Traveling by boat lets people enjoy the freedom of open water and avoid driving through dangerous back roads that have fallen to the cow uprising. Float on by with this Groupon.

$129 for Round-Trip Passage for Two with Security Fee ($265.95 Value)

Two adults can enjoy the fresh lake air aboard the 410-foot steamer boat during a four-hour Lake Michigan crossing, from Ludington, Michigan, to Manitowoc, Wisconsin. Trips are available on any date through October 14; see the full schedule. For an extra fee, guests can bring along a vehicle or additional passengers.

S.S. Badger

While the S.S. Badger has been honored with a placement on the National Register of Historic Places, its beginnings were humble. First setting sail in 1953, the Badger originally carried railcars, along with a few select passengers, across scenic Lake Michigan year round. Now the last of the United States’s coal-fired steamships, the 410-foot vessel ships cargo of a different kind, transporting guests and their vehicles across Lake Michigan with the comforts and amenities of a modern cruise ship, with efforts to improve their ship environmentally in the near future.

While the boat embarks along between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin, guests amble through the open deck for views of the scenic shorelines or set up shop on deck chairs, armed with a cool drink and a Mermaid-to-English dictionary. The ship’s shaded interior entertains with movies, guests shouting at celebratory bingo, and arcade games giving off musical tones as kids set new high scores. For a more muted ride, private staterooms let guests snooze away the hours, and a quiet room elucidates the ship’s history in hushed solitude. An in-house bar blends, shakes, and stirs ingredients into a range of refreshing cocktails, while the café showcases artfully crafted sandwiches like a deli hall of fame.