On August 24 we back tracked 12 miles to Ludington in the hopes of closing the gap between us and our friends Terri and Hal aboard C’est le Bon (they were about 35 miles north of us). We got in mid afternoon and visited a local photography studio by a father-son team (Brad and Todd Reed). Fabulous photographs of Michigan!!! (www.ToddandBradReed.com) I figured it would be frowned upon to take pictures of their pictures so I didn’t.
August 25: Left early ahead of the Badger, perfect day to cross Lake Michigan to check out the Wisconsin side. Flag says no wind, but the smoke stack and mist say otherwise. The Badger had traveled over from Manitowac, WI about an hour earlier, leaving its trail of coal smoke. Morning mist from Ludington Lake.The plan for today, a 6 and 1/2 hour run west. The green triangle on our boat icon is a passing freighter and the one on our stern is the Badger. Now it looks like the Badger is on top of us. In reality she was abeam of us. Of course she docked well ahead of us in Manitowac. Manitowac is home to the fabulous Wisconsin Maritime Museum. Bob enjoyed this display with a Mark V helmet he wore when he was a professional diver. This mannequin is wearing the same Scuba Pro fins that Bob has been wearing for over 40 years!This ship was the railroad ferry that docked in St. Ignace. This display shows its bow thruster. Wow!And the machinery behind its engines. Cool display of the Great Loop!Our grandchildren would love this learning center for kids. Outside was the submarine Cobia. Bob is ringing the Memorial Bell for all Veterans. Sighting in. And we thought our engine room was complicated…Back on top, the placards along the boardwalk commemorate all the subs that were built in Manitowac. For a stretch, they were building these subs in 10 months. First they did test runs/training in Lake Michigan and then they were floated down the Illinois and Mississippi Rivers to the Gulf of Mexico. August 26: We had just enough of a weather window to head south to Sheboygan. The 5 star giant hotel Blue Harbor is to the right. Afternoon entertainment was watching a lightning regatta from the Sheboygan Yacht Club next door. Coming back into the harbor. They did a total of 5 races on Saturday. Then they enjoyed a lively BBQ with live music. Sounded like good fun was had by all. August 27: Noticed this boat behind us. The Ra. Check our their website: PiratesoftheSun.com They are doing the loop with no fossil fuel usage – totally running electric outboards from solar power. I had a nice long chat with Captain Jim Greer – a bit too dark to see his face however. He originally had just two tiny outboards, but has since added a larger one in the middle. He’s finding it difficult to head south along Lake Michigan since he really needs calm waters to move. He’ll be here another few days before moving on, but he does hope to be the first solar powered boat to complete the Loop. The marina has a wine bar with a very nice look out porch. I went up there to watch the Sunday races. Only 14 brave souls lined up to today’s last two races. Exciting downwind run. Beach to the north of the marina. Surfs up!Remnants of a schooner built here in the ship building era. Placard explains the ship. There’s a mile plus long boardwalk along the Sheboygan River, full of eateries and cute shops. Across the way were two old fishing boats named Nelson and William G. Weird, Bill G’s father’s name is Nelson. Almost Islandia. An amazing row of hydrangeas!Another typical day on Lake MichiganLooks like we’ll be weathered in for another day or two. Even this 108 foot cruiser came in to get out of the waves!
Saturday, August 19: Left Ludington, easy run south to Pentwater (only 12 miles). Tied up at Snug Harbor Marina and planned to stay until Monday morning, once our package of parts arrived at the marina (yet another solenoid and a 30 amp splitter). Little did we know we would be here for 5 days!!! Ironic, since Pent means 5, and the name Pentwater came from the small lake being “pent up” until a logging entrepreneur in the 1800s opened up a canal to Lake Michigan.Our “front yard” looking down the main street. Reminded me of our new home town of Altamont. Lots of neat artsy shops, restaurants and no stop lights.Our “back yard” with boats from the nearby Yacht Club. The red team and the blue team head out to the Lake for an Ensign Race.Took a stroll through town and entered this candy/ice cream shop. Random! Chairlifts and old skis!!!I think everyone of our Snow Ridge Skiing friends/family members owned one of these skis at one point.Apparently space is not an issue in Michigan as it is for NYS liquor stores. So interesting to have a baby grand piano be the center of a Rose Wine display.August 20: Early morning line up of swallows.Our noisy neighbors.Took a walk out to the breakwater. Bob was amazed by these flowers.He dubbed them the Chernobyl hibiscus.Then he noticed this hummingbird (yeah Bob!).She hung around long enough for me to get this shot…and this one. Made my day!A beautiful rental with no one in it!Next door rental with beautiful window boxes, also with no one home!
