Another early start to catch the weather window. Arrived in Charlevoix at 10:00 am
This is another pretty town on Lake Michigan, and is know for its Mushroom Houses. They are commonly referred to as hobbit or gnome houses as well. These homes were designed and built from the 1920's to the 1970's by architect Earl A. Young.
These are just a few of the ones in the Charlevoix area.
Early 6:00 am departure from St. Ignace for the 6 hour cruise to Petoskey.
Good weather made the voyage pleasant for our first venture out into Lake Michigan.
Here we joined a number of other Loopers for Docktails in the afternoon and got caught up on everyone's adventure so far.
Petoskey is famous for it's Petoskey Stones. These stones are actually fossilized coral from the time when the Great Lakes were actually covered by the Sea. Apparently you can find these on the beaches if you are willing to spend a significant amount of time looking. We tried a little but in the end had to purchase our stones from the many shops selling them.
Travelled to St. Ignace for a two day stay and to take the Ferry to Mackinac Island. Tried many times to get a reservation on the island marina but without luck. The Ferry Ride over was a quick ferry travelling at 30 mph and only took 10 minutes.
The island itself is historic with Fort Mackinac, The Stone Arch and the Grand Hotel. There are no cars on the island and transportation is by horse carriage or bicycle only. They are also famous for their fudge making, of which there were many shops. The place is a major tourist attraction and I must say it was a little too peopley for my liking, although some of the waterfront walks and walks in the wooded areas were quite nice.
David and Susan were able to get a slip on the island, and we met them for lunch at the Mission Point Resort Bistro by the water.
Definitely a highlight stop along the loop.
The island gave us a great view of the Mackinac Bridge which we will pass under on Thursday.
While we were in the Sault in seemed crazy not to at least venture into Lake Superior.
We took the Canadian Soo Locks upbound along with David and Susan on Serenity II, and we used the American MacArthur Look for the down bound return trip.
It was a pleasant voyage, but with a huge fog bank just off Whitefish Bay, that is as far as we ventured.
Plenty of big ships and the top side of the Sault is very industrial with the ports and yards.
From Hilton Beach we took a couple nights anchorage in Alexander Bay, which was nice and quite and well protected.
August 2nd we departed for Sault Ste. Marie through the George Lake route and the St. Mary's River. Surprising the amount of current we had and 4 hours later we arrived at Roberta Bondar Marina.
Did a little shopping in town on Wednesday despite the blustery raining day. In the afternoon David and I took in the Canadian Bush Plane Museum. They have a good display of many of the old de Haviland, Stinsons Noresman etc.
Thursday we decided to venture into Lake Superior along with David and Susan on Serenity II. A lot of fun going upbound through the Canadian Soo Locks, and then down bound through the American McArthur locks. We ventured out as far as Whitefish Bay just so we could see the vast Lake.
This was a long travel day to Hilton Beach. We bypassed both Blind River and Thessalon. It was one of the calmest days yet on the water and we arrived just after the lunch hour to the marina. To our surprise there was an antique and hot rod car show at the waterfront and it was nice to see all the cars. We will stay for the week as we stage for the run to Sault Ste. Marie next week.
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