Headin' South On Lake Michigan

Sunday the 14^th we finally got decent enough seas to cruise south from Bay Harbor to Leland, Michigan.  We had 2 to 4 foot waves, but, they were following seas, so other than pushing us around a bit, the ride was pretty comfortable. 

Leland is a tiny little fishing town.  In fact, the harbor, built behind a big sea wall, is a “safe harbor”, where they must take boats in if weather conditions are bad.  There is a little canal from the harbor through the historic “Fishtown”.  We had lunch at “The Cove”, which has a patio right over the canal, from which Carrie took this photo of Fishtown.

 

Fishtown

The marina itself is fairly small, but we all remarked we had never felt more like we were in a “zoo” and we were the animals on display.  I thought it was just me.  I usually do not back into slips, because I want to be able to launch my dinghy if the mood arises.  Backing in here was my only option.  But, it turned out everyone else felt the same.  The locals made sport of walking the docks, stopping to look and comment on virtually every boat, and even walk down the fingers of the dock to peer inside if they felt they needed a better look.  It was kind of odd, but what the heck, they were harmless, and very nice.

Once Around in Leland, MI

The next day Moonstruck and Once Around set out south once again to our next port, Frankfort, MI.  We are staying in a very nice marina called, Jacobsens.  Frankfort is a little bigger town and has several good restaurants and shops to visit.  It is on Lake Betsie, just off Lake Michigan.  It too is a BIG fishing town.  The salmon are running, and there is a parade of boats in and out of the inlet each morning and night.

Part of mains street, Frankfort, MI

We saw scores of boats outfitted like this...but the Admiral liked the name of this one.

Our first full day here, Tuesday, the Admiral wanted to get some exercise.  Actually, she wanted me to get some exercise.  So, we got the bikes down for a four mile trek to the Betsie Lighthouse, which we had passed along the way the day before and which we were told was great to tour.  Reportedly, the only real steep part of the ride was the hill right at the end…yeah, right.  I swear, even the local buzzards began circling over me very early on this ride.  I don’t think they thought I would last the hour…

buzzards circling overhead

Neither of us has ridden in a while so we were both feeling a little rubbery legged as we reached the lighthouse.  Of course, we found when we arrived that the tours only took place on the weekend.  So, we had to settle for these exterior shots.

 

sorry, lighthouse closed...

And, we were a lot more rubbery legged when we arrived back at Once Around.  The nap was great, though.

Last night (Tuesday), Carrie and I had one of those picture perfect evenings and meals.  We barbequed filets, made some pasta “aglio olio” (corrected spelling after hearing from Poseidon), broccoli and a tomato/avocado salad.  Add a ’91 Heitz Martha’s Vineyard Cabernet, some good music…and we were in heaven.  We watched the local fishing boat parade, and even saw a couple of nice ones landed a few hundred yards from our slip.

Today was honey-do day on the boat.  The first mate did laundry while I made a pretty good dent in my boat list. 

Don’t think we were bored, though.  Marinas can be full of surprises, and today was one of those days.  Take a look at the variety of vessels we saw come in today…I can’t make this stuff up!

 

A navy vessel??? Is there much action for them in the Great Lakes?

This yacht had its' own ground/water transportation on board with an amphibious car!

The "Nina"

The "Pinta"

Those last two were exact replicas of two of three of Christopher Columbus' ships.  The "Santa Maria" was unexplainedly missing.  I'm sure Jacques the Pirate probably had a hand in it.  Anyway, you have to admit we had a diverse showing of water craft come into the harbor today.

We think we will be heading for another town down the east coast of the lake in the morning, Luddington, I think…of course…the weather gods will have to cooperate.

Little Traverse Bay Area

We arrived at Bay Harbor Lakes Marina on Thursday.  It truly is a beautiful place with all the amenities, four restaurants, health club, pool, shopping and a great staff of young folks on the dock who cannot do enough for you.  We could stay a month!  Jolly Tolly, however, could only stay one night as they have one of those “schedule” things involving work they need done on the boat further down the coast, and a trip home to Georgia.  We hated to see them go, but will undoubtedly see them in or around Chicago or on the rivers in a few weeks.  Likewise, Something Special only stayed here one night, opting to go across Little Traverse Bay to the town of Harbor Springs for a night or two.

A sample of the surrounding homes

and boats

Moonstruck and Once Around were concerned with getting slips over there, so we rented a car here and drove around to Harbor Springs on Friday for lunch and an afternoon of shopping.  Harbor Springs is an upscale town with lots of great shops and sites to see.  While we were gone, our boat was pampered with a professional wash.  She looked great when we returned.

