My favorite Kodiak Island fact: In 2012, rapper Pitbull made a Facebook post about how the Walmart with the most votes wins a performance of Pitbull. People made a movement to vote on the most isolated Walmart: The one in Kodiak, Alaska. The movement was successful, and Pitbull actually did go to Kodiak, AK to perform at their Walmart.
Mackinac Island was also the second-ever National Park, behind only Yellowstone. It was given to the Army to operate, but when they decommissioned the fort they didn’t want it anymore. The state stepped in and turned it into a state park.
It’s more of the “original,” crunchy woo-woo anti-vaxxers as opposed to the ones who became anti-vax by jumping on a political bandwagon. They were letting their kids get whooping cough before it became popular…
Vashon Island sounds similar to where I grew up - Waiheke Island, New Zealand. Accessible only by ferry from Auckland, used to be a major hippy hideout and holiday spot with lots of alternative people. It's now so insanely expensive and full of vineyards and mansions that most of the alternative types have moved to an island that is much further away.
I've spent a lot of time on Belle Isle, glad it got a mention! The landscaping was designed by Olmsted, who practically invented landscape architecture. He also designed Central Park, the 1893 Chicago Exhibition, and a number of other landmarks. I don't know if they still do it, but in the summer the full Detroit Symphony Orchestra would set up in front of a large sward, and people would bring blankets to sit on. One year I was sitting about 10 feet from the concert master, with the full 106 piece orchestra blasting away. The original bridge burned, but a section of it that was undamaged was floated down river, and it is now the bridge between Grosse Ilse and Hickory Island, two islands near the mouth of the river and Lake Erie.
I love Belle Isle and am so glad it's getting the TLC it deserves after becoming a state-funded park. It had become quite run down over the decades. Also of note, the Indy races have been moved back to a downtown circuit as of 2023.
There are quite a few, especially in the midwest and northeast. From court cases, NY alone lost islands to Vermont in Lake Champlain, gains one from a case with CT, and partially loses Ellis Island to NJ.
@@GeographyKingGeorgia and South Carolina have a fascinating history over islands in the Savannah River. Most recently, Georgia lost an island to South Carolina because changing river conditions turned it into a peninsula.
Que up Michigan history. We still haven't settled the border with Indiana. Fought a 'war' with Ohio. We got the UP, they got Toledo. I declare victory.
French Island’s airport makes more sense if you consider how rugged the surrounding bluffs of the Driftless region are; only the Mississippi valley has much fairly level land.
Who knew? I love your channel because I'm an octogenarian who's committed to learning something new every day. When I check your content first thing in the morning, I know I'll effortlessly meet my goal. You are a most amusing nerd. Thank you.
As part of the civilian transition slated for Treasure Island, we dismantled part of the Navy's old fire training center. We hauled three 30,000 gallon propane tanks up onto the easr section of the Bay Bridge and south down through Oakland to Livermore, then over Altamont Pass on onto the Central Valley. They were 10 feet in diameter and 57 feet long, weighing 57,000 pounds. We had to accomplish this between 1 AM and 5 AM i the morning.
I’m in Seattle. There’s an old “Almost Live!” joke about Vashon Island. I give you the ferry route you give me the occupation of the commuter: -Bremerton? Welder for the navy. -Whidbey Island? Welder for Boeing. -Vashon Island? Lesbian organic bed-and-breakfast, cooperative … welder.
Assateague Island was once connected to Fenwick Island (where Ocean City, MD is today). The August 1933 Potomac-Cheasapeake Hurricane separated Assateague from Fenwick.
Also, There was a small village at one point at the southern end. It slowly disappeared and at this point, the only remaining sign of the village is the cemetery which is accessible just past the gate shack on the Virginia side. And, there are two herds of horses on the island. The MD and VA sides are separated. The Maryland side is kept truly wild, and the VA side is owned and maintained by the Chincoteague Island Fire Company. They own, maintain, and operate an annual pony auction. The sales from the auction keep the herd size manageable, and also funds the Fire Company.
I’m glad you mentioned Mackinac Island. I grew up in central Michigan and was up there many times growing up in the 80’s and 90’s. My mom used to be on our school board and had school board conventions through the state there each fall, and my family would go up there with her for 3-4 days. Mackinac has many lilac bushes and has a beautiful lilac festival each June. There is also a sailing regatta each year that goes from Chicago up Lake Michigan, finishing at the island. There are actually a lot of well-off Chicagoans who either have homes there too, or very expensive yachts that travel to the island each year. The movie Somewhere in Time, with Christopher Reeve, was also almost entirely filmed on Mackinac, and mainly at the Grand Hotel. On the Grand too, Mark Twain gave lectures at the hotel back in the day, and Teddy Roosevelt actually spent his 5th birthday there. Mackinac is an amazing place. At least to me. It can be touristy at times, and I sometimes find that people either love it, or hate it. But I’m in the first of those groups. I’ve lived in central Florida now for 26 years, but I still get back to Michigan 1 or 2 times a year to visit family, and if I can I get up to Mackinac.
In the SF Bay Area I wonder if Treasure Island was the first man made land using the dyke and dredge method. Take a large marshy island. Build a tall dyke around it. Then have dredging barges dredge mud from further out in the bay and drain their muddy slurry over different areas of the marsh island. This deposits a thin layer of mud and the sun evaporates the water in a week or two. Rinse and repeat half an inch at a time. This is how many suburban communities along the bay were created. Foster City, Redwood Shores and east San Mateo to name a few. Thanks for great video.
Arizona does have an island contrary to what some people have said. Antelope island is on Lake Powell outside of the town of Page. When the lake level fell it became connected at the north end at Utah, but now dredging has maintained some water around the island. The dredging makes it easy to go up the lake from the Wahweap Marina. On days when lake levels are too low boats have to go around Antelope Island the long way adding an hour to a trip. There is little on the island other than rocks and sand.
Great shoutout to Mackinac Island! My sister and I got to go there a few years ago. It was cool to see a delivery to a business done by a horse-drawn carriage!
