Harbor Springs Here We Come

Downtown Harbor Springs, only 10 miles by bicycle from Petosky. We decided to lunch it there. We peddled passed the marina to join the paved path heading opposite from yesterday. Very soon we are riding passed homes standing proud on either side of the street since the mid to late 1800's. The ornate details are just amazing. The porches are huge with lot's of chairs and room for family and neighbors to hang out. Perhaps it was a less complicated time before we were all wrapped up in ourselves and electronics?.

  Can you imagine how much work these homes are? I guess you have to love to work on them just like Ron and I do our boat. Most are registered with the historical society and have names...some might be B &  B's or rentals. I take a few pictures and intend to look them up later. Who knows...maybe we'll get to come back sometime on wheels? One really cute home features both a Sparty flag and U of M banner...it was on a hill and did not stand exactly straight up...the name, "the tiltin hilton". Had to chuckle on that one.

A rest is in order by the time we get to The state park which will mark five miles with the last two being uphill. We share an apple and water and continue uphill another mile before we are tempted to have lunch at a chop house on US31. Great choice!
The family owned restaurant has been handed down and grandchildren now run the place. From the cars in the parking lot you see it caters to a good crowd of local and regulars alike. Homemade soup and half sandwich is to die for. Our waitress is of course a college student...cute as a button and quite sweet. We relax and enjoy...I think we'll have to go to Harbor Springs another day.....

OK, it's time to admit our defeat and ride back to the marina....we are happy that we made it to the outskirts of Harbor Springs even though we did not get all of the way to their downtown. Maybe on the trip back home we can stop for the night at their marina?
Traverse City cherries are selling for 6.00 a pint at the local market....that's as bad as bing cherries in February back home. We do pick up some delicious sweet corn that you know you can only get during great Ohio/ Michigan summers..yum. They are right up there with local tomatoes, which, by the way, we have not found yet.
Permission has been granted for us to use our grill on the boat, so, Ron cooks up a small steak for dinner while the sun is setting over the big yachts at the end of our dock. There is a "lights out" tonight from 10:30-11:30 for watching the meteor showers. I get up and out twice, but miss the show. Too many clouds.

Feeling Like We Are On A Boat in Petosky

Passed under The Mackinaw Bridge today and could only see parts of it. The fog made for some good photos.

Winds are blowing out of the NorthEast Quadrant and we are bouncing around a bit after being tied up. Showers and a surprise visit from friends of Ron's who are here to pick up some boat parts for their new racing boat bring us joy. They drove in from Tawas and were just walking the docks when they happened upon us.
We are rocked to sleep and wake up with some very blue skies and a cold wind blowing. The sky quickly gets covered with another system and a ton of clouds.

Decided to try my luck at finding Petosky Stones and after a couple hours of digging around the rocks and a quick lesson from an 8 year old boy...I come up with two nice stones. I also find many great fossils and a few tiny pieces of beach glass.

The bike trails here are awesome! We headed west to stretch our legs and passed wonderful views of  Little Traverse Bay. As we followed the path we went alongside a campground, through a couple private neighborhoods and popped out at East Park, then Bay Harbor. Hunting down a late lunch did not take long as we have been to this area a few years ago aboard The Shy Fox.

Bay Harbor has been in development for the past 20 years with funding from an LLC and government monies. The cement company that had dug out the limestone quarry was converted to huge marina and parks. Mega yachts line the docks and upscale shops line the road up the hill to a hotel. Large homes are abundant along the shores and it seems like a lot of space for such a short season. But, to each their own that's what freedom is all about. Time to tackle those hilly bike paths with more hills heading up than down.

Comfortable and Quiet Duncan Bay Boat Club

Let it be known that DBBC in Cheybogan has the most comfortable lodge with lot's of periodical's, comfy selection of chairs and sofa's and not to be left out is the selection of puzzles completed in an ongoing tag team of people .  I also claim it to have the  cleanest, warmest, "closest to home" bathroom/shower rooms, AND nice people to boot!
Wild Goose has been at this port twice in prior summers and it is always the same warm greeting from neighboring boats, person's at the pool lodge and at the grills. Ron decides to get the dinghy wet at this stop so we can explore Duncan Bay tomorrow...after all is unloaded and he's ready to hook up the motor, he finds that he has forgotten the fuel hose. HHMMM, last year it was the oars. Anyway, getting our hands on a new hose was going to eat up the rest of the afternoon and the store closed in 40 minutes....Captain Tom on the next boat over offered Ron a ride to town which is quite a distance and saved the day! Thanks Tom! Sorry to have delayed your Happy Hour!

Steak is on the menu after stocking up on meats in Roger's City...sure was tasty.

On day two we were able to explore the bay by dinghy. The tugboat we saw here on our first visit is fully under water now and marked by a buoy WR1 that has a tether to pick up for mooring and snorkeling the site.

Although the water is not terribly deep, this small wreck reminded me of my first wreck dive in Bermuda many years ago. The Bermuda wreck was at 90' and I was so anxious about it I blew my mask off on the way down. I remember Ron continuing down toward the site and looking around for me...and of course, I was above him and frightened and could not descend fast enough to get his attention. Thank goodness he was experienced enough to look up and then just hang and wait for me. Good thing dive instruction includes many hours of practicing for that kind of event. When we reached the wreck it was still another 30 feet to the seabed and overwhelmed is the only word I can think of to describe that dive. I eventually got more comfortable with wreck diving, but at the moment we went over the tug today, I became overwhelmed again. Weird....

No beach glass again, however, some soggy driftwood for making a pair of sconces comes back to Wild Goose II. Nice beach, great day out and off the boat!

