Water
(Winter) Wonderland on Lake Michigan: August 24 2022
Before
heading down Lake Michigan we took a detour to explore Grand Traverse Bay. It’s 32 miles long, up to 620 feet deep (in
spots) and dotted with many u-shaped natural harbors which provide protection
from three out of four wind directions. When
we toss the lines from Suttons Bay our itinerary will unfold based on wind
direction with friends – it’s vacation time after the Trent-Severn Waterway and
all the miles to this point. Our
frequent flyer Barefeet friends, Lino and Phyllis, arrived for one week of
summer fun…perfect timing (8/10). Who
knew there is a non-stop flight from Boston to Traverse City?! We stowed garden fresh tomatoes and cucumbers
(yes, they were carry-on luggage), settled into dinner at Wren and talked late
into the night. Welcome!
Suttons
Bay is on the pinkie of the mitten that is Michigan. To soak up more of the area I am reading Recipe
Box by Viola Shipmen which takes place in Suttons Bay (complete with…you
guessed it…much loved Michigan recipes).
Did I mention cherries?! We
strolled the shops, Lino vanquished the Mighty Mary and we moved onto Omena
(8/12). The anchorage was 70 feet deep
which had us emptying our chain locker.
But what a reward – emerald to aqua to turquoise water that is crystal
clear surrounded by orchards of cherries, apricots and peaches. We got a propane fill ashore then settled
into an afternoon of swimming/jumping off the boat and sunbathing before
heading into Leelanau Cellars for a bit of wine tasting. It seems that the 45th parallel is
great for wine: Italy's Piedmont region, the Rhone Valley and Bordeaux in
France…and…the Leelanau Peninsula in Michigan. Michigan sure is full of surprises. Back aboard with the sun slowly setting a
woman swam around Barefeet to win a $100 bet from her husband reposing on the
shore (her girls on the paddleboard were “helping”). Great summer vibes are everywhere.
Winds
arrived ahead of schedule so we pulled up the anchor before breakfast
(8/13). Note to self - it takes a long while
to pull up 275 feet of chain. We drove
two hours to Traverse City for better wind protection; however, the rain never
evaporated so off we went in rain jackets to check out the town on our way to
dinner at 7 Monks. This is clearly the
Big Smoke with the several Bachelorette Parties (complete with matching cowboy
hats) and two hour waits at a few restaurants.
The rain blew through during the night so we returned to a drier
Traverse City after a pancake breakfast a la Chris to wander the historic
district filled with lovely turn of the century Victorian homes of lumber
barons, fruit canners, etc. Another afternoon
wind shift had us moving another short two hours to anchor in Bowers Harbor
(8/14). Protection from the north winds
made for a calm night of homemade sunset pizza, Lino’s garden fresh cucumber
and tomato salad, Leelanau wine and a sunset packed with shades of blues and
purples. We are livin’ large. Cheers!
A
short dinghy away from Barefeet was Power Island (8/15). It’s by far the largest island in Grand
Traverse Bay at 200-acres. Once owned by
Henry Ford (among others) it is now a public park with Caribbean-esque water,
campsites and shores littered with Petoskey stones. Petoskey stones were formed during the
glacial period of the Ice Age combining rock and fossilized coral. It’s the sea shell hunt of northern Michigan
and it’s fun. A local who has been
boating here for decades was our ultimate arbiter as we learned the finer
points of identifying the stones. The
distinctive pattern is best seen when wet so we plan to polish and varnish our
stones to better highlight the design.
For dinner we made a beach landing (much more civilized on a lake in
fresh water minus the surf line of the ocean).
The Jolly Pumpkin had a silly name but the lakeside setting and
delicious food made for a laidback lake evening.
A
lazy morning of coffee and banana/dried cherry/oatmeal bake (recipe below)
moved to a lazy afternoon on the beach (8/16).
An attempt to recreate the previous pizza dinner fell a bit flat. It seems that in our zeal to keep the fridge
stocked with cheese we managed to run out of yeast. Gulp.
An attempt was made to substitute beer for yeast but no dice – it just
makes a cracker. Drat! Oh well, melted cheese and toppings on a
cracker are fine, too. And just like
that Lino and Phyllis were back to Boston (8/17). See ya next time! Their morning departure had us pulling up the
hook and moving along to Northport. We
explored the few blocks of town but had no Mario Batali sightings (he is a
resident). We ended the day with sundowners
aboard m/v Arion who also happens to be in town. We compared port stops and the differences
between lake cruising and ocean cruising.
We unanimously prefer the clean feel of the boat in fresh water but
thoroughly dislike the lake critters like flying biters, spiders and ants but
it is all about trade-offs and all time on the water is good time. Back aboard Barefeet and the stars exploded
in the night sky with the Milky Way front and center.
Morning
conditions were so calm that we could clearly see the anchor dug into sand 15
feet below the surface in Northport (8/18).
The Bahamas or Michigan?! Never
thought that comparison was on the table.
We rounded the pinkie of the mitten, past the Grand Traverse Lighthouse
and headed due south. Our plan is to
bump along the lake towns of Michigan as long as weather conditions are good
and pausing when they are raucous. We
took Wisconsin off the boating itinerary but will add a road trip from Chicago
to the Door Peninsula as we wait for repairs to be wrapped up at the Brandon
Road Lock by approx. Sept 8th…or at least that’s our idea for
now. Our first stop was Leland –
lovingly called Fishtown for its charming fish shanty look. We tied up at the small Leland Municipal
Marina where our hailing port of Marina del Rey created a stir since two dock
hands are from Southern California…one from Chula Vista and one from La
Crescenta, the town next to my hometown of La Canada. It is a small world and it was really fun to
chat about Tommy’s burgers (it’s the screen saver on my phone), SoCal weather
and other neighborhood haunts.
