Windmill Island

Today, Jim and I and Ralph and Janice went to visit Windmill Island which is located near downtown Holland, Michigan. Windmill Island is a state park that contains a 240 year old working windmill given by the Dutch. We actually got to go inside the windmill and walk up to the sixth floor where the miller actually ground the wheat. They actually produce flour at the windmill and the miller happens to be a woman right now. They also had a working Dutch street organ (see pic above). It was amazing how the organ worked. It was such a brilliant piece of work. It played songs from books specifically designed for this organ. They had a replica of a Dutch village that was interesting to see and they also had a wooden shoe factory. Both Jim and I tried on the shoes just to see what they felt like. I'm glad I didn't have to wear them for walking. This island is also abound with the most beautiful gardens. They say in the spring there are thousands of tulips and people come from all over to attend the tulip festival. That evening we went for our final dinner together at a place called the Boatworks. We had a wonderful dinner with a table overlooking the water (see pic). Later that evening we went downtown and watched the street entertainers which turned out to be a wonderful evening. The highlight of the evening was a gymnastic performance by three young women called the flying angles. It was really entertaining. Janice and Ralph leave Friday morning and Jim and I are staying until Saturday morning. Mem and Larry's grandchildren are coming in for the weekend so we wanted to stay and meet them. Mem and Larry are beside themselves waiting for the little ones to get here. Today is our last day in Michigan and we are going to spend it, cleaning the motorhome, laundry and waiting for the grandchildren to arrive. Until next time......

Holland, Michigan and Saugatuck

What a fun day we had today. We took a ride on the Dune Schooners in Saugatuck. It is an 18 passenger jeep like truck that took us on a 35 minute ride through the sand dunes on the shore of Lake Michigan. Apparently, these sand dunes can only been seen while riding the Dune Schooners. It was very different and exciting. The driver raced around corners and up and down hills. It also goes through a woodland forest. There are various joke signs along the route and they had a fake snake hanging from a tree. Of course the driver stops the schooner right under the limb hanging down with the snake and yells out "Oh watch out snake!" Well I looked up and it was hanging about 2 feet from my head and I screamed out and about jumped into Janice's lap trying to get away from it. You might know with all the people on this schooner, I would be the one to fall for it! Anyway, it was quite the ride and we all enjoyed it very much. Then we went to the town of Saugatuck and checked out all the little shops. The guys found a bench to wait for us and poor Jim he had on white shorts and sat in some fresh bird poop! And it was not a little bird, it was quite messy! We all got quite the laugh out of it and Larry and Ralph took pictures of his dirty butt, but Jim failed to see the humor. We were going to find him some new shorts, but he went in to the bar and took them off and washed them. You know Jim -- anything to save a few dollars! Next we went to a favorite of Larry's for lunch. It was called Cranes Orchard Restaurant. We had a great lunch and Janice bought a Peach fritter for dessert for all to share. It was quite good. From there, Janice and Ralph and Jim and Larry went back to the motorhomes and Mem and I went to Veldheer's Tulip Farm. It is a Dutch wooden shoe factory and Delftware (blue and white china) factory as well as a tulip farm. I bought my mother about 60 tulip bulbs for her yard. She loves to garden and I'm sure these bulbs will keep her plenty busy. We all skipped dinner tonight in lieu of another happy hour. Mem's friend Claire came over to visit. It was great to finally meet the famous Claire that Mem talks about all the time. I can see why they are great friends. We really enjoyed visiting with her. Also, Janice has been trying to teach Jim a new vocabulary. She says he needs to learn more words than shit, dam and hell! So we'll see how long the change lasts!