Friday evening we took the car down the other direction, to the east end of Lake Charlevoix.  Nestled there is a little town called, Boyne City.  What a pleasure that was.  We put our name in at the Café Sante on a tip from a local boater in our marina.  The wait we were told would be 45 to 90 minutes, which did not bother us a bit.  Friday nights, Boyne City has “Music in the Streets” from 5 to 9 PM.  There was entertainment of all kinds on every street corner, and all the shops were open for business, and thriving!  We were told that they started this after the economy took its’ dump a few years ago.  It was cool to see a small town flourishing for a change.  Michigan has been hit hard by this “recession” we have been in.  Boyne City seems to have figured out how to make the best of it.

One of the street bands


and on the opposite side of the street...


These folks were enjoying themselves...

Seems others in the state have noticed...

Dinner at the Café Sante was delightful.  They call their fare “Belgian”.  I have the theory that is probably their way of disguising what you might usually see branded as “French” cooking.  Between the four of us we tried the escargot, sautéed scallops, French onion soup, Beef Bourguignon, stuffed pork loin…well, you get the picture, great location, great food, and a cool little live trio playing in the dining room throughout dinner.  This was an evening we and Moonstruck will remember.

Saturday, it rained cats and dogs.  We got tired of waiting for the weather to break and finally headed (again by car) to the town of Charlevoix.  It is a “must see” stop on the Loop.  However, we could not get boat slips there this weekend, and may have to pass it by when the weather breaks to make some headway down the Michigan coastline. 

Charlevoix was a fun town to visit, but they had an art fair (in tents due to the rain) and the place was packed.  We strolled around for a few hours, enjoyed a great burger for lunch, and took “the long way” back to Bay Harbor Lakes.  It is only some 15 miles…normally, but we made a 60 mile trip out of it touring the countryside.

The next few weather/travel days look like an OK day, followed by a good day, followed by a great day.  If that forecast holds, Once Around and Moonstruck will be heading south along the Michigan coastline.  We are toying with the idea of crossing the lake to the Wisconsin side if we get a weather window that works for us in a week or so.

planning and checking weather reports

Tonight we are having a light dinner on the boat as we make our preparations to depart in the morning.

Little Bird, Little Bird

Tonight’s (or rather this morning’s) post has little to do with the Loop, except that it provides the distance I probably need to deal with recent events.

Our middle child (and younger of two daughters), Carla, moved from our home in Elk Grove yesterday to San Diego, a distance of some five hundred miles.  It was no surprise; she had been planning it for months.  Somehow I had managed not to think about it much.  I suppose I hoped it would just go away.  About an hour ago (4:30 AM), one of those Lake Michigan thunderstorms passed over Once Around and woke me.  Suddenly I could think of little else.  I nicknamed her my “Little Bird” when she was about two years old.  How could this little bird be ready to leave the nest?

Here she is with her little brother...about three years ago, I think.

This is her maybe a year later scoring a goal!

It’s not that I in any way think her move is a bad thing.  She is old enough to make her own decisions, and she is in love with a young man who is stationed there for a couple more years while he completes his service in the navy.  I trust her judgment in both the person she is involved with, and the timing of her move, to be with him.  So, why do I feel so empty tonight?

I suppose many fathers of daughters understand.  To your little girls, a father is a knight in shining armor, her prince for the first twenty or so years of her life.  They measure their boyfriends by their gold standard…you!  And, you do your best to live up to that and not to disappoint them.  But, (and this is a good thing), there comes the day when you see in their eyes that you have been replaced.  Up on that big white horse you used to ride is some kid you just met.  He’s young, handsome, and obviously smitten by your little girl.  So, you do what comes naturally…check him out with the FBI’s Criminal Division and watch “America’s Most Wanted” religiously because you know this guy will turn up there sooner or later.  But, he doesn’t.

In fact, since your little girl has great taste in men, and even better judgment, you find you actually begin to like the guy.  So next you try and warn him off.  “You know...” you say, “…you have a princess on your hands here, right?  I’ve spoiled her rotten all her life and now she’s going to expect the same from you.  Are you up to it”?  Part of you is secretly hoping he’ll bolt and run…but, of course, he doesn’t.

Prince Charming not only has looks and southern charm, he's brave.  Here he is on the USS Ronald Reagan.  He jumps out of (perfectly good) helicopters as a rescue swimmer.

Evan will have his hands full with my daughter.  Carla has her mother’s beauty, great smile and wonderful sense of humor.  She is also smart, intensely competitive, knows what she wants and works hard to achieve it (not sure where that comes from).  She can also be pretty emotional.  I would like to deny where she comes by that, but, to paraphrase Steve Martin in The Father of the Bride, she comes from a long line of overly emotional people…ME!  One of the things Carrie noticed about the two of them together the first time we met him was Evan’s ability to calm her down with a quiet word or even a look.

And, here is my Little Bird just this summer. 

As I sit here thousands of miles away listening to the rain fall in the gloomy dawn, all I can do to quell the sadness I feel is to hope and pray Carla and Evan know for themselves the same happiness together that Carrie and I share.  I believe in my heart they will.

So, Little Bird…I am sorry I couldn’t be there yesterday to help you move.  But, I don’t think I could stand to watch you leave, anyway.

Dad