Our first formal stop in Lake Michigan is Petoskey. Petoskey is in Little Traverse Bay. This is a beautiful town with a beautiful waterfront park and marina. The clock tower stands in the middle of the bayfront park.
In the center of town is another park. On a hot day, the big trees provide a cool place to sit and watch the passing parade.
We went to dinner some miles from Petoskey because we had a rental car, and because Jan had read about this bizarre restaurant called the Legs Inn.
Bizarre is the correct term. This place was built years ago by Polish immigrants and is a collection of rocks, branches, Indian memorabilia, etc.
If it looks like these branches are growing out of the fireplace it is because they are. This place is amazing. [Can't say we were too hot for the Polish food, but we tried it.]
After dinner we walked in the "backyard" of the restaurant to a beautiful overlook on Lake Michigan.
In Harbor Springs we docked at Waldstrom Marine and they brought us in very close to a restaurant. This photo is taken from the pilot house door. The bow of the boat was much closer--much, much closer.
This is a view from the bow! The waitress offered to serve us dinner on the bow.
Harbor Springs gets a lot of press--but we found it over-priced, and lacking in the charm we've found in other places.
Waldstrom Marine was our "host". They were supposed to do some routine maintenance on Interlude while we were in St. Pete. They had the boat for a week and did nothing. Then, the day after we were scheduled to leave, they got busy and completed part of the list we had given them.
This is a view of Waldstrom's protected marina within the protected cove of Harbor Springs. Very snug.
John and Parsla Mason joined us for a few days in Harbor Springs. Jan and Parsla enjoyed the shops in both harbor Springs and in Charlevoix (our next stop). John and Bill went after spiders with a vengeance.
Charlevoix is one of the best stops to date on this trip. In addition to the general ambiance, there are several examples of "mushroom houses" in this area. This is the best one, in a view taken from the dinghy. Read the text in the "current diary" for more about "mushroom houses".
This is a view of another mushroom house.
We found this "just married" sign on a boat near us in Charlevoix. Didn't see any cans tied in strings behind the swim platform, but maybe they don't do that in this area. Didn't see anyone at home either. And they had the blinds down, so we don't know what was going on...
Here is another view of the beautiful mushroom house from Interlude. It was taken as we left Charlevoix. Perhaps you can see the for sale sign in the front yard. Jan had to hide the checkbook for fear Bill might try to buy it.
Entrance to Charlevoix from Lake Michigan is via a short dug channel which connects the big lake with Round Lake. The town is built around Round Lake. The drawbridge spans the channel. All in all, this is a very charming town.
This is the channel into Lake Michigan. There is a similar channel at the other end of Round Lake that connects the waterway to Lake Charlevoix. That lake is huge--twenty or thirty miles long and very pristine.
This is a view on a perfect day from the bow of Interlude toward the end of the face dock in Northport. The prior day was very hazy, and with the passing of a cold front, the air became absolutely clear and the day perfect.
In this area, stones are important. There are "Petoskey Stones" which I still don't understand. But, they do use smooth stones for building in the most attractive way. We've seen fireplaces, porches, even whole houses done in these smooth stones.
Look everyone, the leaves are changing! Really!
Speaking of changing leaves, this scene in Northport reminds us so much of New England in the fall.
And, for all of our friends in St. Pete, plus those of you whom we conjoled to join us at Woody's on St. Pete Beach, this is Woody's of Northport. Actually, it's called "Woody's Settling Inn". But, we don't think there is any inn--it's a bar and restaurant, and we tried it twice--batting 500.
Finally, before we left Northport, we took this shot looking across the a playground in front of the public beach, and beside the marina where Interlude is docked. Have you ever seen more beautiful water. Not 500 yards from shore the water is more than 300 feet deep--and crystal clear.