One of the dock workers told me there were Monarch Way Stations along the breakwater. Cool to find them!All the necessary ingredients for attracting butterflies and monarchs in particular.Perfect sailing day.Glorious Sunday afternoon at the beach.I noticed a sand dune behind the beach….so of course we had to climb it.Looking off to the north…through amber waves of grain.Walking back down to the beach.For our diving friends – oh no – a flying lethal coral snake!!!!Walking back into town we finally realize why the electricians in Charlevoix couldn’t find the source of our electrical discharge problem – they didn’t have this handy schematic of our electrical system!Went by this bar that had a wonderful band and jib sails for sun covers. Then we noticed the sign in the background…Mort’s! What are the chances? Just learned that a dear friend from Rome, Ian Marwick, nicknamed Mort, had passed away at age 89….RIP Mort – great guy!Bob thinking about an accessory for his Dodge Magnum.Silly picture for my grandkids. OMG – I need a haircut!!!August 21 – Eclipse Day!!! Made a ridiculous viewing box out of a Triscuits box – which really didn’t work well. Fortunately a fellow looper had eclipse sunglasses which she very nicely shared with me. Got to see an 80% eclipse – so cool!!! Temperature dropped and the wind picked up at near totality. Then the birds started chirping and the world reset.For the record, my hummingbird feeder did attract some hummingbirds. I didn’t get a photo of them at the feeder but if you look to the left, there’s one leaving to the right of the sailboat mast.So we waited until 5pm on Monday, August 21 for our parts to arrive. Weather was perfect in the morning for heading south. But by 5pm, too windy to head out. Paid for another night of dockage. On August 22, I got my haircut in town. Kathrine at the local salon performed a miracle and turned my straw hair back into real hair. Walked a mile to this nature center.Turns out the nature center is actually a 3 acre private residence owned by Lee and Elaine Curtis, former teachers. Lee’s life long hobby has been developing an arboretum. He’s now 85 and loves to have visitors see all the trees he’s planted and his educational stations for kids. His wife delights in gardening (and of course has a registered Monarch Way Station). In the background are vertical wood planks. Each plank is from a different native Michigan Tree which he has labeled at the bottom.On his desk I noticed a blueberry picking device my French cousins have. You put your thumb and fingers into the holes, then swoop through the blueberry plants. The leaves fall through the tines, and viola! the blueberries fall into the wooden box.One of Lee’s teaching stations.Back at the marina I had noticed these ducks that I couldn’t find in my bird book. (Such a bird nerd!). Per Lee Curtis, these ducks are a hybrid of farm ducks and mallards.Mother duck rejoining her ducklings.All is well.August 22 – beautiful day – but winds steady at 20mph with gusts up to 30.Yeah………a no brainer, we’re not leaving port today.
Waves crashing over the breakwater.August 23 – still blowing so we did all those mundane tasks we put off to “someday.” Laundry, washing the deck, replacing the solenoid, repairing the forward flag staff, vacuuming, dusting, blah blah blah. Fun part was meeting more loopers and locals at the marina. By the end of the evening it did calm down. Looks like a good day to leave on the 24th.
Wednesday, August 16: Perfect day for a 50 mile jaunt to Lundington. Our autohelm conked out awhile ago, was mailed to Ohio for repairs and then mailed to the Municipal Marina in Lundington. Could have used it today! But fortunately the sailboat that is barely visible on the horizon was also going to Lundington at our pace. Convenient marker to follow!