Surprised to see Vashon on the list. We used to be in their league for sports in school. Our bus driver used to get really mad when the games would go long and we had to ferry off the Seattle side instead of the Tacoma side. Way longer to get home. That was my first lesson in island "ferry victim" living. Vashon is very peaceful and had lots of underdeveloped land . . . but the trade-off is challenged access to the rest of the world, really bad internet connections, not very much shopping, and water restrictions in the summer. It's a good place to pull over from the rat-race and retire with a good book (even better if you own a boat), but you'd have trouble keeping your garden watered. :-)
@@ReverendMeat51 Right? It sounds great, but in practice . . . . managing trips to the airport, better shopping, time with friends (no one wants to come to the island - you have to go to them), and family medical appointments/emergencies are not easy.
Back in the 90s I lived on Treasure Island, it was an active military base at the time. We had two shops, a theater, and an elementary school. Once I graduated 5th grade I had to take the bus and cross Bay Bridge into SF and attend a middle school there called Potrero Hill. Living on the Island wasn't bad, there were plenty of playgrounds to meet my friends at and it's where I started my babysitting gig, lol.
So pumped you included South Bass Island in Lake Erie and mentioned most of the cool stuff about it. Everyone I tell about it has idea of it’s existence and this video will help me explain my cause
I love these. Islands are such a fun topic. I believe Whidbey Island deserves a spot on one of these. So do many of the San Juan Islands, but especially Orcas Island for geography and Waldron Island for lifestyle.
Very interesting islands added to my travel folder. Treasure Island was the base for Pan Am's flying boats that bridged the pacific and the terminal is a cool place to visit.
Vashon is great. Very separated from the Seattle area, and culturally distinct. Great for cycling. Also, there is an old bike that a tree grew around, it’s wild.
Treasure Island is pretty cool but has 2 big problems, 1) sea level rise because it's barely above the water (over 1/2 of the island is less than 3' high), and 2) it's on landfill that can suffer from liquefaction in an earthquake. Hopefully, they can build lots of needed housing there, even with the risks, however I think that with those billion dollar views, it will be a billion dollar island.
So glad South Bass Island made the list! Another fun fact: since the Bass islands are so isolated, they have to have their own school district. They graduate about 6 kids each year and and they have a basketball team sometimes
Grew up boating in the western basin of Lake Erie. Can't tell you how many times I've been to Put-in-Bay -- we even belonged to a small club there called the Crew's Nest. Also stopped at DYC on Belle Isle quite often. Check out Harsens Island in the beautiful St Clair flats which is home to the venerable Old Club.
We visited Mackinac Island a number of years ago. Our young daughter was with her older brother while we were in the shops there. She got separated so that was the one place we "lost" her ever. While it was nerve racking, I was also laughing, because she couldn't have gone that far away.
Kyle… you’re all about road-trips. How about a series of two week road-trips around different parts of the country? Great Lakes, northeast, southwest? Maybe two or three for each area… like an intellectual one , sports and outdoor enthusiasts one, natural beauty, foodie one, ???? And, routes to travel. Now that I’m retired, I can finally travel but need some direction on the best spots, not necessarily the most obvious spots along an interstate… you always have the out-of-the-way ideas that I always seem to miss while tripping.
Yerba Buena Island has the largest diameter tunnel bore in the USA - I-80 goes through it. The material that it displaced was used to fill in/build Treasure island. There are three parallel tunnel bores a few miles east of TI called the Caldecott Tunnel - they dumped the dirt from those into the bay also - this was all part of the public works that created the SF Bay Bridge and it's connecting freeway infrastructure just before WWII. Treasure Island is FLAT and was slated to be used for SFO - the airport serving San Francisco. Jets got invented right after and it never got built out as a municipal LAND airport. The semi-circular building in the one shot you have is the former Pan Am China Clipper airport - that's a control tower up on top. China Clippers were prewar flying boats that served Hawaii and the Orient - the inlet between the islands with the sailboats in it now is called "Clipper Cove" and the large buildings behind the airport are old hangars that the clippers could be dragged up a ramp and into for service. T.M.I.?
3:37 - Vashon Island is by far, the most granola, natural birth, let food be your medicine place in the north west. It was pretty much colonized by Berkeley hippies and farmers and what you see now is the by product of years of an "in-culture" developing. There's actually a pretty stark cultural difference between Vashon and the rest of Seattle. Residents are also very NIMBY, and detest the idea of a bridge being built.
I live and work on Vashon. We used to be anti-vax, but wound up having one of the highest and fastest per-capita uptakes of the COVID vaccine in the nation. Much has changed.
My dad used to live on Vashon island back in the 80s. Very isolated and remote place. Like you said no bridges just ferries. Some people often feel "trapped on the island" even though there is a ferry that takes you into Tacoma and one into Seattle. This is due to the cost of the ferries, wait times and currently, lack of ferries/captains and construction near the ferry terminal.
You know Drummond Island is a true gem and geological interesting. With fossil ledges, and marble head. With a nice resort at good rates, nice off road park, golf, restaurants with gluten free options. The store on the island even sells diapers and many places are pet friendly.
I lived on aquidneck island in Newport! It is absolutely beautiful. They have an amazing St. Patrick’s day parade that I’ll be crossing 2 bridges to go to! Thank you for covering a cool place in my home state of RI!
Thanks for including City Island in Harrisburg. I did my thesis in Architecture school on that island. I designed a convention center with a hotel, an outdoor amphitheater for concerts with the ruins of the old water company building as the backdrop and dressing rooms, housing around a marina on the southern tip, a large public garden with a hedge maze, and a promenade around the perimeter of the island. I got an 'A' for the project, but of course it was never built. I'm glad that the city is utilizing the island for public use with the baseball stadium and sports fields.