Holland, Michigan and Big Red Lighthouse

Mem and Larry lived in Holland for twenty-five years before moving to Fredericksburg, so this is like old home week for them. They took us on a tour of their old neighborhood, we got to see their old house (which was very nice I might add) and showed us where Larry worked. We rode through the downtown area and then we rode out to the Big Red Lighthouse on Lake Michigan. It's not an easy lighthouse to get close to. You can see it from several points of view but we actually got to walk right up to it. We had to take a 20 minute walk to get out to the lighthouse and as you can see from the picture, it was worth it. However, we did have two casualties getting there. Janice cut her toe on the walk out there and she and Ralph never did make it out to the lighthouse. They turned around and went back to the car for a band aide. Then by the time Jim made it out to the lighthouse, his knee had gone out on him. He had to sit down on a step and rest before we headed back. It was really beautiful along the shoreline. I enjoyed walking by all the coastal cottages. It must be wonderful to live there and have such a wonderful view. Mem and I also put our feet in Lake Michigan. Jim had a slow walk back to the car with several rests, but he finally made it back to the car. Then we all went to a restaurant called Piper for a "light" dinner. It was a wonderful place with great food and beautiful views. By the time we got back to the motorhomes we were pretty well wore out but all agreed it was a very enjoyable day.

Ludington

Sunday was a quiet day for everyone. As Mem says "We need a down day." Jim and I did some reading and we went for a bike ride. That evening, we had happy hour and we decided to skip dinner and finish our game of Phase 10. My prediction of Mem winning was wrong. Ralph won. Well it was still early so we decided to play a card game called Oh Hell. It was really fun and surprisingly, Mem didn't win this game either, Janice won. Monday we headed out for Ludington. Us girls went downtown for a little shopping and the guys had another "down day". That evening, we cooked out and had steaks, corn, potatoes and salad. It was a great dinner and we started another game of Phase 10. And of course we didn't get halfway through the game before we called it a night. Tuesday we headed for Holland, our last city in Michigan before we start our journey back to Virginia.

Old Mission Peninsula

After visiting Leland, we went to Old Mission Peninsula to see the Old Mission Lighthouse. This lighthouse is located at the 45th Parallel or halfway between the North Pole and the equator. The lighthouse is inhabited so we didn't get to go inside but it was still really neat to see. We stopped off at the Old Mission General Store on our way back to town. The man who worked here was quite a character. He knew lots of history about the peninsula and was very eager to share his stories. The store is jam packed with food items local to the area, as well as a small selection of groceries, fresh produce, cheeses, and antiques. It was a very scenic trip and we had such a beautiful day to enjoy the sights. We went back to the motorhomes to regroup, let the dogs out and headed back out to visit friends of Ralph and Janice, Tom and Joanne. They live in Elk Rapids, a lovely lake town and they also stay at Crystal Lake in Florida where Ralph and Janice winter. They were a delightful couple, and treated us to happy hour at her house and then we took a tour of his house. (They owned separate houses before they married, and decided to keep both houses after they married.) We then went to a wonderful restaurant on the river for dinner with Tom and Joanne. They are such nice people and we really enjoyed the opportunity to meet and spend time with them. Needless to say, we were all very tired after such a full day. We're thinking Sunday is going to be a rest day. Maybe we might finish our Phase 10 game who knows. Until next time...........

Leland

Saturday we traveled to Leland which is located on a peninsula between Lake Michigan and Lake Leelanou joined by a river. We went to an area called Fishtown which features shanties and docks which represent the life and commercial fishing that existed one hundred years ago. Inside all the shanties are quaint gift shops, and galleries offering unique gifts. You can also charter fishing trips from this area. We had lunch at a wonderful restaurant called the Cove. We ate outside and you could see a waterfall, the shanties and harbor. It was a wonderful lunch. After lunch, us girls set out to check out all the little shops. The guys did a little shopping, but were mostly happy bench sitting!

