8/9-8/14/2012

Thursday - Our plan is to cruise to Mackinac Island today.  We take the marina bikes to the grocery store to reprovision.

Winds have picked up and from where we are it doesn't look like a pleasant crossing.  We need fuel before we take off.  I'm hemming and hawing about whether to go or not.  A couple of boats have come in so we talk to them about going out.  They have smaller boats and basically tell us it won't be a problem for our size boat. 

With help from the dock hand, we start to back out.  Jerry takes over and gets us close to the fuel dock.  He then handles the lines and I get us into the dock.  Fuel is $3.88/gal.  Instead of filling up, we only take on 150 gallons with the hope that we can get fuel at Port Washington, WI.  They have diesel for $3.57.  Hopefully it will still be that price when we get there.

So we take off about 1:00 from the fuel dock.  It is definitely windy with 2-3' waves.  There are ferries traveling back and forth between St. Ignace and Mackinac Island.  Also, between Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island.  We take their wake on our beam.  I should have turned into it but wasn't paying attention.  Big rolls side to side.  Then we get into the bay where the marina is and the ferries come into and out of.  Waiting for our slip assignment, we get hit again.  I'm not sure if it was just a wave from the Lake or one of the ferries.  Either way, it hit us big.  We rocked side to side making the salon and galley chaotic.  Once we got tied up, I went down and found the lamp on the floor, the pantry emptied on the floor, the plastic cereal container lid broke with granola spilled out on the floor, dish soap dripping on the counter.  What a mess!

Not often you see the UPS truck crossing to an island.

The Grand Hotel from the water.

Coming into the harbor at Mackinac Island.

One of the many horse drawn carriages on Mackinac.

I picked up what I could.  Jerry said, let's go eat lunch and clean up later.  Who am I to question his wisdom.  We ate at Seabiscuit.  Walked afterward taking in some of the shops. 

Back to the boat, Jerry toke a nap, I finished cleaning up.  Working on the blog to catch up back entries.

Friday - After breakfast, took the bikes off the boat and rode around the island.  A little over 8 miles.  Kind of windy and chilly.  What a neat place to be.

 Private residences along the way.  Mackinac Island, a little piece of paradise.   No motorized vehicles, just horses, horse drawn carriages and bicycles.  OK, so we saw an ambulance and a garbage truck but that was it so far.

The Arch Rock is a natural limestone arch formed during the Nipissing post-glacial period, a period of high Lake Huron levels. This type of limestone formation is quite rare in the North American Great Lakes region.   Its presence was a major element in the decisions to create Mackinac National Park in 1875

Brought bikes back to the marina and walked to the Grand Hotel.   A young lady  stands guard and cordially asks  "are you a guest at the hotel?"  if not, you can either turn around or pay $10 to go in.  We went in just to check out having either breakfast or lunch there tomorrow.  The attendant wasn't very helpful so we left.

Looking up at the Grand Hotel's long porch.

  Walked back towards town.  Ran into the couple we had met at St. Ignace yesterday.  They recognized us, it took us a few minutes to figure out who they were.  Talked with them.  They suggested lunch at the Ice House.  Good recommendation.

After lunch,  back to boat.

Craig, Blue Heron, came by about 4:30 saying we were doing docktails at 5:30 at the picnic area on shore.  We headed over and sat with Marc and Michelle along with Michelle's sister.  Others joined, then Bob and Lisa (St. Ignace friends) joined as well as Steve and Kim.  Craig and Barb were going to The Woods so they left. 

About 7pm several antique carriages paraded by.  There were about 10-15, different shapes and sizes.  Very beautiful horses.

We hung out visiting until after dark.  Great time.  Lisa said we needed to go to The Woods.  She had the phone number and called them.  Got a reservation for tomorrow at 8:45pm. 

This rainbow appeared over the island.  Too big for one picture.  What a sight!

Saturday - Jerry went to the bakery before the bike ride this morning.  On his way back, he talked to a couple of other boaters.  Sad event, a young man drowned and his body was found in the harbor close to the marina. 

One of the ferry lines that delivers passengers from  a couple of  different ports around Mackinac Island,  St. Ignace and Mackinaw City. 

This morning, trying to shake things up, we rode bikes the inside route.  Rode to the airport, then to the cemetery.  Looking for tombstone that supposedly reads "see, I told you I was sick".  Walked all around, some really old stones.  One was for the 14 year old wife.  Yuck.

Rode on to stairs leading to Fort Holmes, the highest point on the island.  I think there were about 14-15 flights of stairs up.  Incredible views.

 Down the steps then rode to the Arch Rock.  We had seen it from below the day before on our ride around the island. 

This was looking down from Arch Rock.  Folks had used rocks to form the Olympic circles and a few other designs in the water.

Another view from Arch Rock

A pause for the horses.  They are given a break while the passengers take in the views from Arch Rock. 

Back towards town, but not ready to stop so accidentally found our way to Woods, one of the Grand Hotel restaurants where we're having dinner tonight.  Went in, they were open but not serving food. 