Going by Big Sable Lighthouse. Entering the channel way to Ludington.We come face to face with the defunct car ferry Spartan. Back in the day Ludington was an important, busy center for transporting lumber. As a railroad depot there were many times when there would be over 10 huge car/railroad ferries in the bay. One thing I’ve liked about all the towns in Michigan is that there’s an effort to not cut down milkweed. Hence, I’ve seen more monarchs in Michigan than I’ve seen in the past 3 years in NY. The nightly entertainment is to watch the car ferry Badger come in and dock. Badger is the last coal powered ferry still working. It’s 400+feet long and makes two trips daily across Lake Michigan to Manitowac, Wisconsin.Opposite our marina it drops its starboard anchor.Then it basically uses the anchor as a spring line to back against.
It turns 180 degrees so it can then back into its slip.Pulls up the anchor…and ties up to the dock. Meanwhile back at the marina, says the heron to the fish: “Gotcha!”A rare moment, a kingfisher landed long enough for me to take its picture. August 17: Nasty day. Bob rented a car to get our friend Bill back to the airport for his trip back home. It was nice to have him on board.
August 18: Still nasty (got tons of laundry done!). Went to the nearby Maritime Museum. This simulator for the car ferry was so much fun! A simulation of Captain Wallace Van Dyke gave instructions. This Captain lost his right arm in a hunting accident as a teen. Not to be deterred, he went on to captain sailboats transporting lumber. Then he “switched from sail to steam” and captained a coal ferry for decades. Bob happy to steer the boat between the breakwater piers. Also in the museum was this placard from one of the ships – good ol’ GE in Schenectady, NY!This sailing sculpture in the park next to us faces directly west. I was hoping to get a cool sunset shot through it, but not to be. Whimsical sculpture titled “Follow the Leader.”Just to be clear about the ownershipThe winds started to calm down Friday night so we went out in the dinghy to watch the Badger do its docking thing. Looper friends Bill and Laurie had the same idea. These folks are “gold loopers” because they have already completed the loop. They did it over the course of a few years in three month segments because they still work/live in San Diego, CA. They are currently enjoying loop 2. Backing in to the connecting “apron.”Off comes a greyhound bus. A much calmer night. Looks like we’ll be able to move on tomorrow morning. Badger heads out at 9 PM.
Monday, August 14. After my trip to Castle Farms I returned to the marina by 3pm. The electrician had given up trying to find the source of the electrical discharge and recommended that we have the boat rewired!!! Fortunately by using a 50 amp splitter we do not discharge any amperage so we are safe to move along. We settled our million dollar bill (they at least gave us a break on the dockage fee), left at 4:30 and went by these cute beach houses for the Belvedere Beach Club. Good bye mushroom houses. We made the 5pm opening of the Charlevoix Bridge. Felt like we were getting out of prison. But, can’t complain, it was a beautiful area. Looking back.We went a short distance (about 20 miles) to Northport. If you visulalize the lower pennisula of Michigan as a mitten, this would be located at the top of the left hand pinky. Nice backdrop for our new backyard (and crystal clear water, could see the anchor from 50+feet away). August 15, heading south, going by Grand Traverse Lighthouse. Western side of Michigan State/east coast of Lake Michigan has sand dunes running for over a hundred miles. The Sleeping Bear dunes were voted by ABC network as one of the top 10 most beautiful spots in America. People having fun on the dunes, which made me want to do that too. So I got into the dinghy and drove over to the dunes, Bob idled slowly south. Looking north.Looking south…and back to Islandia!People walking up and down a 400+foot dune!Going by Point Betsie Lighthouse. Lake Michigan boasts the most number of lighthouses among the Great Lakes. Per guidebook, this one is the most popular one for photo shoots. I stood on top of the sundeck to take a shot of the lighthouse with the dunes in the background.Felt something tickling my foot – it was a monarch! (and not a spider!). No comment about the overdue need for a pedicure. Over the course of the day 20+ monarchs crossed our bow. Seems to be the beginning of fall migration. Yikes, Fall? And, BTW, what is their plan? It’s over 60 miles to the other side of the lake.I estimated this stairwell is about 15 flights of stairs. Don’t forget the sunscreen! Also wondered if the new home owners are concerned about erosion. Another inviting dune. Heading in to the next NLT (nice little town) of Frankfort. Dunes just to the north of the entry. Harbor front.At the head of our dock was a garden full of obedient flowers. Would love to know how to make them work. Lots of murals in this part of the world. Back at the marina we noticed our doppleganger. First we’ve seen along our journey – but the next day we saw 2 more. Funny how things seem to happen in threes. (The owners, Charlie and Robin were a lot of fun).