Petoskey

Petoskey is a small coastal town known for its unique shopping and fine dining. We started our day off by eating at one of the 16 restaurants recommended, Jespersons. (see Jim and Mem above). Jespersons is a family owned and run restaurant that is in its 104th year. Everyone enjoyed their meal and then on to the good stuff -- shopping. The guys checked out a store with us that had a great deal on jackets then ventured off to the General Store. After that, they found a comfortable bench to sit on and we girls hit about every store in what is called the Gaslight District. We each were successful in buying jewelry, and we had a ball trying to talk each other into buying stuff. We spent the entire day there and on the way home we stopped at a Farmer's Market and we each bought some more "stuff" (healthy of course). We only drove through Charlevoix on our way home -- we were too tired to stop. It looked like a real delightful town with more shops and restaurants. When we got home, the dogs were really excited to see us. Bono just couldn't get enough of Jim. He kept putting his paws around him and putting his head on his shoulder -- it was so cute. I kept trying to take his picture when he was doing it but he kept looking up at me when I held the camera up. When I put the camera down, he would lay his head on Jim like "I love ya Man." Janice treated us all for dinner with a delicious vegetable beef soup she made; I brought a salad and sourdough bread and Mem bought a cherry pie from the Farmer's Market and ice cream. We enjoyed the great dinner and got back to our game of Phase 10. Promptly at 9:30pm Ralph announced it was time to break to eat the pie and that we would finish the game another night. Can you believe it -- we are going into our third night to hopefully finish one game! Right now, Ralph and Janice are in the lead. I have a feeling Mem will still win the game - she wins all the games we play! Tomorrow our plan is to visit Old Mission Peninsula and Leland. Until then..........

Traverse City

We left Mackinac for Traverse City on Thursday. We are staying at the Traverse Bay Resort. It is a very nice campground or I should say resort. It is a very upscale facility. We have paved lots with manicured lawns and flower beds surrounding a pond with a waterfall. We are surrounded by Prevosts. I think we can be quite comfortable here. We decided to have a rest day today and catch up on some cleaning and laundry. The facilities here are top notch. It was actually a pleasant experience doing laundry! The resort provided a pizza dinner tonight so we decided to stay here and eat rather than go out. The pizza was a $1.00 a slice. Jim really liked the price haha. After dinner we went over to the game room and planned our agenda for the next few days. We then played a game called Phase 10. You know you're getting old when we can't even play a whole game in one evening. About 9:30pm we decided to end the game where we were and resume it another night. I never thought I'd get to this point..but I was tired too. Surprisingly, Mem isn't winning -- Jim and Ralph are in the lead. Of course the game is not over yet! Anyway, we did have fun playing the game and we are looking forward to a fun day touring two coastal towns, Charlevoix and Petoskey, tomorrow.

Mackinac Island

Wednesday we all took the ferry over to Mackinac Island. The day had started to look like rain so we went prepared with our rain jackets. But by the time we got to the island, (20 minute ferry ride) the sun came out and it was a gorgeous day to tour the island. I loved Mackinac Island. There are no cars over there. Transportation is by horse drawn carriage and/or bicycles. They had the most gorgeous horses - Belgian's and Percheron's. You might know I was in my element! The tour guide told us they don't use Clydesdale horses (Budweiser Bush horses) because those horses are mainly bred for show and parades. The Belgian's and Percheron's they purchase are raised by the Amish to work. The horses work for 4 months on the island and then are shipped backed to the lower Michigan where they have 8 months of rest, eat, and make babies! What a life!! We had a wonderful tour around the island and stopped off at a Carriage Museum and Fort Mackinac. They had reenactment's at the fort of court marshals, firing squads, and marching bands. We had lunch at the fort at the Tea Room which overlooks the port. It was wonderful. What a view. I'm still finding it hard to believe we are on a lake and not the ocean! Us girls also did some more shopping. While we were on the island we got a call from our Winnebago club friends, Rita and Joe Cannon. They were on the way back from a trip to Canada this summer and decided to stay at the same campground as us on their way through Michigan. Janice (our dinner expert) found out the place to eat in Mackinac is the Audi restaurant. So we all went to Audi's together and again had a wonderful time.

Mackinaw City

Another great day in Michigan. We arrived at Mackinaw Mill Creek Campground Tuesday about 1:00pm. After we got the motorhomes settled, the girls (Mem and Janice and I) went to Mackinaw City to do some shopping. We had a wonderful afternoon and yes we did find some treasures. Later, Janice provided us with a Georgia treat for dinner (hot dog smash). It was delicious. You put a hot dog in a hot dog bun and open the bun up and then fill the plate with lots of chili, onions, relish, cheese and oyster crackers. We finished playing our game Mexican Dominos that we started the other night and Mem won. She is so lucky - she always wins whatever games we play. After dinner we drove back into Mackinac City for ice cream and to see the Mackinaw Bridge at night all lit up. It was such a delightful evening. We took Bono and Charlie to get ice cream and they enjoyed their share too. The pictures above show the bridge in the daylight as we went over the bridge. Ralph and Janice are in front of us. The other picture is the bridge at night.