Finally found our way back to town.  Had lunch in today.  Jerry was watching the Olympics after lunch.  I wanted to move so suggested that we go tour the Grand Hotel.  Ran into John and Mary, Passport.  This is their last stop before finishing the loop in Mackinaw City.  We talked, John told us the trick to getting into the Grand without paying.  Evidently there are several ways in.  The garden for one and the stables is the other.  Anyway, we took the later. On the way, we passed several impressive homes on the bluff west of the hotel.

 It is a magnificent hotel.  They were serving High Tea.  I just wanted to walk around.  Enjoyed the tour. 

 

Got back to the boat and Craig stopped by saying we were doing docktails on the dock.  I think there are 5-6 loopers tonight getting together.  Rickshaw arrived today, really good to see Jim and Belinda.

Docktails are a normal happening when several looper boats are in port.  Usually everyone brings a snack and their own drink of choice.   

I wanted to dress up for dinner.  Hadn't done that on this trip yet.  Finally found a pair of black slacks in the bottom of my closet.  Put on mascara and everything!  Headed to town to catch the carriage to the restaurant.  It's about a 25-30 minute ride.  Two other couples waited with us.  I took a blanket for the ride back so had an extra bag to carry.  Jerry mentioned to the young couple that we were going to bring wine on the ride but decided it was too much trouble.  She tells her husband about the wine and he heads over to the grocery store buys a bottle and gets some paper cups.  They shared with all of us. 

The Woods is very rustic.  Has moose heads, deer and others mounted and hung on the walls.  Saw a lamp with what looked like deer legs/hooves as the base of the lamp.  Different.

Service was excellent.  Michael was our server.  Lisa, Bob and their entourage were sitting next to us.  They had been there awhile so were almost to dessert.  Lisa came by and highly recommended the goulash with spaetzle.   Jerry ordered that, I ordered duck.  Both were exceptional.  Really enjoyed dinner.  Rode the carriage back to town.  Beautiful evening, didn't need the blanket after all. 


Sunday -  Rode around the island again this morning.  Looked at weather to see what tomorrow would bring,  Then checked in at the marina to see if we could stay another night.  We are in.

A young lady giving her horse a drink.  There were many privately owned horses on the island.

Took another ride later in the day.  After we got back, I noticed these kites on the far side of the harbor.  We walked over to see them closer.  No one was around, they were just tied to different things, picnic tables, rocks on the shore, trees, it was kind of strange, but fun to watch.

We couldn't get over how clear the water was.  This is looking down off the back of our boat.

Got a text from Lisa about having dinner on the patio with them.  They had ordered whitefish for dinner from someplace along the east coast of Lake Michigan, can't remember where.  We had grilled fish, grilled red potatoes, grilled veggies, broccoli salad, garlic bread and cookies.  It was quite a spread and the guys did most of the cooking.  Really nice being included in their annual event.  This is their 17th year coming to Mackinac Island for summer vacation.

Monday - One last ride around the island before we head out.  What a great place to visit. 

As we're heading out of the harbor this barge looking thing comes in with a moving van and many many round bales of hay.  Expensive enterprise keeping over 400 horses on an island.

 One of the many ferries.  Jerry thought it looked like a giant Seadoo with the water tail.

This Coast Guard cutter cruised passed us and created quite a wake.

One of the light houses on Lake Michigan.

Coming up on the Mackinaw Bridge.

Water was great for about 2 hours into the ride to Beaver Island. Then got kind of rough but tolerable. We arrived and anchored about 4:30. A couple of other boats were anchored. Took the dinghy in to check out the town. It's a touristy kind of place. A huge car ferry travels here from Charlevoix

While we were walking through town, I noticed these two turkeys strutting around one of the yards on Main Street.

We had dinner at Daddy Franks, just a hot dog joint. Not bad. Walked around a bit then dinghyed back to the boat. Nice evening

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Just after we went to bed, we heard something on the swim platform.  Jerry went to investigate and ducks were chewing on bugs.  Weird. 

Tuesday -  Took off about 8 this morning.  Noticed on the weather last night that some storms might be brewing so wanted to get further along

The car ferry going into Beaver Island. 

Jerry is always so impressed with his lunches.  Today he took a picture.  It's just a sandwich.  What can I say.

A bridge going into the Charlevoix harbor only opens on the hour and half hour so tried to time our arrival so we wouldn't have to wait too long.  Slowed down but still had to wait about 15 minutes.  Not bad. 

Blue Heron came through with us.  Passed Ralph and Celeste in their dinghy.  We anchored in Oyster Bay.  Say Goodbye is here as well.  This afternoon, Rickshaw showed up. 

I was tired of looking at the buggy isinglass so went to work this afternoon cleaning the sundeck and bridge. 

After dinner we decided to go for a swim.  I asked what the water temp was, big mistake.  71F.  Jumped in and swam around the boat twice.  Refreshing is an understatement but the water is clear, you can see at least 10ft down.