Traveling Down Lake Michigan



Falls on Leland River

 After five days on the hook in Harbor Springs waiting out the winds, we were on our way. We bypassed Charlevoix. It was a neat little town but we wanted to move on down the east coast of the lake a little farther. So we stopped in Leland MI. Leland is a neat little town. There is an area near the marina called "Fishtown". It is made up of buildings that look like old fishing shanties.


Fishtown "shanties"



Beautiful Sunset over Lake Michigan



Capt Chappy to the rescue!



Bring her on in Captain!

More of Fishtown!

Admiral taking a break......

There are lots of great little shops and restaurants. We picked up some fresh smoked salmon and some cheese curds. What great Happy Hour food! It turned out that there were several Loopers here. – Muddy Waters, Spirit Dancer, At Last, Cooper, Trident and Erika Lin. Some had been here a few days. Others were like us and had just arrived.
We planned to leave the next morning. We headed out early with plans to go to Frankfort. Cooper had left before us and just as we were headed out the harbor we heard them on the VHS. They had turned around and were coming back to the marina. It was just too rough. We went ahead and ventured out anyway only to agree with them and turned back around too. There were beams waves and we didn't want to relive a few days ago.
SO we spent another day in the quaint little town of Leland. Oh and while we were there, Mike became a hero. Well, maybe just a really nice guy.... A sailboat had lost his kicker and was without sails and was trying to get in the harbor. He ran aground just at the harbor entrance. Mike took his dinghy out and helped pull them off the rocks. He then was able to pull them to the safety of the docks where they were able to tie up. Just another day for the great Capt. Chappy and his trustful steed or uh, dinghy!

There are ferries there that take people to the Manitou Islands. People will go there to spend the day or to camp overnight. The Manitou Islands are part of the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. Since it was now Saturday, the town was very busy. People were all over the streets. We saw several bikers and some really nice cars. It must be a good weekend destination for the locals.
When we went to bed Saturday night they were still forecasting strong winds. However, we woke up to the sound of the boat next to us running. We got up and found out that the winds were calm and this was probably the best day to travel in a long time. We hurriedly got things ready so we could set out too. We planned to stop in Frankfort which was about 35 miles. It turned out to be a nice day for travel. We would have gone farther, but the waves were starting to build again in the afternoon. Same old story……!
Several Loopers stopped here – Trident (dog, Monty), Muddy Waters, Inconceivable and Superior Lady (dog, Ollie). Superior Lady is a Gold Looper so we were anxious to talk to them. They are from Minnesota and are just starting the Loop again. It was also good to see Inconceivable. We hadn't seen them since Peterborough, Canada and were wondering about them. We met for Happy Hour and exchanged stories of all our adventures.
There was a fishing tournament going on and our marina was where the weigh-in was being held. There was a 29 pound salmon caught! I believe the total weight for one team was over 165 pounds consisting of 10 fish. There were lots of fishermen there and lots of big boats.
We rode our bikes around town and the beach. That evening we rode down to the beach and watched the sunset. It was beautiful! Oh, and we had to stop for ice cream! REMEMBER, it's food for the soul!
Early Monday morning, we left Frankfort. It was only a 30 mile trip. It was a great day for travel - hardly any winds or waves. In fact, we almost decided to bypass Manistee since we were making such good time. We decided to stop though. The books say that Manistee is a "must see" fishing village. So we "must see"! Also, if we went farther it would have to be another 30+ miles. We didn't trust the Lake to remain calm for that long.
I was on a mission to get a haircut. Can you believe there are over 10 salons but only one open on Monday! Of course, they had no openings. Oh well, Mike may have to cut it. Yikes! I'm really starting to feel like a shaggy dog. We rode our bikes all over town and had lunch at the River Street Bar & Grill. It was really good food. They have an outside deck that overlooks the Manistee River. After that, we took a dingy ride down the river and into the Manistee Lake. The S.S. Milwaukee is there and available for tours. We passed on that. It really needs some TLC.  Mike decided to try his hand again at fishing.  His luck has to change one of these days........we had chicken for dinner......!

Our plan is to leave in the morning and head to Pentwater. Here's to calm winds and a following sea!
To be continued…….

Till Next Time!

Admiral "C"