August 17, 2009

Monday, Monday...........Last week was our first in the US and we waited until after 9am--until we had the Mon. edition of USA Today before we headed into Lake Huron. We also were giving the early morning fog a chance to burn off...and it did. Very nicely. The Lake was most pleasant. Minimal waves and not much traffic. Not much ability to view the lovely scenery, either--cloudy and foggy, but spectacular! There was enough traffic, though, that the 3 spaces we'd heard were available at the Mackinac Island Marina were gone by the time we arrived at 5pm. We were re-routed to the Arnold Transportation Docks (called locally the 'coal docks' although there seems to be no rationale behind the moniker) and left to fend for ourselves. (Them: “If we don't like where you dock, we'll ask you to move”. Us: “Could you give us an idea of where you wouldn't like to have us?” Them: “Just tie up anywhere. We'll sort it out later.”) Turned out we chose a spot that was ok until we left Wed. a.m., and we had plenty of company in our commercial zone. We loved it! We were perfectly positioned to discover how the Island works. In the 1800's an ordinance was passed by the powers that be that no 'horseless carriages' would be allowed to operate on the island as they would most certainly scare the horses. The law stands, and only horse drawn conveyances and bicycles are permitted on the streets. So in the mornings, we watched the Arnold Transport boats bring Cisco and another delivery company 18 wheelers to the end of the dock where a days goods were off-loaded onto horse drawn carts. Last part of each load was palate after palate of hay bales. Not only the locals and the 'fudgies'(the local term for tourists) have to eat, each of the 450+ horses on the Island must be fed! We got up close and personal with a few of the horses---took a carriage ride around the island. The largest portion of the island is a Michigan State Park (formerly a Nat'l Park, but handed over to the locals). Additionally, there is a summer home for the Governor (who, we're told has visited twice this summer), and the main down town area—replete with tourist stores, ice cream and fudge. This is really gross, but the children of the island (they have one K-12 school that graduates from 2-9 students/year) created an information book and in it assured us 'fudgies' that there is absolutely NO connection between all the fudge and the, well, you know, of all the horses. YUK. Who'd a thunk there was, until it was suggested! In answer to the question “Do you ever get used to the smell?” the children answer “What smell?” Sitting loftily on the west side of the island, is, of course, the Grand Hotel. We (silly us) didn't think to lunch there. I hate to admit it, but I guess we were put off by the rules and fees. $7.00 to walk on the longest covered veranda anywhere---$10.00 to look around inside the hotel, (we later learned the fee would be applied to the lunch tab) and a suit and tie for dinner... sigh. We entered the Grand not at all. Did gaze at and photograph the exterior, tho....and one evening we watched “Somewhere in Time” the movie with Christophher Reeve and Jane Seymour that is romantically set in and around the hotel. Nice. Note: Hollywood was given special permission to drive actual automobiles on the island during the filming. Some 500 people live on the island year round, and it is interesting to note that an ice bridge connects the island to the mainland, usually by January. Then residents can walk or snowmobile to Mackinaw City or St. Ignace. These 2-3 months of winter are the only time of year that residents are not bound by ferry ($24 round trip) or airline ($49 round trip) schedules. They all save their Christmas Trees and give them to the Coast Guard, who “plants” a trail across the ice—so no one gets lost crossing to the mainland or coming back. Amazing! A tourist guide reported that the history of the island comes down to the three F's. Fur, Fishing and Fudge. Fur trapping predominated until the supply was exhausted, fishing took over briefly until it was recognized that tourism was much more lucrative, and fudge became the big seller! While we passed on the sweets, I did my part to bolster the local economy by tracking down t-shirts for the grandchildren, and we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. By Wednesday it was time to move on, and off we went, under the Mackinaw Bridge, where the painter in an inverted cherry picker waved at me as I snapped his photo, to Petrosky, MI. This is a cute little town with a historic district and an enclave of Victorian houses listed in “1000 places to visit before you die” (I don't have the book, but Punk on CAROLYN ANN does, and she is a great fan of Victorian Homes) Fred and I did other chores while she and Joe bicycled to the Gas Light district. With our holding tank not only empty, but rinsed clean, and a fresh new loaf of homemade bread in the larder, we believed the weather reports that said 1-2 foot waves and off we went! That is how we learned that Lake Michigan 1-2 foot is about 4-6 by our measurement. It was a rock and roll ride to Leland, MI, and that is where we spent the rest of the week. Weather window, it's called in the vernacular. Leland, like most stops along Lake Michigan, is called a Harbor of Refuge. That means that the marina can't turn away a boat when the weather goes bad. Every slip in the marina was filled. YOUNG AMERICA and CAROLYN ANN were rafted together and took up only one space, and a sailboat was 4-point tied between the rows of docks. We rocked and rolled in the harbor to such an extent that for 2 days there was no question of “should we stay or go?” It was simply “NO WAY!” And we loved Leland and arrived in time for the annual sidewalk sales. It's called 'Fishtown, USA'--a self proclaimed “quaint little drinking village with a fishing problem”. We had delicious dinners at the Bluebird restaurant, shopped at the mercantile (fabulous grocery story hidden in a strange square and very unassuming building) and commisserated with the other boaters (as many as 9 Loopers) who were staying on until the winds died down. Today, Monday, was calm. Rainy, but calm. We had a very nice 9am-5pm run (remember that a day on the boat is an hour in the car?) for about 65 miles down the shore to Manistee, MI. Fred literally squeezed YA, our 16' wide home, into a slip so narrow we couldn't use fenders and listened to the painful rubbing sounds as we slid between the pilings in a 16' wide slip. Shades of Long Island! After our early evening walk along the beautiful RiverWalk, we had dinner and watched the parade of boats coming into the river after dark. We assumed they were fishing boats, and had this confirmed when Gary and Trina brought the FIDDLER CRAB into the slip next to us. They'd caught a steelhead trout and 2 huge salmon! “No luck involved here”, Gary said as he showed me the temp guage (the big guys swim in 54 degrees and below—over 100 feet down in the 250 foot depths of Lake Michigan) and the weights and poles and lights and other paraphenalia that pretty much guarantee them a good catch! The RiverWalk has conveniently located fish cleaning stations—one we saw also has a picnic table next to a sign proclaiming that the Ice Cream Store is OPEN! So here we are, and here we will remain for a day or so. I'm hoping to be able to post this and add photos. In Leland both cell phone and internet connections were spotty (to be kind). So until next time, off I go, wishing you and yours good health and much happiness laced with laughter! Linda and Fred