has a lot less history.

What makes the Badger so unique is that it's the last coal-powered passenger ship still operating in the U.S.

Built in 1952, and entering service in 1953, the 410-foot ship wasn't originally designed to carry passengers at all. It was built as a railroad car ferry, helping trains move between Michigan and Wisconsin without having to pass through Chicago's notoriously crowded rail yards.

At full capacity, the Badger could carry 34 loaded railroad cars across Lake Michigan at a time.

For decades, railroad ferries played an important role in Great Lakes transportation. During the industry's peak in the 1950s, multiple ferries operated year-round out of Ludington carrying freight, passengers, and vehicles across the lake.

But as rail service improved, railroad ferries became less necessary, and most disappeared. That meant the Badger no longer served the purpose it had been built for.

Until it found a new one.

In 1992, the ship was converted into a passenger and automobile ferry. Today, more than 70 years after it first launched, it's still running strong carrying passengers and vehicles across Lake Michigan and now can accommodate up to 600 passengers and 180 vehicles, including cars, motorcycles, RVs, buses, and commercial trucks.

The trip feels less like a ferry ride and more like a four-hour excursion aboard one of Michigan's coolest historic landmarks.

And with so much to do onboard, it's almost impossible to get bored.

Passengers have access to an upper deck that sprawls around the entire ship, along with several outdoor and indoor lounges. There's a small museum, gift shop, arcade, and even a movie theater that plays a documentary about the ship as well as a feature film during the four-hour crossing.

One of the ship's most popular traditions is Badger Bingo, which is hosted every day in the main lounge. There are plenty of passengers onboard who take the game very seriously.

There are also multiple dining options, and the onboard food program was recently updated. The ship now offers a full bar and coffee bar, where passengers can grab a drink while taking in views of Lake Michigan.

Over the years, the Badger has carried some pretty unusual passengers.

Back in the day, the ship helped transport the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus across Lake Michigan, and apparently the circus elephants would get seasick during the crossing.

And while being the last coal-powered passenger ship in America is probably the Badger's most unique quality, it isn't the ship's only claim to fame.

In 2016, the U.S. Department of the Interior designated the S.S. Badger a National Historic Landmark. Because it still operates, it is often described as the nation's only moving National Historic Landmark.

The Badger also represents a rare surviving piece of Great Lakes industrial history. Its massive coal-fired boilers and steam engines remain operational, preserving technology that has pretty much disappeared from modern transportation.

And while the ship once faced criticism for dumping coal ash into Lake Michigan, that ash is now collected onboard and unloaded on shore, where it is repurposed for use in concrete rather than being released into the lake.

With all that history, unique experiences, and more activities than you'd expect from a four-hour ferry ride, the Badger felt less like transportation and more like an adventure.

So if you've ever wanted to sail across one of the Great Lakes, are looking for a different way to get to Wisconsin, or just want an excuse to play some bingo, the S.S. Badger is worth checking out.