Chicago

Chicago 

9/5    Karl's Birthday!
     We traveled 105 miles across calm  Lake Michigan to our next destination, Chicago, which has many marinas on the waterfront right downtown in the heart of the city.  We stayed at Belmont Marina which is a little north of Navy Pier.  We enjoyed this safe marina, adjacent to a city park. The river walk alongside the lake stretches for miles, leading to restaurants, museums, parks, shopping, just about anything you would want to see and do!  We  settled into the marina and Terry and Cliff cooked a nice meal on  the boat!   

     We explored Chicago the next day, meeting our friend Jeff for lunch.  We had drinks at the top of the John Hancock building and enjoyed the spectacular view of the city.  Later we were joined by Jeff's wife, Linnea, and their daughter, Lilly for a great dinner to celebrate Karl's birthday.  It was a fun evening!

   

Cruising Lake Michigan

Cliff and Terry came to visit!

8/27 to 9/4

      Lake Michigan is the second largest Great Lake and it has beautiful clear blue water. We almost felt like we were in  the Caribbean, except that the water is very cold!  The lake has a reputation of being a great place to cruise with calm water but it can also quickly turn choppy with dangerous conditions, depending on the weather.  It has the well deserved nickname, "Lake Washing  Machine!"  We experienced both  of these conditions during our cruise down Lake Michigan's 307 mile coastline toward Chicago.  We traveled down the eastern side and were amazed to find big sandy beaches and huge sand dunes on the shoreline.  We stopped  at many small towns and marinas along the way.

Farmer's Market

Sunset in Charlovoix

      One of our favorite stops was in Charlovoix, a small charming town.  The streets are lined with hanging baskets of flowers and there are plenty of restaurants and local shops to enjoy.  We met our good friends Cliff and Terry here.  The weather was windy, yet it was sunny and warm.  We enjoyed eating out and walking around town.  There was a fantastic Farmer's Market  on Thursday morning  where we stocked up on fresh local fruits and vegetables and even got some fresh walleye fish which  we grilled that night.

Mushroom house-looked like a house where Bilbo Baggins would live!

      In Frankfort, we were  lucky  to find out that  Jacobson Marina was the place to be.   They offered a service  where they delivered a wonderful lobster, steak or bacon-wrapped scallop dinner  to your  boat, with all  the trimmings!   We did not pass that up and we enjoyed eating dinner on  the boat without having to cook!

Pound of bacon sandwiches!

      Next stop was Pentwater where the marina docks were partially  submerged,   due to the exceptionally high water level of the  lake this year.   This ride was choppy with 4 to 5 foot  waves almost the whole  65 miles.  The shops were great with local crafts  and art and street music.

Street band!

     Grand Haven was our next destination.  We experienced gale force winds while in the marina, making  it very uncomfortable  for a day or two.  We were glad to be safe  and tied up to a marina, but the wave action  still rocked our boat unmercifully.  We even had a line break and  that has never happened to us before.

Grand Haven

Tasting local Michigan Wines

Water Fountain Light Show with Music
Labor Day Celebration on the Water across the marina
We had great seats on our fly bridge!

Windy Conditions- The waves are similar to the ocean!

   

Drone Shot of Harbor Springs Marina

                           

8/24-8/25 
     We traveled about 55 miles across the Mackinac Straights and we are officially in Lake Michigan.  It was a very nice day and the lake was calm.  We are staying in Harbor Springs, a very charming town with gorgeous houses and beautiful flowers.  Karl took this drone shot and it shows how clear the water is.  We have enjoyed these few days. 

View of Mackinac  Bridge,, a 5 mile suspension bridge

Great Drone shot of Mackinac Island

                                                Great Drone shot of Mackinac Island

 

                       

Fun days in Mackinac Island

We have visitors from Tallahassee!  Mary Jean and David!

