Michigan's West Coast

We've been in a nice cruising rhythm between staying in marinas and anchoring out - more marinas actually. Having some dinners on board and some out.  We've been underway early so that we can get off the lake before the breeze fills in.  Egret loves the lake and we usually travel at about 20 kts.

After Beaver Island, we headed over to the Michigan mainland and visited Harbor Springs (and took a 20 mile roundtrip bike ride to Petoskey); Charlevoix; Leland; Frankfort; Lake Portage; Pentwater; White Lake; Macatawa Lake, Holland; and Saugatuck.  All the towns on Michigan's west coast are basically resort towns for those who live in Detroit or Chicago.  They were built in the late 19th century and remind us of Edgartown, Nantucket, or Newport.  Fun restaurants, nice shops, and good walks abound.  We got our bikes out a few times for some sightseeing and some exercise which has been fun.  

One of the hotels in Charlevoix has a nice roof deck where we went for a sunset.

 

Charlevoix had some fun houses - The Mushroom Houses.

The prevailing winds in Michigan are out of the west so the shoreline can take quite a beating over the centuries of waves pounding them. Some impressive dunes have been created - the Sleeping Bear Dunes.

 

Taking a break on our bike ride in White Lake.

 

Philly friends in Michigan.  It was great to run into Chip Culp and Lucy Rice in White Lake.

 

Getting ready for the day’s adventure out on the lake. Millie is feeling bolder each day and likes 

to travel in the stern underway.

One of the fun communities that we came across was in Holland, MI.  The historic Ottawa beach -150 cottages are built onto a hillside and there are no roads. but are connected by boardwalks Owners need carts to transport their luggage and food to the house.  Each of the cottages had impressive porches and were pretty close together so I’m sure the neighbors got to know each other well. 

 

You see a bunch of different boats on the loop.  These are our Canadian friends, Bernie and Connie, on Blue Moose.

 

I’m not really sure what you call this.  It seems like a cross between a tea cup that you would see on a Disney ride and a big raft, but it has a little outboard and greeted us on our entrance to Saugatuck.  No, they are not on the Loop, but rather you can rent them for the day in Sagutuck.

Our lifelong friend Jay Wisentaner joined us in Holland for an afternoon and dinner- great fun to catch up.

 

Here's a snapshot of where we've been for the past few weeks.