CHARLEVOIX TO LELAND – SEPT 2 – 4 The first bridge opening of the day was at 7:00 am. We wanted to get an early start, in the hope that Lake Michigan would be smoother in the early morning. We were all ready to go, but our port engine would not start. Ken came over and started it with auxiliary starter and we made it to the bridge for the first opening. It opens on the hour, so making the 7:00 kept us from having to wait until 8:00. It was a nice day ~ sunny and cool at this time of the morning. The water was relatively smooth after we left the channel. When we crossed Grand Traverse Bay, it was extremely rough. We had 3 to 4 foot waves, some of them on the beam, which is definitely not comfortable. Even the 49 ft. Marine Trader, "MV Barbara" was rolling substantially We were glad when we got to Leland. We arrived about 11:30. The Leland City Marina is well protected and it was smooth in our slip. Phil and I went to explore Fishtown, which is a small historic fishing village in Leland close to the marina. It has small shops and a wonderful little store that sells cheese, fresh fish and smoked fish. We went to a little restaurant in Leland for an early dinner and went back to the boat. The next morning, Wednesday, the 3rd, was a very windy day. After watching some fishing boats and a sailboat leave the marina and go out into Lake Michigan, we decided that it was far too windy and rough for us! Phil and I walked downtown for breakfast to the “Early Bird” and Ken and Barbara joined us. The Leelanau Historical Museum in Leland was our next adventure. The museum tells the history of the Leelanau area. It was very interesting and well done with a couple of really good video presentations that we watched. There was an exhibit of traditional Anishnabek baskets that were lovely. They were very ornate and colorful. Tile on bathroom floor depicting Leelanau penensula and Beaver Native Indian home of the 1800's Islands offshore We were the only people there and, indeed, had to turn the lights on when we entered. We found several items we wanted to buy in the gift shop and were busy writing up the sales tickets and figuring the tax when the museum volunteer coordinator walked in. She had been in a meeting and her docent had not shown up that morning to open the museum. She was delighted with what we had done and asked if we would like to become docents. The grocery store in Leland is small, but more like a Central Market or Whole Foods. It was really nice and had a great selection of meat. Then it was back to the boat to clean house. LELAND, MI TO FRANKFORT, MI – SEPT. 4 We left Leland around 9:20. It was very rough when we started, but smoothed out for a little while. It was not a bad trip because Phil is so good about turning into the waves if they are not too wild and tacking, so to speak, to keep us from rolling badly. We passed Sleeping Bear Dunes, which are huge sand dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan. The Chippewa Indians have a legend which has been preserved through generations about the origin of the Sleeping Bear Dunes: “Years ago, a Mother Bear and her two cubs fled a Wisconsin forest fire by swimming across the blue waters of Lake Michigan. Wearily the Mother Bear reached Michigan’s great sand bluffs, but the exhausted cubs disappeared beneath the water before reaching shore. Mother Bear climbed to the top of the dunes to await her cubs. Grief-stricken and spent, the Mother Bear fell into a deep sleep. The Great Spirit Manitou took pity on her and raised her two cubs as beautiful gem-like islands, forested with green and edged with golden sand. Today, as the wind, the rain and the snow sweeps over Mother Bear and the sun warms her, she keeps her lonely vigil. The spirit of her cubs lives on forever in the beautiful Manitou Islands.” North and South Manitou Islands are two islands just off the coast of Michigan across from the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. We arrived in Frankfort about 2:45 and rafted to “Barbara”. Ken dinghied in the rain to get his propane tank filled. While he was doing that, he befriended some fishermen who gave him some fresh salmon. We ate dinner on “Barbara” and had wonderful fresh grilled salmon and salad. More conch blowing at sunset. FRANKFORT, MI TO LUDINGTON, MI – SEPT. 5 We left Frankfort at 8:40 the next morning. It was once again rough starting out, but not too bad this time, only 2 to 3 foot swells. We planned to go as far as we could go, depending on the lake and how rough a ride it was. We hoped to go as far as Ludington. All of us were anxious to get off Lake Michigan. There are ports of refuge every thirty miles or so on the lake because of its capricious nature. The lake certainly proved itself to us on this trip. As a friend of ours says, we rode the “wild mouse” for a while. Everything on the boat moved. It was terrible. Fortunately, it did