Mackinac Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge - known affectionately as "Mighty Mac" - carries Interstate 75 across the Straits of Mackinac, joining Michigan's Lower and Upper peninsulas where Lake Michigan meets Lake Huron. Opened in 1957, its total length of about five miles made it the longest suspension bridge in the world between its anchorages at the time, a green-and-cream span sweeping across one of the windiest, most exposed water crossings in the country.

Before the bridge, ferries carried cars across the straits, with waits that could stretch for hours on busy weekends, and its completion finally bound the rural Upper Peninsula to the rest of the state. Famous for the high winds that whip through the straits, the bridge closes to traffic in severe storms, and each Labor Day it hosts an annual walk that draws tens of thousands across its deck on foot.

• Michigan
  The Great Lakes State, two peninsulas surrounded by fresh water related