Another great video. Notes about development of Treasure Island: The ramps from Treasure/Yerba Buena Island to the Bay Bridge/I80 have historically been small and short. Slowing from freeway speeds was scary, as was waiting for a gap in cars large enough to speed onto the bridge. When they constructed the new bridge after the Loma Prieta earthquake, major improvements were made to the ramps on the East side; there's much more stopping/accelerating distance, and the Westbound on ramp now has a much better view of approaching traffic. But the roads leading to these ramps are still single lane, so any development on the island will need to keep this in mind. Some proposals include extreme limits on the number of parking spaces for new residential construction to encourage people without cars and/or single car families and discourage folks who want to own lots of cars. If they build it out with traditional residences/parking spaces, traffic will be a nightmare, and it a few years they'll be calling for a new bridge 😢
Interesting Fact: Mackinac National Park was a United States national park that existed from 1875 to 1895 on Mackinac Island in northern Michigan, making it the second U.S. national park after Yellowstone National Park.
Thanks for talking about South Bass! I paddled around those islands with my dad a few summers ago and had a blast. Put-In-Bay was a ton of fun, and he loved the Perry memorial. It's a really cool part of Ohio, hoping to get back up there soon. Plus, it's only a few miles away from Cedar Point!
When visiting Mackinac Isle, the summer workers may make fun of you as you're eating the fudge while walking around. The slang name is "Fudgy", but go ahead because it's all so good.
Belle Isle was turned over to the State of Michigan from the City of Detroit 10 or so years ago. It is a jewel of the city and no visit to Detroit is complete without a visit. The aquarium is awesome too.
I've also been to Chouteau island several times, the old route 66 Bridge is still up there, it's closed to vehicle traffic but you can walk or bike across it and see the arch and St. Louis skyline in the distance
As a Rhode Islander, it's been super cool to see Block Island in the last video and "Rhode" Island in this one. You're right though, no one calls it that. It's either Aquidneck island, or sometimes people just refer to the whole island as "Newport"
Lake Erie rarely freezes enough anymore to make an ice bridge to South Bass Island. The last time this happened was 2015. I have some friends who rode their bicycles to the island from Sandusky that year.
I was stationed on Treasure Island late 1960s. We had a few small quakes when i was there. The ceiling lights wobbled. One classmate's coffee cup fell off the table and broke on the floor.
For the next island video, you should feature U Thant Island! Humans are forbidden from setting foot on it, but I see it all the time from where I live. It’s also directly in front of the United Nations building, and so it’s named for a former UN Secretary General.
It's built from the fill excavated from constructing the tunnels that now serve the 7 subway. It's a bird sanctuary. There's nothing there and there never will be anything there. The End.
Not quite sure if it meets your criteria, but I’ve always thought Government Island in the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington was odd. I-205 crosses it but you can’t access it from there; you can take boats there and camp on it. It’s owned by the Port of Portland and at one point they contemplated using it for traditional port type purposes but now they have it in a recreational/natural status to ensure nothing incompatible gets built near the Portland Airport.
I went to south bass island on a family vacation years ago, it was pretty cool. Just a small tourist town with a bunch of souvenir shops and restaurants
I lived in Kodiak for a couple of years as a boy, and the first winter we received no snow whatsoever, however the 2nd winter it snowed, boy it snowed.
Great memories of taking my oldest son to Senators games in the early 2000’s. City Island in Harrisburg is a hidden gem not a lot of people know about outside of the area.
Grew up in the SF bay and I go back a couple times a year to visit family, recently was driving so SF from Oakland and noticed a huge new apartment building right off I-80 on Yerba Buena and it blew my mind. I always thought that would be a really cool place to live, I bet those islands will be completley developed in 10 years. And i bet Angel is next
The Indycar race on Belle Isle actually started as an F1 race in downtown Detroit in the early 80's. Indycar took over in the late 80's after F1 left. The race moved to Belle Isle in the early 90's and then moved back to a downtown street circuit in 2023. So at least for the foreseeable future racing is done on Belle Isle.
I was present at Naval Station Treasure Island's decommissioning ceremony in 1996. I was an Army reservist and our unit met at the Oakland Army Base, just at the eastern terminus of the Bay Bridge. Bigwigs wanted some background filler for the ceremony, and I guess they figured random Army medical reservists were close enough to Navy that nobody would notice.
Great video, you can do some islands up here in Canada and milk a video or two (and i know there are more islands in the US still for sure) As always, you do great work
Any updates on the Geography Quiz trips starting back up? It would be cool to see you do a quiz event at one of the islands on this list! My vote would be Harrisburg or Mackinaw.
How about a video covering just the most interesting man-made islands in the USA? There are some truly deep rabbit holes in this topical zone, such as Moses' joining Randalls and Wards Islands to complete the Triborough Bridge. The artificial islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel have a few odd amenities. Goose Island in Chicago seems to boast a storied past. Miami seems to be festooned with them.
I’ve read through EVERY comment concerning Vashon-Maury Island. A few additions; A good portion of the middle-high school aged kids go to schools in mainland Washington. I can’t speak to the Tacoma ferry route side of things, but being an almost lifelong West Seattleite, I know this from seeing the kids boarding ferries from the Fauntleroy ferry dock in large groups, particularly when returning home for the day. I live in Port Orchard now, and though it’s still more conservative here than in Seattle, Vashon-Maury has always had this unexplainable, oddly creepy feel attributed to it, and the people that live there. I concur with that sentiment according to my own personal experiences there/with its inhabitants.
@@jamesbarrett9466cool! I might’ve heard that, but if I did it was a long time ago, and doesn’t sound quite familiar. I believe I know the whole ‘UFO’ phenomenon started with a sighting/maybe a photograph of one around St. Helens. Maybe it was Tahoma? Lol, it’s early.
