July 24-28 Lower Lake Michigan

Cutter jumped ship and was looking for a boat with better food. ( Erin and Sammy, did you catch the name of the boat?) He's really happy that Mom has not found a groomer.
Ludington boasts of having the last coal fired steam vessels. It is an old heavily polluting process of using coal to fire the steam engines. It moves people and cars to Wisconsin.

Not every day is perfectly calm. We left Ludington with 15 mph winds behind us. The swells were about 3 ft. Glad we were going South. Made great time.

It is still strange to look to shore and see high sand dunes on the way to Saugatuck, the city written up as an art community. We pulled into the harbor around 5 pm on Sunday. What a ZOO boats going in every direction at no wake speed. Reminiscent of Wrightsville Beach on a summer weekend. None of the marinas answered on channel 16, but from the looks of it no one had any slips anyway.

We tried channel 9 and found it was the hailing channel for the Eastern Shore of Lake Michigan. Singapore Yacht Club had a cancellation an hour ago and we took the slip until noon tomorrow.
The city was great. An old movie theatre had been refurbished as a bar and grill, color everywhere and great artwork, mostly local.

Check out the window above the green man.

Maybe a closer look is in order.

Sunday afternoon in the Park?

Useful any afternoon.

This ferry moves people across the river by use of a chain. You may be able to see the chain in the front.

It was wonderful that the city was built up around the Yacht Club

We left Saugatuck for St. Joseph . The inlet was a lot less crowded on Monday and again signs of the boating fees at work. deepening the channel and building better breakwaters.

The painted carousel horses of St. Joseph were written up in several books and I wanted a photo for Mom. When we arrived the Marina was closed A quick phone call and we settled into our slip. Time to do laundry again. Maytag had donated a washer and dryer to the marina and they in turn did not charge for the use. The dock master drove us to town and picked us up.

Seems like this year Dogs were the thing. Not to bore you, I am only showing a few.

The hardest thing is to choose only a few photos

Leaving the harbor ready for our next adventure.

July 17-23 Eastern Lake Michigan Cities

We left Mackinac Island Heading to Harbor Springs, but after bouncing through 3 to 4 ft seas we (Vicky and Cutter) decided it would be nice to see Mackinaw City 6 miles from our previous port. Our Captain agreed. The tourist city reminded us of International Drive in Orlando. Not much to say.

It's sad to see many churches have been sold to individuals or organizations. This is the Crooked Tree Art Gallery in Petosky. I bought a great piece of glass art there.

Petosky was a great small town. Time to renew our prescriptions. We called Wes at the local independent drug store and he delivered them on his bike after they closed. We had him in for a glass of wine and watched the sunset.

After he left, we started talking to Ben and Kirk, pilots for a privately owned small plane.

The trip to Traverse City found Lake Michigan smooth as glass.

Traverse City marina adjoined a park with a children's train, ice cream shop and sidewalk chalk.

Interesting outdoor sculpture is everywhere. You just have to look. Noticed this Indian as we were walking under the street from the marina into town. John found a store dedicated to cherries, cherry jam , jelly, wine, candy, teas, dog biscuits unbelievable.

Since, we have a small refrigerator and freezer on the boat, it seems that in every other port we find ourselves at the bakery and and buying fruits and vegetables. Today we were headed to town and found a great farmer's market at the base of the marina.

We arrived late in Elk Rapids, but found it was the Wednesday night street festival. Two of the three block long streets were closed to vehicles . 500 or so people had gathered

for food from the street vendors and local restaurants

An Elvis impersonator entertained us he was good, but not near as good as Mr. Music, Vohn.

Back at the marina, a reminder of the use of the boating funds . Several fishing piers were built along the breakwaters to be enjoyed by the locals.

We moved on to Frankfort for a two night stay while the predicted 4 to 7 foot seas passed. The weatherman lied just a lot of rain and 3 foot seas, but we had paid for the marina and I was happy to be tied up anyway.

Moved along to Ludington, couldn't resist this great use of an old truck.

July 13 -18 Mackinac Island

As soon as we arrived in Mackinac Island, Vicky found out about the opening of the Art Museum . This had been planned for years. The building was originally an Indian Dormitory. John and Duck, the Chippewa Chief chatted during the ceremony
The new art museum at Mackinac Island.We invited a few friends back to the boat after the opening ceremony .John and Cathy Flynn from Michigan and Noel Skiba, an artist who paints on the bridge at No Name Key , one of John's favorite spots in the Florida Keys.
Between Lake Huron and Lake Michigan is Machinac Straights. Best known for Machinac Island, a wealthy resort community dating back to the 1800's. The horse and buggy has been the mode of transportation and horseless carriages were banned in the early 1900's because they scared the horses. Flowers were blooming at every turn.

The Island is completely void of motor traffic. Bicycles or horse and buggy.

Can't get too far from the water

Another view of the city

We stopped at Dowd's grocery store for a few supplies and couldn't resist another photo.

The post office was closed for lunch when we stopped but the mail left by boat at 2 PM daily

Typical Mackinac summer cottage. Most homes have no heat since the are not used from late September until May.

We a took a buggy ride to the Grand Hotel. The next day we got a taxi to dinner and realized we went about the same route in the horse and buggy taxi as the private tour.

These horses belong to a local family and are used for any travel around the island.

I wonder what he is saying

A view of the harbor from Fort Mackinac. The umbrellas are part of the patio restaurant.

Another view of the town shopping. Fudge, t-shirts and trinkets.

A horse stable in the center of town.

Flowers everywhere

What can BROWN do for you?

The Yacht club is directly across from the marina