Charlevoix MI to Frankfort Sunday 8;28-2010 to Thursday 9-2-2010

Lake Michigan, here we come! Our planned stop is Charlevoix.  Mark and Sylvia will depart Mackinaw Island a day or two after our departure so we are expecting to see them once again at our new digs at the Charlevoix City Marina. The marina is located on the west shore of Round Lake.

Our trip down the northern part of Lake Michigan was easy 5 hour run, no huge seas but they were big enough in most areas to limit our time on plane to an hour and one half. Sooo that means we were running three and one half hours at slow speed. "On plane" means that you put on enough power so the boat climbs up and over its bow wave and essentially goes fast enough to get on top of the water allowing travel in the 22 to 26 knot speed range with reasonable fuel economy given that we are pushing 16000 pounds of boat and "stuff" on the water at those speeds. Slow speed is where the boat is fully in the water and the speed that way is limited to 7 knots or less. We covered the majority of the distance on plane in the shorter of the two times.

 Charlevoix is a really beautiful touristy town just north of Traverse City. Lots of things to see and enjoy. It turned out the day we arrived was the last day during our stay that Lake Michigan was in any way cooperative.

November strength winds came up out of the west. These winds are about 6 weeks early. On the beaches one could barely walk into the wind because of the blowing sand. This airborne sand was really painful in the face. We made one attempt to leave for Frankfort, MI on Wednesday, Sept 1 but made the decision to turn back early in the attempt because staying in the resulting waves (7 footers were typical) would put us into Frankfort well after dark and this was not anything we wanted to attempt.

We returned to our slip at the City Marina and had one more enjoyable day in Charlevoix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlevoix,_Michigan

 

 

This is a air view photograph of the Charlevoix area.  The big water at the bottom is Lake Michigan.  The large lake that fills the majority of the photo is Lake Charlevoix.  That little bitty lake between is Round Lake.  There is a cut (the Pine River)  leading from Lake Michigan to Round Lake and a cut from Round Lake Charlevoix allowing navigation into all of these waters.  Our marina was on the shore of Round Lake that is closest to the bottom of the photo.

 

 

 

The Michigan managed marina is well designed and manicured and besides boaters is intended for the shore bound visitor.  This is a wading pool that is part of the facility.

 

 

There is no shortage of various kinds of local stone and rocks.  Here is a manicured fish pond on the marina grounds.

 

 

There are many structures that commemorate veterans who sacrificed in previous wars.  This the front of one of them.

 

 

This is the other side of the marker.

 

 

This is a view of the shore side from the front deck of the Salt Shaker.

 

 

 

This is the Pine River, the inlet that takes you from Lake Michigan to Round Lake and the marina.

 

 

 

This is Heavenly Ours arriving from Mackinac Island.  Sylvia is waiving to us from the pilothouse door.

 

 

 

Heavenly Ours going toward Round Lake thru the opened bridge.

 

 

 

 

Heavenly Ours at her dock.

 

 

 

Cracker Bay.  This boat fueled up earlier at the fuel dock.  But the fuel was pumped out of a tank truck that was specially brought in.  The in ground tanks at the facility did not have enough capacity to fill this big mamoo up.

 

http://www.superyachttimes.com/yachts/details/792/

 

One of the other websites on the subject says that it is rumored that Paul Allen of Microsoft owns the vessel but this could not be verified.

 

 

 

 

A stature that was donated to the Charlevoix Public Library.  For a town as small as Charlevoix, this is one very big library. 

 

http://www.yelp.com/biz/charlevoix-public-library-charlevoix

 

 

 

 

This is the library viewed from the back.  The building was originally the area high school which was built in 1927

 

 

 

This is one of the many Hobbit houses designed and built by the architect Earl Young.  Earl Young was born and raised in the Charlivoix area and developed a skill for designing unique structures using stone as a material.  It is reported that he had no formal training and developed all his talents on his own.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earl_Young_(architect)

 

 

 

Another Hobbit House.

 

 

 

 

Downtown street scene.

 

 

 

 

A prominent business in downtown Charlevoix.

 

 

 

 

 

We are motoring out of the harbor on our first attempt to leave Charlevoix, destination Frankfort.  This is some of the high end waterfront real estate in the area.  Our trip as it turned out was very short because of the waves encountered.  No desire to navigate them into the night.

 

 

 

 

We can make it under the bridge.  No need for the bridge tender to open it for us.

 

 

 

 

This is Staffords Weathervane Inn  We took the pictures of Heavenly Ours from the balcony deck while having a nice lunch and an adult beverage.  It was designed by the Earl Young referenced above.

 

http://www.staffords.com/weathervane

 

 

 

 

Out in the lake.  We encountered this schooner on our way back to the harbor.

 

 

 

 

 

In and out of the rough stuff.  The schooner is following us in.

 

 

 

Back at the dock and we noticed this beautiful butterfly on one of our coiled up lines.  We felt like he was welcoming us back.