I grew up on Vashon island, from the time I was I was 7 years old, and I graduated Vashon Island High School in 92’. Regarding the vaccine propaganda about the island, you really need to dig a little deeper than what was presented by mainstream media. The New York Times wrote a sensationalized piece about how Vashon children rates of vaccination were some of the lowest rates in the US. What they failed to mention is that they gathered their survey of schoolchildren that were specifically enrolled in a home school program( not the public school kids). There is a substantial number of kids in the homeschool program that are part of religious subgroups that are against vaccination for kids and adults, but overall the number of kids in this category is quite small compared to the overall population. This NY times article was so widely disseminated that, unfortunately many believe it to be true. Covid 19 proved it’s not, Vashon had one of the highest rates of vaccination across the population in the states, many businesses went above and beyond requiring proof of vaccination from employees and clients, as well as strict masking protocols for everyone, including children in schools. Overall, Vashon has many interesting characteristics that make it unique. The cabin I grew up in was on a heavily forested 5 acre plot that had no running water and a composting toilet. One of my chores was hauling a 5 gallon bucket of water down in each arm of spring water from the source on the hill in the back in of the property. We had a large metal basin that we’d fill water heated on our stove to bath in. My other chore was dumping and cleaning that bucket that was used for the composting toilet (my least favorite chore). An interesting aspect of island life was that we, as a family, commuted into Seattle diligently 3 times a week into the International District ( formerly now as Chinatown) to study a very traditional Chinese martial art, Hung Gar ( mom studied Tai Chi). We could get into the heart of some cultural activities in the city center, and then easily take the ferry back to a very rustic cabin in the woods. In recent times, the traffic and ferry situation is now no longer convenient, and a lifestyle like we had involving commuting by ferry would be a big hassle. Vashon is now a place for the very wealthy, property values and taxes have skyrocketed in recent years. Elder artists that were once revered on the island who are still there were lucky enough to either own a home or have found some kind of affordable living. Tradespeople have been able to profit in the big demand for services and the small supply pool of workers. But many of the locals have been priced out and have moved to other more affordable areas of the Puget Sound
Nice vid! For future vids consider isle ste. Helène and isle notre dame in the st lawrence river in montréal. Both were natural islands enlarged from debris when building montréal's metro and have access both vis bridge snd metro tunnel.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 80 | คู่เอก "รักษ์ vs ยอดนำชัย"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/ckLMRorsMeY/mqdefault.jpg)
My favorite Kodiak Island fact: In 2012, rapper Pitbull made a Facebook post about how the Walmart with the most votes wins a performance of Pitbull. People made a movement to vote on the most isolated Walmart: The one in Kodiak, Alaska. The movement was successful, and Pitbull actually did go to Kodiak, AK to perform at their Walmart.
I love this story!
You forgot the best part! It was because he had a popular song on the radio at the time where he rhymes Kodak with Kodak
@@DoctorCyanTruly the Shakespeare of the modern age
He truly is Mr. Worldwide
Haha that's cool, I didn't know that!
All terrific islands, but only one has fudge!
Rhode Island?
Huh? You can buy fudge anywhere.
It's good fudge, but I can live without the crowds.
Oh, fudge!😂
@@mirzaahmed6589 Not in dry fudge counties.
Mackinac Island was also the second-ever National Park, behind only Yellowstone. It was given to the Army to operate, but when they decommissioned the fort they didn’t want it anymore. The state stepped in and turned it into a state park.
As a Seattleite you absolutely nailed Vashon Island. 💯
Yeah alot of Vashon people assume they are smarter than doctors so why immunize their kids right?
It’s more of the “original,” crunchy woo-woo anti-vaxxers as opposed to the ones who became anti-vax by jumping on a political bandwagon. They were letting their kids get whooping cough before it became popular…
Lived on Maury Island in the 90's. FREE MAURY ISLAND!
Vashon Island sounds similar to where I grew up - Waiheke Island, New Zealand. Accessible only by ferry from Auckland, used to be a major hippy hideout and holiday spot with lots of alternative people. It's now so insanely expensive and full of vineyards and mansions that most of the alternative types have moved to an island that is much further away.
Everything you've said is 100% accurate lol I'm from the area just next to Vashon
I've spent a lot of time on Belle Isle, glad it got a mention! The landscaping was designed by Olmsted, who practically invented landscape architecture. He also designed Central Park, the 1893 Chicago Exhibition, and a number of other landmarks.
I don't know if they still do it, but in the summer the full Detroit Symphony Orchestra would set up in front of a large sward, and people would bring blankets to sit on. One year I was sitting about 10 feet from the concert master, with the full 106 piece orchestra blasting away.
The original bridge burned, but a section of it that was undamaged was floated down river, and it is now the bridge between Grosse Ilse and Hickory Island, two islands near the mouth of the river and Lake Erie.
I love Belle Isle and am so glad it's getting the TLC it deserves after becoming a state-funded park. It had become quite run down over the decades. Also of note, the Indy races have been moved back to a downtown circuit as of 2023.
Video idea: Court cases that impacted US State land claims.
That's a great idea! I hope he does it, it would be fascinating.
There are quite a few, especially in the midwest and northeast. From court cases, NY alone lost islands to Vermont in Lake Champlain, gains one from a case with CT, and partially loses Ellis Island to NJ.
@@GeographyKingGeorgia and South Carolina have a fascinating history over islands in the Savannah River. Most recently, Georgia lost an island to South Carolina because changing river conditions turned it into a peninsula.
Que up Michigan history. We still haven't settled the border with Indiana. Fought a 'war' with Ohio. We got the UP, they got Toledo. I declare victory.
Thank you for featuring Belle Isle in this video! Us Detroiters are very proud of it
Don't forget Grosse Ile.
Nobody really cares about Grosse Ile or downriver in general
I remember the Belle Isle Indycar race, it was amazing. I recall it had a zoo but as with everything in Detroit, it closed.
@@hugolafhugolafclearly, you’ve never been here.
@@pjl22222if by “nobody”, you mean you, sure.
as a harrisburg resident, loved seeing city island get a mention. just in time for beautiful spring days and senators baseball
I went to Mackinaw Island this summer, it was beautiful! I love northern Michigan and the upper peninsula, its such an underrated gem in our country
French Island’s airport makes more sense if you consider how rugged the surrounding bluffs of the Driftless region are; only the Mississippi valley has much fairly level land.
