Old and New Memories

First Law of Travel Blogging – When not much is going on, there’s plenty of time to write about it.  Unfortunately, the converse is also true – and the past 11 days have been very active.  Four sets of friends, 4 towns, a visit to the site of family history and childhood memories, not to mention the encounter with our new Manistee friends (see previous entry). 

Second Law of Blogging – it takes as long to import, arrange and format the content (narration and pictures) onto the blog page as it does to write this stuff.  Thanks to Debi for taking on this latter and  sometimes frustrating task.  Below is our updated map, showing our progress (purple line) down Lake Michigan.  Again, thanks to Zuri for her graphic expertise!

8/2

For years, Steve Erickson and I have fantasized about being in northern Michigan together.  He has grown to love the area as a result of many visits with his wife, Mary, who grew up in our current port, Leland.  I have loved the area since many visits as a child with my family – vacationing from Chicago.  We kept threatening to meet up with them one summer during one of their annual visits – but never pulled the trigger. Another fantasy was getting Steve and Mary aboard Sea Fever for the first time.  And today, both fantasies were fulfilled, as the Ericksons arrived after flying into Traverse City and driving up.  

Mary had already given us the heads-up on several of her old haunts, including the house she grew up in.  This afternoon, we got a tour of some additional sights, relatives, and stories.  Great fun.

Then we combined forces with our previous coincidental guests, John and Midge Sweet (sister Chrise had gone home that afternoon) for a great dinner.  



The Ericksons and Sweets had previously met on a sailing trip for Debi’s 50^th birthday in Maine – so their relationship is nautically tinged.  Dinner for most of us, most nights – is whitefish, the local favorite. We left the restaurant in time to find a local beach for a perfect sunset. 

8/3

It’s great to have access to a car (the Ericksons’ rental), especially for beverages.  Bringing produce home in our bags on a bike is one thing – 4 gallons of water and a case of beer is another.  So we did some serious provisioning at a real supermarket in Traverse City on the way to picking up Emily at the airport.  A tasting at a winery on the way back broke up the trip and gave Emily an introduction to one of many local treasures. 

We arrived home to one of Debi’s delicious dinners,  and from there we fell right into the cards and Bananagrams thing. 

8/4   My family has been coming to Glen Lake and Sleeping Bear Dunes for about one hundred years – since my grandparents honeymooned here.  Therefore, this was one of the days I’ve really looked forward to on this whole trip.  The dunes are a treasure for a stranger, but for me it was beyond that.  First, I have many childhood memories of climbing these dunes – including the 3-4 hour strenuous hike from the first one up and down and up and down to the last one – a 460 foot steep bluff falling down to Lake Michigan - and then, back.  But beyond this, I had not been here since my grandparents’ ashes were scattered at that last dune.  My grandmother, at age 79, carried her husband’s ashes all the way over to the last dune.  21 years later, her 4 children carried her ashes close to the same point.   Sacred ground and a special day, indeed.

8/5
We were up early to take a beautiful sunrise cruise (a little chilly in the morning) along the shore, passing the Sleeping Bear Dunes, and moved on to Frankfort, near Crystal Lake, another part of my childhood.  This was Steve, Mary and Emily's first SF cruise - Emily has been to SF a few times, but somehow never when we moved.  We took our pasta dinner, to a picnic table in the park next to our boat.

Another special day.  My dad had scattered my mom’s ashes at a lookout high up on a hill where you can view the dunes and L. Michigan in the distance.  A beautiful vista.  It was a little difficult to find this place, making it all the more meaningful when we got there.  I wrote a couple of messages on the guard rail at the edge of the overlook.  Again, this was my first visit to this sacred place.  We found a nearby bar and sent her a toast. 

8/7

Unfortunately, Steve definitively claimed the Bocce Ball King crown, at least for now.  It was the only reason for being glad he and Mary, along with Emily left today – but the reasons we missed them were much greater.   They were perfect guests and were here for a very important part of the trip. 

We didn’t really have time to be too lonely.  20
minutes after Emily and the Ericksons (could be a band name) left for the airport, Marty and Charlene Kushler arrived after a drive up from Lansing.  This was their second Sea Fever trip, having survived the heat wave in D.C. last year.  I took out my bocce frustrations by beating Marty soundly, despite the one game in which he shut me out.  As I said to him, when you see outliers in a data stream like that, you throw them out as misleading and unreliable.  But he insisted it be included in Boat’s Notes. 

We had a great time catching up with Marty and Charlene, eating some fresh trout that Debi prepared.  We followed that with a walk to town for ice cream and a beautiful sunset on the beach, where benches were strategically scattered, all facing the sunset. 

8/8

Again, a very very smooth lake ride from Frankfort to Manistee.  Dunes and cliffs lined the shores.   We arrived in time to see a gigantic tanker come down the river, right in front of our slip.  It took up almost the whole river – shore to shore – quite a sight in that small space.  That was followed by exploration of the town, more bocce, and a lovely dinner (thanks, Kushlers) on the balcony of a restaurant overlooking the river.  Unfortunately, they had to depart shortly after that to return to Lansing.  A quick, but fun visit. 

On a normal night, such a nice dinner would have been the night’s highlight.  But after that, we wandered down to a riverside concert by a very good band from Lansing .  And after that, we ended up at Jim and Jerry’s house (see previous Boat’s Notes) for that adventure. 

8/9

Speaking of quick visits, Marci Culley and her mom, Kate drove up from Kate’s house near Flint, arriving around 4.  Shortly after that, Jerry and Jim (see previous entry) came to visit us on the boat (loaded with gifts of homemade wine, flowers, veggies, and potted herbs).  A cocktail or two was followed by a repeat visit to their home for rooftop sunset and an opportunity for Marci and Kate to get the experience.  Marci said she would still be there if we hadn’t dragged her home.   And after eating a delicious quiche they brought with them for breakfast the next morning, they were off for a trip to meet other relatives farther north.

8/10

As soon as they departed, and after a trip to the local farmer’s market, we also left - heading for Ludington.  We had our third consecutive near perfect water conditions for travel.  We’re getting spoiled by good water and lovely historic towns with just enough tourist/resort aspects at every stop.  We arrived in Ludington for its annual Arts and Crafts fair – so have spent some of the past two days exploring that.   Also enjoyed the many sculptures in their waterfront park and some good beer tastings at a bar featuring all beers from the Arbor Brewing Co. Today and tomorrow and Saturday are our only non-guest days for quite a span – three weeks or so. Am I the only one who can't resist a marquee like this?

8/12

Once again, perfect water, almost glassy – heading south a mere 12 miles to Pentwater.  We are really loving these northern Michigan towns.  Mackinac Island, Charlevoix, Leland, Frankfort, Manistee, Leland, and now Pentwater – all real winners.  I’m not sure how many of them I’d want to live in – or for how long – but they are perfect ports.  

I think that’s more than enough news for now – hope all is good for all of you. Jim, Debi and Emily