 

 

 

 

Thursday, the day we made it.  We left much earlier than yesterday so we had no issues with running out of daylight.

 

 

 

 

Looking into the entrance to the channel leading to the Frankfort harbor.  A nice but rough and wet 5 hour run.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mackinaw Island and trip to Charlevoix Wed 8-25-2010 to Sunday 8-29

Our visit to Mackinac Island left us with many happy memories.  Don, Rosie, Pat and I had many laughs about our rough wet wild ride getting there.  We toured we partied, we told stories and had a good time.

 

At the end, Sylvia and Mark arrived aboard their "Heavenly Ours." We had one day for all six of us to share the experience of Mackinaw Island.

 

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macinac_island

  

http://hunts-upguide.com/city_of_mackinac_island_market_street__1820s_fur_trade_center.html 

 

 

 

View from our dock.  This is the historic Fort Mackinac.

  

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Mackinac?oldid=

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A horse drawn carriage.  There are no motorized vehicles on the island except for:  golf carts which are restricted to the island golf course property, an ambulance, a police car and a fire truck.  That is all.  The only polution is,  well you get the picture.

 

 

 

 

Rosie, her brother Rudy and Pat

 

 

 

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biddle_House_(Mackinac_Island)

 

Edward Biddle was a distant ancestor of mine.  I plan on finding out the exact lineage but not at this time.  My dad used to talk about him at length--about the fur trade, his Indian wife, the contacts and help she was able to give Edward to help with the fur business.  Naturally the language he used was far more colorful that what I wrote here.  It is best that I described it in my own way.  LOL  When his business was at its peak, he would have been comparable to someone like Bill Gates as far as accumulated wealth.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photo is understated but shows the clear water in the harbor.  The water is almost mirror flat and the white thing at the lower right is the swim platform of the boat.  The vegetation you see is about six feet down at their bases.  The wiggly whitish things you see are reflections from the dock pilings.  At night you got the feeling that the boat was suspended in mid air above this vegetation when the underwater light was turned on.  It was a weird feeling.

 

The water is this clear because of the work of the invasive species, the zebra mussels.  They pretty much cleaned out the small algae type life in the water.  Good for clarity but it had a detrimental effect on the bigger fish because it pretty much collapsed the food chain.

 

 

 

 

Me with my bicycle.  Pat, Rosie, Don and I circumnavigated the island on our bikes.

 

 

 

 

A view of the bridge connecting the upper peninsula with the lower peninsula of Michigan.  I remember when it was being built.  It was opened in 1957.  It was quite a project.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Mackinac_Bridge

 

 

 

 

A horse drawn trash wagon.  The horses and the wagon that hauls trash do not have the lines or the style of their counterparts that haul the guests to the grand hotel.

 

 

 

 

The Fort Mackinac Post Cemetery was one of our stops.  It has only 6 civilains buried there.  One of them is my distant relative Edward Biddle.

 

http://www.cem.va.gov/cems/lots/fort_mackinac.asp#np

 

 

 

 

The main entrance.

  

 

 

My distant relative, Edward Biddle's tombstone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The back side of Fort Mackinac.  The fort was built by the French prior to the revolutionary war.  After the US won her independence, the fort naturally became ours.  It played a role in the war of 1812.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Mackinac?oldid=

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

View of the harbor from one of the gun ports.

 

 

 

This is a million dollar view.  The picture does not even come close in detail.  The front of the fort has a pub that is operated under contract by the Grand Hotel.  Don and I enjoyed a couple of beers and while there, I got this photo.

 

 

 

Me and Don doing our part as Mackinac Island tourists.

 

 

 

"Just Rosie" departing after a great few days at the island.

 

 

 

Sylvia and Mark.  They arrived a day before Don and Rosie departed so the six of us had at least a day to be together.

 

 

 

Pat and I posing for this photo.

 

 

 

A three horsepower carriage.

 

 

 

Mark, Sylvia, Pat and I toured the island Carriage Museum.  This hearse, an antique, is pressed into service when there is a furneral service on the island.  That is true to this day.  It is the only museum piece that is still active.

 

http://bree1972.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/to-rest-in-peace-on-mackinac-1062010/

 

 

 

An example of an old fire wagon.

 

 

 

Natural arch bridge.

 

http://www.mackinacdirectory.com/mackinac_island/attractions.php

 

 

 

A missionary bark chapel.

 

http://www.michmarkers.com/startup.asp?startpage=HB36.htm

 

 

 

Departing the harbor for Charlevoix.

 

 

 

The legendary Grand Hotel.  Longest front porch in the world.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_Hotel_(Mackinac_Island)

 

 

 

Two ferry boats.  They are everywhere and do not seem to recognize rules of the road.  When you are operating in their area, your mind becomes like a computer, figuring the best route so none of them would hit you.  They all spray that stream of water behind.  It serves no purpose other than visual.  That is what helped us spot them at greater than usual distances.

 

 

 

Coming up on the Mackinac Bridge, about to go underneath.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arrival at Charlevoix.  What a huge boat that is in front of us!