Sunday, August 13: We had a leisurely morning at the anchorage in Lake Charlevoix and then decided to head back to the marina since the electrician said he could resume his work Monday morning. Went by this popular lunch spot next to a cable ferry. (And for the record, I only took ONE picture today, only to be outdone by taking a million pictures the next day). Monday, August 14. A new day dawns. On my optometer, I had the electrician arriving by 9am. Uh, no, not coming until at least 2pm!!!But one nice feature of the marina is that they are part of a Bike Share program. I was able to sign out this pink bike and ride over to a nearby tourist attraction (about 3 miles away). And here it is – Castle Farms!So in 1918 Albert Leob, a Sears and Roebuck executive bought this land and built a model farm to sell farm equipment. The turrets were actually silos. Basically he disguised barns and silos as a castle. But a mere 6 years later he died suddenly. His family attempted to keep the farm running but failed. It lay vacant for 40 years before being sold off. Three owners later it was revived – very similar to the Boldt Castle story. Now it’s an amazing lay out of wedding/event venues, model trains and whimsical gardens. Entry to the Queen’s CastleGardens everywhere.Rose garden close-upAerial views of now – Lake Charlevoix is in the background – we anchored fairly close for a lunch stop on Sunday. And then, when in the later 70s to early 90s the roofless buildings surrounded a stage to host rock concerts. Lots of popular bands and artists over a 17 year span.Some of the players.Moving on to the Alphabet Garden near the model train village.
Wait a minute – there’s an “obedient plant?” Seriously?? Can you feed that to kids???And the rest of the alphabet.Outdoor gathering area for one of 5 wedding/event venues. The large barn doors open up to…Indoor seating. This wedding carriage is used regularly for the various weddings. Antique farm toys. Hold on, Fisher Price farm set is an antique?? No way!The current owner, Linda Mueller (who built her fortune with her husband by buying up hundreds of Domino Pizza franchises) made this quilt over a 5 year period. The quilt’s design illustrates events during the years of the Castle’s restoration. However, I’m not seeing a “Rock the Castle” square. Another larger venue area. More flowers. Back around to the model train area.
Tracks atop a cedar hedge maze.Even the inside of this turret had train tracks in it. Dizzying to look up!More miniature village.Train track spiralsThis is Norm the Dragon. He was purchased in 2012 at ArtPrize in Grand Rapids. It is made entirely of scrap metal pieces from shipping containers. The plants around Norm are a theme of plants depicting fire and danger (i.e. prickly cactus and flamer thrower flowers). The next bunch of photos were taken in the butterfly garden. Linda the owner is determined to help increase the monarch butterfly population. She doesn’t cut out any milkweed that pops up and has a screened in area for caterpillars to grow and turn into butterflies.
I was curious as to where this pathway led…And just like Alice, it led to a small (3 foot high) door. Wasn’t able to go through the door however.
Entrance to the Manager’s office. I liked the embedded horse shoe.Roof top view.This room was a lounge for all the workers (pretty small considering they had dozens of workers working there). On the TV is a continuous video loop narrated by Linda Mueller. She had such an upbeat narration of the castle’s history and restoration. 1918 corner stone.View from the back pond. Whimsical rock/wood art on one of the pond side buildings.OK, think I covered this place! But in case you want to know more, go to Castlefarms.com
Left Petoskey early to head down Lake Michigan. Sand dunes along the way, apparently there will be plenty more as we head south. We thought we had landed on Planet Ork, but it was just a cement factory outside our destination of Charlevoix.Lake Charlevoix Inlet: The bridge just out of sight only opens on the hour and half hour. Had to wait our turn. Looking back at the draw bridge which goes right through yet another artsy community. Lovely homes. I guess it takes 5 levels of motivation to achieve owning a five level house complex. Another nicely painted home. So shortly after we arrived at the Irish Boat Shop Marina, we plugged in as usual and set off an alarm that detects stray current in the water. Obviously a dangerous situation for anyone in the nearby water. The manager was called and he said he would arrange for an electrician to come over to find the source of the stray electricity. Well, four days later (16+ billable hours) we still have no answers. Fortunately we were able to bypass the problem with a temporary bandaid: for reasons beyond my comprehension, when we put our two 30amp cords into a 50amp splitter, our discharge is zero. So, we made several trips back and forth to the town of Charlevoix (a 5 mile round trip – at least