not last too long and the rest of the trip was rolly with 4 to 6 foot rollers. Just as we got to Ludington, it became little calmer. We were ready to get off the boat when we got docked in Ludington at 4:15. We four walked to P.M.Steamers, a very nice restaurant across the street from the marina. It did not open until 5:00, but we must have looked pathetic because they let us wait in the bar and served us! We had a great dinner and walked back to the boats. Phil and Barbara played their conch shells at sunset. We were all thrilled because we had television reception. It’s the little things… Because we did not have far to travel the next day, Phil and I went into town. He got a haircut and I had my nails done. We took the boat to get pumped out on our way out of the marina and we were on our way around 1:40 in the afternoon. The "SS Beaver" is a ferry that runs from Ludington, MI to Manitowoc, WI (It can carry 620 passengers and 180 vehicles) It is the largest and last remaining coal fired steamship on the Great Lakes. . It was a rocky, rolly ride to Pentwater and we were glad it was not any farther. We arrived and were rafted to “Barbara” by 3:30. We went by dinghy to town and shopped for a while until we were joined by our cruising friends from last year, Ginger and Laura and their dogs, Copper and Roxy. We all went by dinghy back to the boat for drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Barbara fixed dinner for all of us and we ate on our back deck. It was really nice to see Ginger and Laura again. They plan to leave soon on their boat to go down the rivers on their way to Florida for the winter. In a light rain, Barbara and Phil heralded the approaching night by blowing their conchs. PENTWATER, MI TO WHITE LAKE – SEPT. 7 We were underway the next morning by 7:15. Phil and I were thrilled that this was our last day on Lake Michigan for the year. There were no mixed emotions about it at all! The ride to White Lake was very rough. Once again, everything on the boat moved. Things that normally stay in one place were in a different location when we arrived. A vase that has made several Gulf of Mexico crossings and was secured for the trip the same way it was every time, got thrown to the floor and smashed. Finally, when we were almost to the entrance of White Lake, it smoothed out and was tolerable. About that time a wave hit us from the side and rolled us almost rail to rail. Phil said, “That sh-- is just totally uncalled for, you know it!!?!!” It was so funny. He was so disgusted. We finally arrived at Moxie Marine in White Lake (where we were putting our boat in winter storage), a little worse for wear, and were tied up at the dock by 12:00. “Barbara” anchored not too far away. Our friend, Ginger, came to Moxie Marine to pick us up and take us to Muskegon, Michigan, to the airport to get our rental car. It was such a nice thing to do and it really helped us out. On the way there we got to go by their marina and see all the improvements that they have made on their boat during the past year. They planned to leave on Monday, the 8th, which was the next morning. We returned to the boat and packed our bag for Chicago. We were going to stay at Woody and Ellen’s for their party the next night and for some sight- seeing Tuesday and Wednesday. Once again, at sunset, Phil and Barbara celebrated the day by blowing their conch shells. WHITE LAKE, MI TO CHICAGO – SEPT 8-10 We left by car for Chicago about 10:00 am. We said goodbye to Barbara and Ken because they planned to leave as soon as their boat was hauled, fixed and launched. We had an easy trip with the help of our Garmin portable GPS, despite some heavy rain. At least, we were not rolling side to side and rocking up and down! We arrived at their condo across from Soldiers Field in time to help get things ready for the party. We met many Loopers that we had never met before. The party is for any boaters doing the Great Loop who are in the Chicago area at that time. It was a fun evening. It was good to see Woody and Ellen again. View From Condo Museum of Science and Technology Soldier Field--Home of the "Bears" Navy Pier and Marina viewed from Sutton's Condo On Tuesday, we drove out to the suburbs to have lunch with some old friends, Jayne and Daryl, who used to have their boat where Phil kept his boat before we married. We had dinner back at the condo with Woody and Ellen. Ella was gracious enough to let us do our huge washing at the condo. We had planned to take it to a wash and fold washateria, but she insisted and we were so glad to get it done!
weather compared to the Houston area, but they look so healthy that it seems to really agree with them. It was fun visiting their daughter's house and seeing her Disney collectibles (Jayne doesn't like all the dusting however). We miss them and hope to visit them again when we return to Lake Michigan area and Chicago.