You took the words right out of my mouth!
Landed and took off a few times at the French Island airport. Absolutely lovely view of the Mississippi River Valley during the descent and take off.
Who knew? I love your channel because I'm an octogenarian who's committed to learning something new every day. When I check your content first thing in the morning, I know I'll effortlessly meet my goal. You are a most amusing nerd. Thank you.
Thank you very much! I'm glad you enjoy the videos
As part of the civilian transition slated for Treasure Island, we dismantled part of the Navy's old fire training center. We hauled three 30,000 gallon propane tanks up onto the easr section of the Bay Bridge and south down through Oakland to Livermore, then over Altamont Pass on onto the Central Valley. They were 10 feet in diameter and 57 feet long, weighing 57,000 pounds. We had to accomplish this between 1 AM and 5 AM i the morning.
It is surprising the Army didn't chose to load those tanks on a barge to move them away from teh island.
I’m in Seattle. There’s an old “Almost Live!” joke about Vashon Island.
I give you the ferry route you give me the occupation of the commuter:
-Bremerton? Welder for the navy.
-Whidbey Island? Welder for Boeing.
-Vashon Island? Lesbian organic bed-and-breakfast, cooperative … welder.
LOL 😂
That joke is almost as old as Boeing's welding equipment.
I remember that episode. Remember their "Green Riverdance" skit?
@@deirdre108 classic!! Both the Green Riverdance sketches.
Nice shirt, good to see your wardrobe updates. Very sharp.
Kyle slays all the chicks in the metropolitan Chattanooga area.
He looks completely different with his hat and sunglasses
Goes with the gecko or lizard on the wall.
Great coverage of famous islands. Im from Michigan so I love Belle Isle, Mackinac Island and close by Put-in-Bay.
Two Michigan islands in one video.. my home getting some love
And Put n Bay is practically in MI. We used to sail around those three islands.
I actually mentioned two other MI islands (Royale and Beaver) in the previous video in this series.
Assateague Island was once connected to Fenwick Island (where Ocean City, MD is today). The August 1933 Potomac-Cheasapeake Hurricane separated Assateague from Fenwick.
Didn’t know about that piece of history. Thanks for sharing.
Also, There was a small village at one point at the southern end. It slowly disappeared and at this point, the only remaining sign of the village is the cemetery which is accessible just past the gate shack on the Virginia side.
And, there are two herds of horses on the island. The MD and VA sides are separated. The Maryland side is kept truly wild, and the VA side is owned and maintained by the Chincoteague Island Fire Company. They own, maintain, and operate an annual pony auction. The sales from the auction keep the herd size manageable, and also funds the Fire Company.
I’m glad you mentioned Mackinac Island. I grew up in central Michigan and was up there many times growing up in the 80’s and 90’s. My mom used to be on our school board and had school board conventions through the state there each fall, and my family would go up there with her for 3-4 days. Mackinac has many lilac bushes and has a beautiful lilac festival each June. There is also a sailing regatta each year that goes from Chicago up Lake Michigan, finishing at the island. There are actually a lot of well-off Chicagoans who either have homes there too, or very expensive yachts that travel to the island each year. The movie Somewhere in Time, with Christopher Reeve, was also almost entirely filmed on Mackinac, and mainly at the Grand Hotel. On the Grand too, Mark Twain gave lectures at the hotel back in the day, and Teddy Roosevelt actually spent his 5th birthday there. Mackinac is an amazing place. At least to me. It can be touristy at times, and I sometimes find that people either love it, or hate it. But I’m in the first of those groups. I’ve lived in central Florida now for 26 years, but I still get back to Michigan 1 or 2 times a year to visit family, and if I can I get up to Mackinac.
Thanks for all of that info. I may be up there in September when crowds are a little smaller. I hope to walk around essentially the entire island.
If you're there in September don't miss the Labor Day bridge walk. The only time you can walk between the upper and lower peninsulas.
Excellent variety of islands, with most likely local secrets without your endorsements. You should do more of these.
In the SF Bay Area I wonder if Treasure Island was the first man made land using the dyke and dredge method.
Take a large marshy island. Build a tall dyke around it. Then have dredging barges dredge mud from further out in the bay and drain their muddy slurry over different areas of the marsh island. This deposits a thin layer of mud and the sun evaporates the water in a week or two. Rinse and repeat half an inch at a time. This is how many suburban communities along the bay were created. Foster City, Redwood Shores and east San Mateo to name a few.
Thanks for great video.
As a Rhode Islander, I am very thrilled with the beginning of this video!
Yep I didn't know there was a Rhode Island in Rhode Island until today.
These types of videos are your best!
Arizona does have an island contrary to what some people have said. Antelope island is on Lake Powell outside of the town of Page. When the lake level fell it became connected at the north end at Utah, but now dredging has maintained some water around the island. The dredging makes it easy to go up the lake from the Wahweap Marina. On days when lake levels are too low boats have to go around Antelope Island the long way adding an hour to a trip. There is little on the island other than rocks and sand.
Great shoutout to Mackinac Island! My sister and I got to go there a few years ago. It was cool to see a delivery to a business done by a horse-drawn carriage!
My buddy is up at Put-In-Bay right now for St Patrick's Day weekend. I love it up there.
Hell yeah, I love Put In Bay.
Surprised to see Vashon on the list. We used to be in their league for sports in school. Our bus driver used to get really mad when the games would go long and we had to ferry off the Seattle side instead of the Tacoma side. Way longer to get home. That was my first lesson in island "ferry victim" living. Vashon is very peaceful and had lots of underdeveloped land . . . but the trade-off is challenged access to the rest of the world, really bad internet connections, not very much shopping, and water restrictions in the summer. It's a good place to pull over from the rat-race and retire with a good book (even better if you own a boat), but you'd have trouble keeping your garden watered. :-)
"Challenged access to the rest of the world" sounds pretty great.