we got our exercise!). This is a small butterfly garden outside the library.A monarch lands almost on cue on the butterfly bush flower. Seeing lots of monarchs in this neck of the woods. Charlevoix is known for its whimsical, mushroom houses. This one, “the Thatch House” can be rented. Looking across the street there is access to a public beach next to the breakwater/lighthouse. The town filled this park pond with trout.Walking back to the marina one goes through the Belvedere Club area – golf courses, yacht club, sailing school and beautiful homes. Wednesday night is apparently sailboat race night. I still don’t know why most of the docks here have these annoying posts on the outside of the docks (they are not for support). Just makes docking a bit tricky and then fender placement becomes challenging each time the boat moves. But, they at least make an interesting way to frame the boats racing by. Back to the beach area on Thursday to look for Petoskey stones. Success! The two oval stones to the left were purchased beforehand in town so I would know what to look for. Each hexagon is one organism in the colony of the petrified fossil coral. They were formed 350 million years ago when the area was covered with a salt water sea. The stones that have the really teeny tiny hexagons are known as Charlevoix stones. I also picked up just a blank white stone and painted it. (Being held hostage to the electricians for days results in doing very random projects). I hid the stone at the small beach next to the marina. I found out through the Harbor Hosts (who very nicely delivered an iPad to us that we ordered at a Walmart 16 miles away), that the small painted stones I have been seeing in the area are a project of six year old Ashton VanBrocklin. Per Jane and Bill Stone (ironic last name), he just thought it would be fun to paint rocks and hide them. Hope he finds this one. Back into town, going on day 4. For 59 years Charlevoix has hosted the “Waterfront Art Festival” on the 2nd Saturday of August, rain or shine. It did rain in the morning, but only briefly. So much painting, photography, wood work, jewelry and whimsical stuff talent here! This is actually the subject matter of a painting I would like to try. Not sure Bob will go for an easel on the boat. We’ll see…..On Saturday afternoon we learned the electrician would not be coming back that day or on Sunday so we left the marina for a night. We’ll resume the hemorrhaging of money on Monday. The marina is on Lake Charlevoix (about 20 miles long, 3 miles wide) so we left to explore the lake and anchor out for a change of scenery. Gotta love the name of this house.Boat house next door is also beautiful. Would be perfect for our friend Jamo Jones. I don’t know the name of this place but it was massive! Looks like a sailboat boat house similar to Boldt Castle’s boat house. Our backyard for the night. Had a pleasant visit with the “looper”boaters behind us, John and Kara aboard Crow’s Nest.
After 4 days of being weathered in, we left St. Ignace at 7am.The magnificent Mackinac BridgeMorning light on one of the spans.The shadow under the bridge makes a convenient border line between Lake Huron to the left and Lake Michigan to the right. The iconic candy striped White Shoal Lighthouse way off in the distance. Winds were supposed to be under 5 knots for the morning, but of course, we saw 15+ knots. Made for crunchy seas for the first two hours of the trip. Not a good day for this boat. Tow boat is anchored nearby. Last leg of the 50 mile trip into Little Traverse Bay was smooth sailing. Enticer pulls into the marina in Petoskey with a new group of guests. Downtown Petoskey was a brief walk from the marina. Cool town with lots of artsy stores.On the way over I noticed one of these painted rocks. Upon my return, the rock was gone. I guess someone did “rehide” it. Petoskey is actually known for a fossilized coral rock called “Petoskey stones.” Hope to find some!Headed back to the marina. Clocktower and park next to the marina with a breakwater in the background. Had to come back at night to take a snapshot of the clock at precisely 10:04. (From the movie “Back to the Future”) Fortunately, no lightning. Just a nice moon lit night. On August 7 we rented a car to pick up our friend Bill Grabenstetter at the nearby – not your average – airport. Waiting area had a nice Adirondack Lodge feel to it. Stopped for lunch at Harbor Springs on the way back. This town had several cool homes and gardens. Bill and Bob checking out this very sleek racing sled.Nearby busy sailing school. In Petoskey there is a community similar to Thousand Island Park. Very intricately painted Victorian homes which were formerly a Methodist Community. Walking over to the breakwater to view the sunset and then the full moon rise.The moon popped up behind a row of trees. Full moon! I learned later there was a partial eclipse. Missed it. A few stars start to pop out on the way back to the marina. Nice calm night.