Leland
is quite photogenic and introduced us to a few more Michigan specialties like
superman ice cream and the Chubby Mary cocktail. We tried one but passed on the other. Superman ice cream is said to have been
invented in Detroit. It is a technicolor
combination of cherry/Detroit red pop, almond extract, blue raspberry, rich
vanilla and lemon. Who creates such a
thing? Stroh’s Ice Cream is who and we gave it a thumb’s up. At The Cove for dinner we passed on the
Chubby Mary - a Bloody Mary topped off with a smoked chub fish…nose to tail and
all fins in between. Yuck; however,
everything we did order was delicious as we sat perched above the Leland River. The evening floor show was a spectacular
sunset that drew everyone to the breakwater and docks.
The
summer season is short in Michigan which has marinas in high demand, especially
on the weekends. Only one night
available for us, Thursday, in Leland so we headed one hour further to anchor
at Good Harbor (8/19). The watermaker
was greased, the dinghy engine was greased and we zipped ashore to walk the
beach in search of Petoskey stones. The
sun went down, wood smoke tinged the air as beach bonfires were lit and we were
the only boat at anchor. Stunning! The next morning a painted sky sunrise
accompanied us on a bumpy ride past Sleeping Bear Dunes. Watching the Pats pre-season football game
from the previous night on the laptop as we drove was a nice distraction to the
motion of the ocean…I mean the lake.
This section of Lake Michigan has manmade harbors with carved out
entrance channels. In we went to
Frankfort. It’s a cute town with a
supermarket, hardware store and The Cabbage Shed (okay, technically it's in the neighboring town of Elberta
but that just needs the dinghy). The
Cabbage Shed is a rustic barn of a restaurant overlooking the bay with the tag
line – older than you. They aren’t
kidding – it was established in 1867.
Live music on a perfect summer evening was wonderful.
Before
our morning departure the main engine oil was changed. Chris has the process down to surgical
precision…and voila – it’s done. The
manmade channels are handy but they are often clogged with fisherman which
means idle speed and a slow, frogger type egress. Another hop south had us tied up at the
Manistee Municipal Marina which was good for linen laundry and a quiet Sunday
(8/21). Another day of smooth conditions
had us anchored at Pentwater - a delightful small town with a population of 850
and, as we learned from Wendy at the Antler Bar, a graduating senior class of
about 20 (8/22). The Antler Bar seemed
like a real local joint with customers saying “hi” into the kitchen, complimenting
a waitress on a new hair cut (Wendy has known said waitress since she was 4
years old) and patrons stopping to chat at tables on their way to their own
table. Michigan has a real fun, beachy
vibe.
Our
day started with dropped eggs on toast and baked beans before another gentle
hop south along a lovely dune covered shoreline topped with dense forest
(8/23). This afternoon we arrived in
Muskegon. Their entrance channel has a
bit of a twist with a bulge of a water/beach playpen before emptying into a
large lake for anchoring or marinas dotted along the lakeshore. Showers all around then we jumped into the
dinghy headed for Dockers Fish House.
Oops – we missed the Harbor Town Marina entrance on our first pass and
needed the phone for navigation. Spotted
on the deck was the first shark we have seen in months (his name is
Bruno). Back aboard Barefeet conditions
were perfect for a sundowner on the bow with tunes playing. It is crazy to think how rare this tranquil
moment actually is.
We
have been lucky for so many mellow weather days on Lake Michigan; however, it
means that we have been moving for eight straight days. That’s okay but we are ready for a pause. A combination of lack of marina availability
and winds due in a couple days has us moved along to anchor at Saugatuck
(8/24). It’s a small-ish town with an
artsy vibe added to the beachy summertime feel that has thus far defined
Michigan for us. The Michigan license plate motto is
not wrong…Water Winter Wonderland. We’ll
wait here until the winds pass and then continue to Hammond Port Authority
(it’s in Indiana but think of it as Chicago).
At Hammond we’ll do a few boat projects, catch up with family in the
area and visit the Door Peninsula by land while repairs on the Brandon Road
Lock wrap up. The Brandon Road Lock is about four miles south of Joliet, Illinois. Once the lock is back up
and running we’ll continue down the rivers targeting an arrival in the Gulf of
Mexico in early November.
Banana
Dried Cherry Oatmeal Bake (Menonite Girls Can Cook)
2
cups old fashioned oatmeal (large flake)
1
teaspoon baking powder
½
teaspoon salt
1
teaspoon cinnamon
1/3
cup brown sugar
¼
cup veggie oil
1
egg
1
½ cup milk
2
bananas, mashed
1
cup dried cherries (or blueberries)
½
cup chopped almonds (optional)
·
Grease
8x8’ square baking dish.
·
Mix
together oats, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, sugar and almonds (if using).
·
Whisk
together milk, egg and oil in a separate bowl.
Add mashed bananas (or in blender until smooth).
·
Add
to oat mixture and stir to combine.
·
Gently
stir in cherries/blueberries and spread in prepared dish. Save a few berries to put on top.
·
Bake
at 350F for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.
·
Serve
warm with a drizzle of maple syrup, dollop of yogurt or splash of milk. Reheats well.