Fore Sale By Owner

needs a little work. :)

Lot's to do in Mackinaw City

All day we have been listening to loud music, but not so sure of the source. So, after pasta and wine dinner we head to town to check out the music and take some pictures for a dear friend Pam who used to reside in town. We come upon an all day Elvis Impersonator Show in the middle of what appears to be a new shopping area that runs along side the main Central Ave.

What a hoot! Every time he came to our side of the stage, Ron did his own impression and the performer tried very hard not to laugh....after a couple tries, he quits looking our way. Elvis passed out "scarves of sweat" to all those willing to approach the stage, which was mostly young children. Elvis was quite good by the way.

The Keyhole Bar is now a stop for "foodies"  with a great menu. Our last visit here in the late 80's was all about The Bar portion of that same establishment.....or did we not eat much back in those days? Left a note at the bar on behalf of Pam.

Coastal Paths

A few pictures from Rogers City's coastal bike path...

Rogers City Renewel

Anxious for a new view, Wild Goose II took off for Duncan Bay this morning. Roger's City was just what the doctor ordered for Patti and the boat. The boat had a very small fuel drip and the captain/mechanic spent some time on the port engine and fixed her. Patti's virus is gone and pine trees are now part of the experience. We spent a few days letting some bad weather pass by giving the boat a thorough deep clean   washing all the rugs, towels and bedding. Rygulski's meat market had just what we've been craving for the grill and the awesome bike paths provided much needed exercise.

 The beaches provided no glass, however, a few nice pieces of driftwood are onboard and a couple nice rocks have been added to the collection to take home to Florida.

 Last night was our second dinner out in a row (yeah!!) and we shared the table with Tom and Trina Szott.  Three of us had awesome burgers ... Trina who was dying for their famous fried chicken and promised not to eat the skin....sure...
As you can see for yourself, the food we had the night before was wonderful too...as good as it looks! Szott's are off to The North Channel and I suspect we might see them again on Lake Michigan
with the ShyFox in a week or two.

YUMMY

Hunker Down in Roger's City

After another late morning awakening, we untie the boat and head out onto the calm seas.  We continue to have great conditions for boating, so we do not even get the bikes off the boat and continue heading North. Presque Isle bike paths and lighthouses will have to wait for our return trip. I cannot take advantage of the smell of pine trees that are abundant on shore. Ron reminds me of what I am missing and I hope to get my nose back to normal very soon. Napa auto parts has the fuel filters we are looking for and this gives us a destination for a much needed bike ride when we land.
Roger's City has a great park next to the marina with a swimming beach and I'm hoping the ice cream/fried food shop is open! Wild Goose gets assigned to dock 89 and after tying the lines we find out we are next to an old NCYC boat. The 1972 C & C 39 that Leslie Hill and family sailed. It is now serving as Mackinaw race boat and cruiser on Lake St Clair.

 The local gallery provided some great ideas for the empty house we'll be making into a home when we head south in a month or so. Leftovers and early to bed still hoping to wake up and smell "the north".  

BUGS and FOG EVERYWHERE

 Destination Presque Isle from Harrisville.
The foghorn blasted out a warning from the top deck of Wild Goose II most of the day. We listen to the marine radio broadcasting information on a trout tournament. Captain Ron sends out calls over the radio to advise people of our course and position...that did not stop us from coming close to collision this afternoon. An "abbott" type sailboat popped out of the fog just yards ahead of us  and to starboard. The skipper of that vessel stuck his head out of the cabin just as Ron turned to port and avoided a very serious situation. The boat never showed on our radar screen and since the helmsperson of the sailboat was below deck, it's safe to say he did not see us either.
The close call took our minds off of the many bugs on board who needed a place to land and hitch a ride towards shore. Where do they come from way out here? This morning as I still slept Ron washed the boat of fish flies and now we have there pesky little ones...glad they don't bite.

We are crossing Saginaw Bay today where we ride smoothly over an abundance of marked shipwrecks. It's a rather erie feeling gliding on the waters above wondering about the  stories of their final hours. I looked up a few of the wrecks and read that they are in great shape for divers because the fresh waters are so cold and the wrecks are well preserved. That would not be my kind of diving, as I like pretty fish and shallower waters! Fresh water fish are quite ugly.

Wine Festival...we finally found you

 We slip out of our dock later than most of the other boats and I head back to the cabin to clear my head of medicine...I wake up half way across Saginaw Bay in 200' of  dark steel blue water. The light winds are trying to make ripples on top without much luck. We've traveled 200 miles since last Monday and it is now Saturday the 19th of July..the blog is still a bit mixed up, but I'm too far behind to change it at the moment.

 Arrived in Harrisville to see a huge tent up on the hill. Great news! A wine festival...bad news...it ends in an hour :(
Oh well. We settle for taking the bikes up the hill and around a few corners to the local IGA where we spend a ton of money on cough and cold syrups, anti-bacterial wipes and of course a few groceries. We won't be staying long, so the bikes come right back to the boat to get strapped down.

A beautiful Benteau pulls in next to us and off comes the crew....6 chawawa's are loaded into a buggy that looks like a baby stroller and a short fence is loaded on top for them to use when they get to shore. I hear a cat's meow and then some whistles. Noah's Ark? Turns out the bird on board is making all the noises and imitating a cat. We later find out the bird is also good at the rally cries of The Detroit Red Wings...."he shoots, he scores! ...." evidently the bird was first learning to talk during a better time for the team.

  Morning will bring on the fog.

Port Austin Photo Contest

Port Austin boasts the best sunrise and sunset local on Lake Huron...Ron took advantage while I went down early after chugging NyQuil....so, which do you like the best?

Still In Stride

Great Day Buddy

Can't Wait