August 3: Gloomy weather! The bright spot was this boat – Enticer, an 85 foot 1935 Trumpy-Matthews came into the marina. They charter one week cruisers, point of origin was Newport, RI. They went through the Erie Canal but then went through Lake Erie and Lake Huron to get here. Between rain squalls I walked out to the nearby boardwalk and found a random painted rock. Believe it or not, I only took 2 pictures on August 3. August 4: A rainbow first thing in the morning. As I walked over to the marina office to pay for another day and to do laundry, the rainbow warped into a double rainbow. Walked over to the nearby boardwalk and found very angry seas. This placard describes what you’re looking at. Amazing engineering! Coming back to the marina it looks like our boat is playing chicken with the Enticer. I also noticed the boat with the palm tree on its stern.
So the last time we had a weather delay and stayed at anchor all day, these were my pathetic statistices. How is it possible to only go 8 steps in one day????Armed with that information I decided to walk to the bridge viewing park about 3 miles away from the marina.
OK, that’s better!So back at the marina, the wind flags showed it was now blowing 30 knots out in Lake Michigan. The purple sticks have 3 horizontal lines coming off of them, one per ten knots. So, still not OK to go out into the Lake.The weather was such a tease, here it looks perfectly calm, hence the term “harbor courage.”But no, another storm front moves in. BTW, note the space ship looking trimarin opposite of us. Owners did eventually take it out, but only for 2 hours. To the right is the back corner of a Power Cat (a catamarin where the annoying mast has been removed). We met the owner – Paul Keech. What a hoot! He entertained us each night with his zany stories. So Saturday, August 6 we woke up to a parade of Mini Coopers going by. What’s going on? I learned that there was a Mini Cooper Rally trying to break a Guiness World record of the most mini Coopers to cross a bridge. Decked out Mini CooperEpic Fun sports daisy hub caps. Decals tell it all. So I noticed this guy – he was literally on top of his world as a Mini Cooper Dealer from Ann Arbor. He was gladly taking anyone’s camera to get a good shot of all the assembled cars. I decided his name was Al and handed him my camera. This is the picture Al took with my camera. Thanks Al!Here’s the official pace car. They were supposed to start at 10 am.Finally movement! The police car to the left and the pace car started the parade
Vintage cars went first after the pace car.Gotta love the enthusiasm here, on the bridge were Matchbox Mini Coopers!The Classic Minnie MiniOops! One of the cars had been waiting so long with its lights on that when it was time for her to go, the car battery had died. The organizers started another row to proceed, in the meantime another Minnie Mini came to the rescue to jumpstart the disabled car. It worked and shortly thereafter the car joined the parade. So here’s where I probably didn’t make the best decision of my life. I thought it would be cool to get over to the I-75 overpass where the minis would be near the crossing of the Mackinac Bridge. I got into conversation with this very nice gentleman on a dirt bike. I asked him where I could walk to the nearest overpass and he said he would take me there. I hopped on his motor bike without a helmet, drove 60 mph to the over pass to get the next few pictures. What a thrill!Minis looking north (and yes, probably illegal as hell to stop on an overpass). Minis looking south. (And yes, illegal as hell to do a U turn on a 4 lane highway).Gentleman Dan. He dropped me off at the marina so I invited him over to the boat to meet Bob and see the boat. He was so nice! Creepy part: he lives alone in the woods. (Didn’t know that when I hopped on). Nice part: Re-affirms my belief in humanity. Most people are nice. We had a nice chat with him and then he just drove off. And at 11:52am I noticed the Pace Car had returned to St. Ignace. Weather got nicer as the day progressed. This young gal nicely let me take her picture to show off this cool sun dial. Next to the marina was this ship’s rudder. Note the mini Coopers parked and a pavillion in the background (also the ferry). Sign explains what you’re looking at. The Mini Cooper Rally folks rented out the dock space at the marina for their celebration party. They hired a Jimmy Buffet cover band which was very good. Enjoyed a nearly full moon as we listened to the band. And then fireworks! Grand finale. Nice ending to our 4 days in St. Ignace!