8/20-8/23

     We are now in Mackinac Island, a short boat/ferry ride from Mackinaw City.  The difference in the spelling is deliberate, in that the French settlers named it Mackinac Island, but both are pronounced Mackinaw.  We are excited to meet our Tallahassee friends, David and Mary Jean here!  One of the best things about this small vacation island, is that no cars have been allowed since 1898!  It adds to the charm of the island!  People get around by walking, bicycling, and horse-drawn carriages! The first thing we noticed was the absence of automobile and truck noises and their exhaust!  The next thing, was the wonderful aroma of homemade fudge (there are 16 fudge shops) blending in with the unpleasant odor of horse manure!  It was a little disarming at first, but the fudge won the battle and we enjoyed tasting it!  By the way, there are Pooper Scoopers who do a good job of cleaning the streets, but I would hate that job!

Fudge

Bicycles and horses are the main transportation!

      You do have to be careful crossing the street due to all the tourists and horse poop,  but once you get out around the island on foot or bicycle, you appreciate the quietness and beauty of the island.  It is famous for it's lilacs and well tended gardens.  Karl and I immediately got out our bikes and rode around the 8.2 mile perimeter of the island enjoying the spectacular views!

Our guide named his horse team "Waffles" because they are Belgium horses!

Quaint Post Office, dubbed the laziest Post Office because they don not deliver mail, you have to come get it!
I think it should be dubbed the prettiest Post Office!

Victorian Home

Garden at the Grand Hotel

The Grand Hotel

       Another great thing about the Island, is that you won"t see any chain restaurants or hotels.  The charming Victorian Inns, B & B's, and hotels were built around the turn of the century and each one is unique in it's own way, independently owned.  There are plenty of restaurants to choose from, plus we found the oldest family owned grocery store in the country, still providing fresh food for the islanders and vacationers.

Great local market

     Mary Jean and David arrived by ferry in the late afternoon.  After they got settled into their charming Chippewa Hotel, we had a drink at the Pink Pony Bar on the waterfront.  We enjoyed catching up on all the news from Tallahassee.  We had a very nice dinner and planned our busy schedule for the next day!

View from the run!

      After running in the morning (and me walking), we enjoyed a nice breakfast.  We joined the many tourists for a delightful 2 hour horse-drawn tour around the island.  Our guides were fun and witty, full of information about the island! The horses were strong and steady! We actually enjoyed the tour a lot more than we anticipated.  Mary Jean,  the Keep America Beautiful and Clean Advocate, asked the obvious question that no one was brave enough to ask, "What happens to all the horse manure?"   Our guide answered with a funny joke, something about scooping it up and depositing at at the back door of the fudge stores!  After a laugh, he did admit that it was used as a compost, probably  the largest in the world!

                           * A few fun facts about the island that we learned from our guide *
 - The year round population is about 500 people and there are at least 600 horses!
 -There is one physician and four veterinarians on the island! Priorities!
  -There is a bicycle speed limit of 25 miles per hour!
  -The 4-Star Grand Hotel is a main attraction, having close to 360 rooms, each one decorated differently so you could stay there for a year and be in a "new" room every night!
   -The island has one of the four US cemeteries with a flag at half mast 365 days of the year to honor the unmarked graves of the unknown soldiers.  The other three are in Arlington, Pearl Harbor and Gettysburg.
   -Most of the island is a national park!
    -The romantic classic movie "Somewhere in Time" starring Christopher Reeves and Jayne Seymour was filmed on the island at the Grand Hotel in 1979 and has become a cult favorite and a huge source of tourism to the island.  Karl and I bought the DVD and watched it, fun to recognize all the locations of where it was filmed!
   -The amount of deer population varies from year to year because during the winter they cross over the ice to different islands!
    -Most of the horses are taken off the island for  the winter months.

View from the Fort

View from the fort

     Our last stop was a visit to Fort Mackinaw, a British and then American outpost.  All the buildings were built by soldiers around 100 years ago.  We watched a riffle demonstration and toured the officer's quarters.