is located and boarded one of the Chicago’s First Lady Fleet. We had such a good docent, who was very knowledgeable, humorous and professional. She told us many stories of the history and described the types of architecture of the buildings. It was a fascinating tour on a beautiful, sunny, cool day. We walked back to Millennium Park and strolled in wonder around the “Bean”. We wandered by the fountains and saw costumed mimes prancing with frilly umbrellas. It was great people watching! Then we caught the bus and returned to the condo. The four of us had dinner that night with Jeff, Phil’s son, who was in town for a meeting. Architectural Boat Tour of Chicago River Boat Fleet in Chicago Boat, Work, and Live in the same place Boat brokers have swank offices in Chicago No parking problem here for Condo owners Reflections are everywhere
However, the opportunity to travel through downtown Chicago is worth the effort to get vertical clearance down to required minimum. The seemed to be no end of the bridges within the downtown area, we held our breath as we approached each one of them. My guess is that we had only a couple of inches at most of them as our tour boat passed beneath. Montgomery Ward headquarter building without corner offices There are plans to convert this building into condos Parking not for the faint of heart for those with bad brakes -- yes those are autos up to the edge of the building with condos and offices above Having now completed the river boat architectural tour it is now on to Millennium Park in downtown Chicago The Bean The ever changing display in the center of the park On Thursday, September 11th, we said good-bye to Woody and Ellen for the final time until we see them in the Bahamas this winter. We drove back to the boat to get it ready for winter storage. “Hurricane Ike” was fast approaching the Texas coast and our hearts and minds were on our friends and family, getting ready for the onslaught of the storm on Friday night. We had a flight out of Chicago on Tuesday, the 16th, and we had many things to do before we left on Monday for Chicago. When we returned to the boat, we found that Ken and Barbara were still there. Their boat had just been put back in the water on that day. We were glad to see them. They planned to leave on Saturday, but the weather was bad, so they did not leave until Sunday. We hated to say good-bye, but they were anxious to get completely off Lake Michigan and get through Chicago into the river system. We decided not to thoroughly clean the boat because it will have to be thoroughly cleaned when we pick it up in June. The boats in winter storage get very dusty, even though they are closed up and locked for the winter. So, we dusted, cleaned and straightened for the storage season. The refrigerator, freezer and ice maker had to be defrosted, cleaned and propped open for the winter. Phil sprayed the outside of the boat with spider kill, hoping to deter the spiders for the winter. We got some great pictures of their webs before he cleaned them all off and sprayed. We had some items to ship home, so we bought boxes and shipping tape at Wal-Mart. As I packed each box, I made an inventory of the things I put in it, so that when they arrived I would know where I had packed certain items without having to go through all the boxes immediately to find things. It was a great help. I also inventoried the clothes I left on the boat, as well as, any medicine that was left on board. All the dry goods from the kitchen, for example: Pancake mix, Jell-O, etc., were all put in plastic bags. Last year, another Looper told me that if you put dryer sheets in all the drawers and cabinets it would keep the bugs away. I did that last year and we have no bugs, so, of course, I put dryer sheets in every cabinet, drawer and closet on the entire boat. We have never had bugs on the boat and I surely want to keep it that way! On Monday, we left for Chicago with our trusty GPS. We drove through a lot of rain and arrived at the Springhill Suites near the airport with no problem. When we checked in and went to the room, we learned from the news that a lot of Chicago was flooded and several freeways were closed because of the remnants of “Hurricane Ike” as it came through. The hotel was connected to an Outback Steakhouse and, after we got settled, we went immediately to dinner. It was so easy to go there and the steaks were great. We went back to the room and there was a football game on television. We were thrilled! A great dinner, a pretty room, television, a football game AND we were going home the next day ~ what more could you want?!? We had also talked repeatedly to our kids and all was well with them, a few trees and fences down, some minor damage, no power, but no injuries and all were safe. Our house sitter called to say that our power had just come back on at our house, so it surely made going home even more attractive, knowing we had power! Tuesday we checked out, drove to the O’Hare Airport, turned our rental car in and took the shuttle to the airport for our 2:00 flight home. The conch signals close of day until we meet again Moyers' heading home |
Charlevoix to Whitelake, MI
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