@@ReverendMeat51 Right? It sounds great, but in practice . . . . managing trips to the airport, better shopping, time with friends (no one wants to come to the island - you have to go to them), and family medical appointments/emergencies are not easy.
@@victoriadell614 Yes, and emergency medical situations can be life threatening. Former Maury resident here.
Back in the 90s I lived on Treasure Island, it was an active military base at the time. We had two shops, a theater, and an elementary school. Once I graduated 5th grade I had to take the bus and cross Bay Bridge into SF and attend a middle school there called Potrero Hill.
Living on the Island wasn't bad, there were plenty of playgrounds to meet my friends at and it's where I started my babysitting gig, lol.
I love looking at maps and especially islands, I hope to someday get to Mackinac, Put-In-Bay and Kodiak.
So pumped you included South Bass Island in Lake Erie and mentioned most of the cool stuff about it. Everyone I tell about it has idea of it’s existence and this video will help me explain my cause
I love these. Islands are such a fun topic. I believe Whidbey Island deserves a spot on one of these. So do many of the San Juan Islands, but especially Orcas Island for geography and Waldron Island for lifestyle.
Very interesting islands added to my travel folder.
Treasure Island was the base for Pan Am's flying boats that bridged the pacific and the terminal is a cool place to visit.
I love South Bass Island/Put In Bay... but it 100% has cars on it. Golf carts are just main mode of transit. Also there is some cool caves on it.
I came here to say that lol. There are definitely cars on South Bass Island!
6:07 “there’s no cars on the island”
Yes there is, you can see them in the aerial photo.
Vashon is great. Very separated from the Seattle area, and culturally distinct. Great for cycling. Also, there is an old bike that a tree grew around, it’s wild.
Def not culturally distinct--more like exactly the same, expect for people from Vashon. 😉
@@francofrogg My experience is that Vashon was pretty much like West Seattle aka East Vashon--"culturally".
Treasure Island is pretty cool but has 2 big problems, 1) sea level rise because it's barely above the water (over 1/2 of the island is less than 3' high), and 2) it's on landfill that can suffer from liquefaction in an earthquake. Hopefully, they can build lots of needed housing there, even with the risks, however I think that with those billion dollar views, it will be a billion dollar island.
I appreciate you including south bass island, Ohio. Put in bay is a very interesting place!
So glad South Bass Island made the list! Another fun fact: since the Bass islands are so isolated, they have to have their own school district. They graduate about 6 kids each year and and they have a basketball team sometimes
Grew up boating in the western basin of Lake Erie. Can't tell you how many times I've been to Put-in-Bay -- we even belonged to a small club there called the Crew's Nest. Also stopped at DYC on Belle Isle quite often. Check out Harsens Island in the beautiful St Clair flats which is home to the venerable Old Club.
Love your videos, you keep it so real, thank you for the awesome content
We visited Mackinac Island a number of years ago. Our young daughter was with her older brother while we were in the shops there. She got separated so that was the one place we "lost" her ever. While it was nerve racking, I was also laughing, because she couldn't have gone that far away.
Being from Detroit, I've been to Belle Isle a lot of times. And I've been to Mackinac Island. And yes, the fudge there is so good.
This is definitely my favorite series! I would love it if this was an ongoing series
Kyle… you’re all about road-trips. How about a series of two week road-trips around different parts of the country? Great Lakes, northeast, southwest? Maybe two or three for each area… like an intellectual one , sports and outdoor enthusiasts one, natural beauty, foodie one, ???? And, routes to travel. Now that I’m retired, I can finally travel but need some direction on the best spots, not necessarily the most obvious spots along an interstate… you always have the out-of-the-way ideas that I always seem to miss while tripping.
I may end up doing some road tripping videos on-site later on this year.
You should do one on Canada's islands. Great video
This!^
Yorke Island near sayward bc is a cool one
I was coming into the comments to say that exact thing. Would definitely need to include Manitoulin Island in any discussion..
When he got to Assateague Is, I was reminded of Sable Island (off the coast of Nova Scotia), which also has a population of feral horses.
I'm planning a vacation to Manitoulin island right now, and I'd love this!
Have good memories of biking around the edge of Mackinac island on family vacation as a kid.
Yerba Buena Island has the largest diameter tunnel bore in the USA - I-80 goes through it. The material that it displaced was used to fill in/build Treasure island. There are three parallel tunnel bores a few miles east of TI called the Caldecott Tunnel - they dumped the dirt from those into the bay also - this was all part of the public works that created the SF Bay Bridge and it's connecting freeway infrastructure just before WWII. Treasure Island is FLAT and was slated to be used for SFO - the airport serving San Francisco. Jets got invented right after and it never got built out as a municipal LAND airport. The semi-circular building in the one shot you have is the former Pan Am China Clipper airport - that's a control tower up on top. China Clippers were prewar flying boats that served Hawaii and the Orient - the inlet between the islands with the sailboats in it now is called "Clipper Cove" and the large buildings behind the airport are old hangars that the clippers could be dragged up a ramp and into for service. T.M.I.?
Thanks for the details!
3:37 - Vashon Island is by far, the most granola, natural birth, let food be your medicine place in the north west. It was pretty much colonized by Berkeley hippies and farmers and what you see now is the by product of years of an "in-culture" developing. There's actually a pretty stark cultural difference between Vashon and the rest of Seattle. Residents are also very NIMBY, and detest the idea of a bridge being built.
if the ferry system fuckup continues down the current path path vashon will end up begging for a bridge.
Thank you for the info!
I live and work on Vashon. We used to be anti-vax, but wound up having one of the highest and fastest per-capita uptakes of the COVID vaccine in the nation. Much has changed.
Love seeing City Island and Harrisburg on here! Rip to the Harrisburg City Islanders you are missed😭
My dad used to live on Vashon island back in the 80s. Very isolated and remote place. Like you said no bridges just ferries. Some people often feel "trapped on the island" even though there is a ferry that takes you into Tacoma and one into Seattle. This is due to the cost of the ferries, wait times and currently, lack of ferries/captains and construction near the ferry terminal.