Part 2 of our tour involved a larger carriage and thus a three horse team.
A geographical wonder – The Arch, created by erosion of limestone after the glaciers went through. Per guide, it is predicted that in just 30 years further erosion will result in the collapse of the arch, making it two pillars instead. Lucky for us we got to see it in this form. I didn’t realize until afterwards that Bob was in the picture!Crystal clear waters of Lake Huron. Almost looks Caribbean. Next on the tour was Fort MackinacSecond random painted rock (found one in DeTour but didn’t post it). Now I’m on the alert for more. Happy Re-enactors Shooting off the canon at 5:30.Pretty sure the original fort didn’t have such colorful umbrellas!Looking down at the busy harbor. Flowers everywhere.Looking across the Straights of Mackinac, again the dividing point of Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The museum closes at 6 with flag lowering ceremonies. Enjoyed watching the boy scouts do their rituals. An unseen scout played the bugle as the main flag was lowered. They did a nice job of folding the flag.And then they marched away.From the fort we walked back to town. Another heavy load!On the way back we snuck into The Grand Hotel. After 6 pm the dress code requires women to wear dresses and men to wear suit coats and ties. So, we scooted out pretty quickly. One last look up at the veranda.Horse topiary. Bob holding on to a lilac tree trunk. I was amazed at the lilac trees (not hedges here). Apparently the Island is known for its lilacs and has 68 different varieties. Must be really pretty in the spring. Back at the ferry dock. All female crew.Bob chatting with the Ferry Captain. She explained that the rooster tail is just for show. There is a separate diesel engine to kick up the tail and it only adds 2 knots to the speed. On the way out a parade of kayakers go by the stern of our new friends’ boat Mother Ocean. Wish we had noticed they were in the marina at the beginning of the day. Headed back to St. Ignace on the 8pm Ferry. Great day!
We left the anchorage before 9 and wound our way through “Les Cheneaux” Islands which were dotted with cottages and small marinas. Log cabin house and boat house.I liked how they built their deck around the stand of cedar trees.Cool totem pole, lots of stuff going on.Coincidence? Boat’s name is Old Swan.The last segment of Lake Huron. Once we cross under the Mackinac Bridge we’ll be in Lake Michigan. Color of the day: gray! Cold and dreary but fortunately no seas. We arrived in St. Ignace, on Upper Peninsula of Michigan, just to the west of Mackinac Island. The sun came out and really warmed up. We walked over to the ferry dock and caught the 2pm ferry over to the island. The Star Line Ferry logo was the same as the Star Line Ferry in Hong Kong!The ferry put up a ridiculous rooster tail.What it looks like from a returning ferry.First glimpse of The Grand Hotel. This is where the movie “Somewhere in Time” with Christopher Reeves was filmed. Of course we had to rewatch that movie. Decked out cottage.Bicycles and horses rule here. Aside from 2 emergency vehicles, there are no motorized vehicles on the island. Heavy load!Per guide book the Island has two major exports – fudge (1000 pounds a day) and horse manure (6000 pounds a day)! We just missed the Chicago-Mac Sailboat Race by a week. Marina was still packed.Beautiful classic wooden boat.This Statue of Liberty is one of 200 donated to various places in the USA by Boy Scouts in 1950 to commemorate the BSA’s 40th anniversary.Mackinac Island Yacht Club. Smaller than I expected.Looking up at Fort Mackinac.We did the touristy thing of taking a carriage tour of the Island.Very quaint post office.Gardens galore! Small print on the “Gardener Wanted ” sign reads “must look good bending over”!Side entry of The Grand Hotel.Supposedly the veranda of The Grand Hotel boasts the longest veranda in the world. Lots of superlatives around here. Random phone booth and art work along the way.The first part of the tour ended at a hilltop with walking tours of a Butterfly House and then the Carriage Museum (and of course snack bars and souvenir shops).
Bob was a good sport letting me take a zillion photos and giving this butterfly a lift.Loved the sign.Carriage museum was pretty interesting. Stay tuned for Part II of our tour.
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