Valley Camp Museum Ship

Another great day in Sault Ste Marie. Mem and I went to Curves this morning, then to the grocery store for chicken for dinner tonight. We had a day of relaxing and reading by the river - it was wonderful. Larry cooked chicken on the grill tonight for dinner. It was wonderful. Jim and Ralph decided to go to the Valley Camp Museum Ship just down the street from the campground. They spent the entire day there. Jim's story follows: The Valley camp is a 560 foot retired freighter (1/2 the size of modern freighters)that was built in 1917 and served for 50 years and has been dry docked and renovated for use as a museum of maritime artifacts. It was powered by a three stage triple expansion steam engine. Considerable space in the museum and attention was reserved for the wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald. As noted previously, the Edmund Fitzgerald, a 960 foot freighter of some repute went down in a major great lakes storm just off White Fish Point on Lake Superior. You may recall that the light house that we visited yesterday was the one at White Fish Point. It turns out that the Light House light was out that night and in a small way contributed to the demise of the Fitz (as it was known). 29 men went down with the Fitz and it became famous (literally hundreds of other boats including other freighters are on the bottom of Lake Superior) mostly because of the mysterious circumstances and unknown cause of its demise. (Gordon Lightfoot's song didn't hurt its fame either!) A couple of the mangled life boats from the Fitz were on display as well as a life preserver. There is no evidence that any measures were taken by the crew to save them selves and some think the Fitz went down in as little as 20 seconds. The captain never even had time for a distress call. It sank on November 10 1975 in 540 feet of water and has been a subject of controversy every since. None of the crew was ever found and there were no eye witnesses save another freighter (the Arthur Anderson) in the vicinity that was in radio contact. We saw two one hour movies on the subject which were extremely interesting. The movies recap the tragedy and the investigation that followed, it is a stark reminder of the unforgiving nature of Lake Superior and the many lives it has taken. Ralph and I took over 6 hours to tour the museum and read almost every plaque and saw every display(Linda was EXTREMELY grateful that Ralph went with me). It was very interesing seeing the crew quarters, bridge, engine room and many other details of the ship. Neither Ralph or I had been on a freighter before. It is quite different from other ships. It is awsome to think how small the crew is (29) people or less and how low the ship sits in the water when it is fully loaded. As previously noted, the freighters are loaded such that only one foot of clearence is left between the bottem of the lock and the bottom of the ship! We noticed that 1000 foot freighters going through the locks spray water on their decks which are baking in the sun. This is because uneven expansion (hot on top and cold on the bottom) can cause the ship to bow enough that the stern or bow might drag the bottom of the lock! All in all it was an awesome day!