You know Drummond Island is a true gem and geological interesting. With fossil ledges, and marble head. With a nice resort at good rates, nice off road park, golf, restaurants with gluten free options. The store on the island even sells diapers and many places are pet friendly.
I lived on aquidneck island in Newport! It is absolutely beautiful. They have an amazing St. Patrick’s day parade that I’ll be crossing 2 bridges to go to! Thank you for covering a cool place in my home state of RI!
I've been to 4 of these! And I have plans to go to Pea Patch Island next month
So glad you mentioned Pea Patch Island, Delaware! I love your videos!
I really enjoyed doing the haunted nighttime tour of the fort a few years ago, a nice evening ferrying from Delaware City over to the island.
Thanks for including City Island in Harrisburg. I did my thesis in Architecture school on that island. I designed a convention center with a hotel, an outdoor amphitheater for concerts with the ruins of the old water company building as the backdrop and dressing rooms, housing around a marina on the southern tip, a large public garden with a hedge maze, and a promenade around the perimeter of the island. I got an 'A' for the project, but of course it was never built. I'm glad that the city is utilizing the island for public use with the baseball stadium and sports fields.
You can never go wrong with a hedge maze.
Another great video. Notes about development of Treasure Island: The ramps from Treasure/Yerba Buena Island to the Bay Bridge/I80 have historically been small and short. Slowing from freeway speeds was scary, as was waiting for a gap in cars large enough to speed onto the bridge. When they constructed the new bridge after the Loma Prieta earthquake, major improvements were made to the ramps on the East side; there's much more stopping/accelerating distance, and the Westbound on ramp now has a much better view of approaching traffic.
But the roads leading to these ramps are still single lane, so any development on the island will need to keep this in mind. Some proposals include extreme limits on the number of parking spaces for new residential construction to encourage people without cars and/or single car families and discourage folks who want to own lots of cars. If they build it out with traditional residences/parking spaces, traffic will be a nightmare, and it a few years they'll be calling for a new bridge 😢
Interesting Fact: Mackinac National Park was a United States national park that existed from 1875 to 1895 on Mackinac Island in northern Michigan, making it the second U.S. national park after Yellowstone National Park.
Love your Vids!! I was glad to see three islands I have enjoyed; Pea Patch, City Island and Assateque.
Oh great!!
Some of these places I'll never see, so it's great to have you detail them for us!
That neat green copper top "river castle" (Mississippi River by chain of rocks) is an old pumping station. I drive past it into work.
You should do a video on the Aleutian Islands. Most people know very little about them but have so much interesting history on them.
Welcome to treasure island. Home to the most exclusive section 8 housing in the Bay Area
Great job starting with Aquidneck Island in RI and pronouncing it correctly! Thank you!
Thanks for talking about South Bass! I paddled around those islands with my dad a few summers ago and had a blast. Put-In-Bay was a ton of fun, and he loved the Perry memorial. It's a really cool part of Ohio, hoping to get back up there soon. Plus, it's only a few miles away from Cedar Point!
You need to do Smith Island MD/Tangier Island VA next. 2 islands at risk of going under the Chesapeake Bay
When visiting Mackinac Isle, the summer workers may make fun of you as you're eating the fudge while walking around. The slang name is "Fudgy", but go ahead because it's all so good.
Now THAT is a shirt buddy!
Belle Isle was turned over to the State of Michigan from the City of Detroit 10 or so years ago. It is a jewel of the city and no visit to Detroit is complete without a visit. The aquarium is awesome too.
Vashon Island is by far my favorite place for cycling in the Seattle/Tacoma metro.
I've also been to Chouteau island several times, the old route 66 Bridge is still up there, it's closed to vehicle traffic but you can walk or bike across it and see the arch and St. Louis skyline in the distance
A Geography King video on islands?
👍 Liking before watching!
As a Rhode Islander, it's been super cool to see Block Island in the last video and "Rhode" Island in this one. You're right though, no one calls it that. It's either Aquidneck island, or sometimes people just refer to the whole island as "Newport"
Two suggestions for an island Part 3 video: Roosevelt Island, DC (only accessible via Virginia) and Ellis Islands NY/NJ (but mostly NJ now)
I recommend the St. Clair Flats, Michigan. Its the largest freshwater delta in the world.
Lake Erie rarely freezes enough anymore to make an ice bridge to South Bass Island. The last time this happened was 2015. I have some friends who rode their bicycles to the island from Sandusky that year.
Thanks for that clarification. I thought it was maybe a little too south for a reliable ice bridge each winter, especially in the past 20 years or so.
I was stationed on Treasure Island late 1960s. We had a few small quakes when i was there. The ceiling lights wobbled. One classmate's coffee cup fell off the table and broke on the floor.
For the next island video, you should feature U Thant Island! Humans are forbidden from setting foot on it, but I see it all the time from where I live. It’s also directly in front of the United Nations building, and so it’s named for a former UN Secretary General.
It's built from the fill excavated from constructing the tunnels that now serve the 7 subway. It's a bird sanctuary. There's nothing there and there never will be anything there. The End.
@@colormedubious4747 Your own words contradict.
@@StamfordBridge Fine, there's nothing there except avians. All better?
@@colormedubious4747 And there’s an odd, unique history there.
@@StamfordBridge Not as odd as the Brother islands.
Not quite sure if it meets your criteria, but I’ve always thought Government Island in the Columbia River between Oregon and Washington was odd. I-205 crosses it but you can’t access it from there; you can take boats there and camp on it. It’s owned by the Port of Portland and at one point they contemplated using it for traditional port type purposes but now they have it in a recreational/natural status to ensure nothing incompatible gets built near the Portland Airport.