     We returned back to the hotel and to the boat to rest up and get ready for our big dinner at the Grand Hotel!  The Grand Hotel has hosted Kings, Queens, Presidents and Celebrities since 1887 and now will host Mackie, Karl, David and Mary Jean!  There is a dress code for dinner, jacket and tie for gentlemen and dresses for the ladies!  We boarded our horse-drawn taxi to take us to the hotel.  We enjoyed our delicious meal and listening to an orchestra play during dinner.  It was quite the experience!

Butterflies loved Karl, a stop at the Butterfly House

Mary Jean and David's view from their hotel

Karl is talking to  the horse at the Grand Hotel

The horse responding to Karl

We  eventually made friends! And the carriage returned us safely to the boat!
Mary Jean and David opted to walk back to their hotel!
It was a night to remember!

   





 

   






   

   
   

Mackinaw City, Michigan

Chris fixed the starboard cleat

8/17-8/19    Mackinaw City
     We traveled about 50 miles from DeTour to Mackinaw City on a bright sunny day.  Jeff and Chris finished up the cleat work this morning and did an excellent job.  I am confident that our lines will hold firmly now from that starboard side!  We docked at the city marina.  Later in the day, we clocked  wind gusts up to 40 mph.  Our paddle boards almost flew off the boat!

     We toured the USCGC Mackinaw Icebreaker Ship, which was right beside the marina.  For 62 years, this ship cut through the ice during the winter months in the Great Lakes to keep the shipping lanes open.  It transported iron ore and copper from the upper peninsula of Michigan to factories in the lower Great Lakes during WWII.  It had three large engine rooms.  It is hard to believe that this huge lake freezes over every winter!

   

USCG Icebreaker Ship

      We hopped on our bikes and toured the Old Mackinaw Point Lighthouse, built in 1889.  The light and fog horn helped captains navigate safely through the dangerous Straights of Mackinaw.  Three generations lived here to keep the lighthouse running every night.

Mackinaw Point Lighthouse and living quarters

Lake Huron beach at the Lighthouse
View of the Mackinac Bridge

     We also walked through the reconstructed Michilimackinac Fort where costumed historians told stories about what life was like in the fort during colonial days.  We learned some history about the Native Americans, British and French fur trading.  The fort was dismantled in 1780 and moved to Mackinac Island.

   

Our tour guide at the Michilimackinac Fort

Shooting a cannon

Back in the USA!

8/14/19
      We traveled the last 54 miles to our destination of DeTour, Michigan, back in the USA.  We have enjoyed being in Canada for nearly 6 weeks, but both of us agreed that it is nice to be home in the United States.  We were able to clear customs on our phone, using a new ap called CBP ROAM.  It was fairly easy, but they do have you take pictures of your passports and if necessary, they have you remain on the line for a  video chat.  They did  this for us, but the customs officer was very nice and just asked us some general questions.

      Next step:  Fix the toilet!   The motor had arrived at the marina and fortunately we got in touch with a local marine service that sent someone out to install it.  Karl was relieved, he had visions of how he was going to fix it himself.   We also asked if they could fix the starboard bow cleat, with has been damaged for quite a while now.  The cleat was bent and was very loose.  This is where you tie up the boat to a dock.  It is a process, because it has to be dug out, repaired and re-fiber glassed, which takes time.  We decided to stay in the marina for a few days to get this work done.  It will be well worth it.

Captain Karl navigated us safely through the gorgeous Canadian Waterways!  

     We used several Waterway Guides, Skipper Bob Publications, Paper Charts, Navionics (on  iPad), Aqua Map (on iPad) and Captain John's Looper Companion Guide.  We will continue using these valuable guides to get us though the rest of our journey through Lake Michigan, Chicago,  Illinois Waterway, Mississippi River, Ohio River, Cumberland River, Tennessee River and Tenn Tom Waterway and on to Mobile, Alabama and then back home to Sandestin, Florida.  We still have a long way to go!

Sunrise in DeTour, Michigan!