Whitefish Point, Michigan

Sunday, we went to Whitefish Point Lighthouse. This lighthouse was established in 1849 and is the oldest active light on Lake Superior. It is now run electronically by the Coast Guard from Sault Ste Marie. The Keepers Quarters has been fully restored and open for tours. They even have wax figures of the last lightkeeper and his family placed all about the quarters. These was figures look so real it was unbelieveable. The particular lightkeeper depicted in this lighthouse was a lightkeeper for 40 years. The going salary was $600 per year. The Shipwreck Museum is also located at this site. They had artifacts and exhibits of the various shipwrecks in Lake Superior which told the stories of the sailors and ships. They also had a theater which showed a video of the famous Edmond Fitzgerald shipwreck. It was so touching. They had actual family members in this video telling their stories. The wreck happened in 1975 but they were never able to retrieve it or get to it until 1995 twenty years later. As a tribute to the sailors, they were able to retrieve the ship's bell which can be seen in the museum and in its place they lowered a replica of the bell with each of the sailor's names on it. One man told a story in the video that said when he went to Vietnam, his brother assured him if anything happened to him he would go to Vietnam and bring him home. Well went the ship went down the brother was a sailor on the ship and he always wanted to bring his brother home. Twenty years later having his name put on the bell was the only way he could honor his brother. It was such a touching story. In all there have been 6,000 ships lost on the Great Lakes and 30,000 men and women and children lost to these shipwrecks but the Edmund Fitzgerald remains the most famous and mysterious. During the storm it was being followed by another ship and the two captains were talking to each other and then all of a sudden it just dissappeared while the other ship made it. It lies sunken just 17 miles from Whitefish Point. We walked out to the beach in front of the lighthouse and the water was beautiful, and calm. It was amazing how this lake can change to a death trap during a fog. Jim took what he calls the butt pic above. After this wonderful visit, we stopped off at a casino on the way back to the campground. It was a nice casino, but none of us came out a winner. In fact I think I was the biggest loser, $25. We got back to the campground and enjoyed another happy hour as we watched the ships cruising by. We went to dinner at this resturant called the Antler's just down the street. This resturant was so much fun. They had various animals mounted on the walls and ceilings as well as hundreds of antlers. When anyone from out of state comes in or has a birthday, they welcome them by pulling these ropes that sound off various ship horns and lights. It was a riot. Of course we got a welcome. We all agreed this was one of the best resturants we have been to so far on this trip, but we keep thinking that every city that we stop in. I guess you can see we are eating very well on this trip. Well until later...........

Soo Locks Michigan

We arrived in Sault Ste Marie, Michigan Saturday afternoon. We are camped right on the St. Mary River across from Canada. It is a very nice campground near the Soo Locks. The St. Mary River is the only water connection between Lake Superior and the other Great Lakes known as the St. Marys Rapids. The rapids fall 21 feet from the level of Lake Superior to the level of the lower lakes. The locks were built in the 1800's so that ships could pass through the rapids. We took a boat tour this afternoon. On our way out, we were on the lower end of the rapid and the locks raised the boat to higher level and on our way back, we were on the higher end of the rapids and the locks lowered the boat to the lower water level. It was pretty amazing. As were were coming back another huge ships was on the other side and they were being raised to get through the locks. As much as 2 million gallons of water is added or removed from the locks during the 10 to 20 minute process. Some of the ships that pass through are over 1,000 feet long. When we got back to the campground, we sat our chairs around the motorhomes facing the river and watched the ships come and go through the locks, had happy hour and ate dinner outside. It was such a wonderful day and evening.

Marquette, Michigan

Today we visited Marquette, Michigan and had a great time. It is a delightful little town with things to do both in the summer and winter. It is also home of the Marquette Harbor Lighthouse (see pic). The lighthouse is located on an active U.S. Coast Guard resident station. It was built in 1853; and sits on a stone bluff and is one of the oldest structures in Marquette. We actually got to take a tour and go inside of the lighthouse. It was pretty neat. We've toured a lot of lighthouses in our travels, but this was the first one we actually got to go inside of. I noticed it seemed pretty modern considering it was built in 1853 (although modest) and I found out it was last lived in until 1999. Another thing I noticed was how tightly built it was. It was very very windy outside but inside you didn't hear a window rattle or the wind blowing at all. We also toured the Marquette Maritime Museum. It made you realize just how big Lake Superior is; in that it has had several shipwrecks on it. They had special displays at this museum including the November 1975 loss of the Edmund Fitzgerald and a WWII Silent Service Memorial honoring the USS DARTER and DACE crews and captains. It was quite interesting. I was just amazed at how big this lake is and if you didn't know where you were, you would think you were at a seaport. They have big waves (see pic above) which I totally wasn't expecting to see. We also saw people surfing in these waves. We had lunch in town in one of the oldest restaurants in town called the Brewery. It was excellent and it looks very much like I'm sure it looked back in the 1800's. On our way back home, we decided to put our toes in Lake Superior just to say we did it (see pic of Mem and I). That evening, we met Janice and Ralph at the Brownstone Inn for dinner. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was great (see pic). We're going to Sault Ste Marie next. We're really looking forward to our next adventure. Until then........