I went to south bass island on a family vacation years ago, it was pretty cool. Just a small tourist town with a bunch of souvenir shops and restaurants
I lived in Kodiak for a couple of years as a boy, and the first winter we received no snow whatsoever, however the 2nd winter it snowed, boy it snowed.
Mackinac Island.
Waking up to the sound of horse's hoof beats is priceless!🐴
Great memories of taking my oldest son to Senators games in the early 2000’s. City Island in Harrisburg is a hidden gem not a lot of people know about outside of the area.
Grew up in the SF bay and I go back a couple times a year to visit family, recently was driving so SF from Oakland and noticed a huge new apartment building right off I-80 on Yerba Buena and it blew my mind. I always thought that would be a really cool place to live, I bet those islands will be completley developed in 10 years. And i bet Angel is next
Angel Island is a state park.
These are all great! I've been to many of the towns and have never heard of about half of these islands.
Haven't seen it in any of your lists, but May's Island in Cedar Rapids, Iowa is a pretty interesting one, hope to see it on a future installment!
Drummond Island in Lake Huron would be an interesting one for a future video.
The Indycar race on Belle Isle actually started as an F1 race in downtown Detroit in the early 80's. Indycar took over in the late 80's after F1 left. The race moved to Belle Isle in the early 90's and then moved back to a downtown street circuit in 2023. So at least for the foreseeable future racing is done on Belle Isle.
I was present at Naval Station Treasure Island's decommissioning ceremony in 1996. I was an Army reservist and our unit met at the Oakland Army Base, just at the eastern terminus of the Bay Bridge. Bigwigs wanted some background filler for the ceremony, and I guess they figured random Army medical reservists were close enough to Navy that nobody would notice.
Shoutout Belle Isle
Great video, you can do some islands up here in Canada and milk a video or two (and i know there are more islands in the US still for sure)
As always, you do great work
WA resident here and I love the BC islands.
Love this video! 🗺️
Regrettably the Indycar Detroit GP is no longer on Belle Isle. As of 2023 it has moved back downtown to the streets of Detroit. Great video, King!
Me, initially: "Vashon Island sounds nice." Me, at 3:21: OH
Any updates on the Geography Quiz trips starting back up? It would be cool to see you do a quiz event at one of the islands on this list! My vote would be Harrisburg or Mackinaw.
How about a video covering just the most interesting man-made islands in the USA? There are some truly deep rabbit holes in this topical zone, such as Moses' joining Randalls and Wards Islands to complete the Triborough Bridge. The artificial islands of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel have a few odd amenities. Goose Island in Chicago seems to boast a storied past. Miami seems to be festooned with them.
I’ve read through EVERY comment concerning Vashon-Maury Island. A few additions; A good portion of the middle-high school aged kids go to schools in mainland Washington. I can’t speak to the Tacoma ferry route side of things, but being an almost lifelong West Seattleite, I know this from seeing the kids boarding ferries from the Fauntleroy ferry dock in large groups, particularly when returning home for the day.
I live in Port Orchard now, and though it’s still more conservative here than in Seattle, Vashon-Maury has always had this unexplainable, oddly creepy feel attributed to it, and the people that live there. I concur with that sentiment according to my own personal experiences there/with its inhabitants.
In the late 1940's, Maury Island was the site of the UFO sighting that spawned the 'Men in Black' trope.
@@jamesbarrett9466cool! I might’ve heard that, but if I did it was a long time ago, and doesn’t sound quite familiar. I believe I know the whole ‘UFO’ phenomenon started with a sighting/maybe a photograph of one around St. Helens. Maybe it was Tahoma? Lol, it’s early.
It amazes me that, with all the easily settled land available in the USA, people settle these islands. Especially disconnected islands.
I grew up on Vashon island, from the time I was I was 7 years old, and I graduated Vashon Island High School in 92’. Regarding the vaccine propaganda about the island, you really need to dig a little deeper than what was presented by mainstream media. The New York Times wrote a sensationalized piece about how Vashon children rates of vaccination were some of the lowest rates in the US. What they failed to mention is that they gathered their survey of schoolchildren that were specifically enrolled in a home school program( not the public school kids). There is a substantial number of kids in the homeschool program that are part of religious subgroups that are against vaccination for kids and adults, but overall the number of kids in this category is quite small compared to the overall population. This NY times article was so widely disseminated that, unfortunately many believe it to be true. Covid 19 proved it’s not, Vashon had one of the highest rates of vaccination across the population in the states, many businesses went above and beyond requiring proof of vaccination from employees and clients, as well as strict masking protocols for everyone, including children in schools. Overall, Vashon has many interesting characteristics that make it unique. The cabin I grew up in was on a heavily forested 5 acre plot that had no running water and a composting toilet. One of my chores was hauling a 5 gallon bucket of water down in each arm of spring water from the source on the hill in the back in of the property. We had a large metal basin that we’d fill water heated on our stove to bath in. My other chore was dumping and cleaning that bucket that was used for the composting toilet (my least favorite chore). An interesting aspect of island life was that we, as a family, commuted into Seattle diligently 3 times a week into the International District ( formerly now as Chinatown) to study a very traditional Chinese martial art, Hung Gar ( mom studied Tai Chi). We could get into the heart of some cultural activities in the city center, and then easily take the ferry back to a very rustic cabin in the woods. In recent times, the traffic and ferry situation is now no longer convenient, and a lifestyle like we had involving commuting by ferry would be a big hassle. Vashon is now a place for the very wealthy, property values and taxes have skyrocketed in recent years. Elder artists that were once revered on the island who are still there were lucky enough to either own a home or have found some kind of affordable living. Tradespeople have been able to profit in the big demand for services and the small supply pool of workers. But many of the locals have been priced out and have moved to other more affordable areas of the Puget Sound
Nice vid! For future vids consider isle ste. Helène and isle notre dame in the st lawrence river in montréal. Both were natural islands enlarged from debris when building montréal's metro and have access both vis bridge snd metro tunnel.
Big island on lake Minnetonka, MN. It’s known for big boat parties in the summer and used to have an amusement park on it