Tall Ship Celebration

Today I realized one of my longtime dreams....climbing aboard an ancient tall ship (or at least a replica thereof).  I know that sounds a bit out of character for me but I've had a fascination with tall ships for over a decade and have never been near one until today.  We drove the 2.5 hour trek down to Bay City this morning where the Tall Ship Celebration was in full swing on the Saginaw River.  The line to purchase tickets was incredibly long so, thanks to some quick thinking, we ordered e-tickets on my phone and were in within minutes.   We were given an armband and an Official Passport listing each ship along with her statistics and her story.  Once aboard the ship, your passport gets stamped by the official.

So, we were naturally drawn to the most magnificent ship in the harbor, the El Galeon which is a  Spanish galleon hailing from, well, Spain, of course.  She is a replica of a 16th century galleon and the only one in the world still sailing.  When the ships approached the harbor on Thursday, their sails were drawn down so the pictures do not reflect their pure beauty.  The line to board her was a 3 to 4 hour wait...what a disappointment.  This was our first rodeo so we didn't know that you needed to get there when the gates opened, then have a foot race with hundreds of others to get in line to board her.  Oh well, lesson learned.

El Galeon

So, we chose to get in a more reasonable line to see the Pride of Baltimore II which is a reproduction of an 1812 era Baltimore Clipper.  Her famous captain was Thomas Boyle, a notorious pirate who sailed to the British Isles, harassed the British merchant fleet and sank or captured 17 British vessels.  She was a beauty and we finally got our passport stamped.

Pride of Baltimore

Pride of Baltimore

While walking along the river to see the next ship, we noticed a couple of charter boats on the river, the Islander and Princess Wenonah where the passengers were getting a close-up view of the ships.  Hmm....what a capital idea!  So, we set out to the charter boat dock and bought tickets for the 3:00 cruise.  Not bad, the 2:00 cruise had just left, so on only an hour wait.  We found a place to sit by the water, wait and rest our weary bones.

 

When and If

On the way to the charter boat, we passed the When and If, an Alden schooner out of New York, NY commissioned by General George S. Patton in 1939.  Her name is attributed to Patton's quote "when the war is over, and if I live through it, my wife, Bea, and I are going to sail her around the world".  Patton died in 1945 and, unfortunately, did not fulfill his dream.

The Islander

Veterans Memorial Bridge

We boarded the Islander at 3:30 as it was running a bit late but we were 7th and 8th in line so we got a front row seat on the starboard side of the upper deck....best seats on the boat.  The Veterans Memorial Bridge opens up each time the Islander and Princess Wenonah passed through and a wave to the (female) bridge operator gets you a wave back.  What a difference this made, we could almost reach out and touch the ships.

Denis Sullivan

The Denis Sullivan's homeport is Milwaukee, WI and is an classified as a 3-Masted Schooner.  She serves as an educational sailing vessel in the Great Lakes region teaching learners of all ages and she summers in South FL.

Draken Harald Harfagre

The Draken Harald is a Single-masted Viking Longship hailing from Norway and is a spectacular site with 25 pairs of oars and recognizable dragon head.  Don't mistake the red and white canopy in the background for a sail, it's a refreshment tent...makes for a pretty picture though.

Draken Harald

She also has an interesting dinghy which was being launched just as we were passing.

Draken Harald Dinghy

Madeline

The Madeline hails from right here in Traverse City and is a Gaff Topsail Schooner.  She is a reconstruction of a 19th century Great Lakes schooner and an official tall ship of MI.

Pathfinder

The Pathfinder is a Brigantine from Toronto, Canada.  She was the original vessel of a charitable organization founded in 1962 to develop leadership, discipline and citizenship in a maritime environment.

Playfair

The Playfair joined the Toronto Brigantine in 1974.  She was christened in 1973 by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II and is the only Canadian ship to be commissioned by a reining monarch.

Appledore IV and V

The celebration was on both sides of the river with a total of 13 ships plus, for $50 pp, you could sail on the Appledore IV or Applendore V. 

These two  schooners are owned and operated by  a non-profit organization in Bay City and their mission is to "foster environmental stewardship of the Saginaw Bay watershed and the Great Lakes ecosystem and to provide personal development opportunities for learners of all ages through shipboard and land-based educational experiences".

The Islander made two passes around all of the ships and this was the delight of the day.  Good close-up views, good pictures, good weather, etc and all for a $15 ride.  Here is a view of the crowd crossing the Veterans Memorial Bridge and of the celebration.

Crowd crossing the Bridge

Tall Ship Celebration

Got home around 8:00 after a long, tiring day but what a delightful day for me, not so sure about George. I want to thank him for being the patient, wonderful  husband and traveling companion that he his, and for sharing this adventure with me and making my dream come true....love you to the moon and back!

Mah Jongg anyone?

If it's Tuesday, then it must be Mah Jong.  Sue picked me up in her golf cart and off we went to the South Clubhouse.   We had 8 ladies again today, let's see....it was me, Sue, Peggy, DeAnna, Carol, Barbara, Shelia and I'm drawing a blank on the other lady.  Not bad for just having met them for the second time, huh. 

Turns out Shelia knits so I invited her to go downtown to Knit Knorth with me this afternoon but she and her husband were going for a ride on their motorcycle.  So, after lunch, I drove downtown and parked in the public parking garage which is about 3 (long) blocks from the yarn shop.  Wouldn't be so bad except today is the hottest day we've have had up here...93 with 75% humidity.  

Allure Scarf

Knit Knorth is a nice little shop, owned by Heather Adle.  Heather and her friend were sitting around knitting and talking like we do back home.  I'm considering taking a class from her on sock making, they are a bit tricky and there are several ways to make them.  I wore my Allure Scarf to Mah Jongg today and Carol wants me to make one for her in aqua.  Knit Knorth did not have the yarn I needed so I drove over to the Yarn Quest.  They had the yarn but not the color so I'm in a bit of a dilemma.

Wednesday was R and R day for me (George calls it my "lazy day")...whatever you want to call it, I got some much needed rest lounging by the pool, which I had to myself most of the morning.  The pool water was cold by my standards; however, these northerners jump right in as if it's bath water.  George and I ran a  few errands this afternoon then I fixed flatbread pizza for dinner.

Thursday is upon us and it's Mah Jongg day at the North Clubhouse.  My "chauffer", Sue, picked me up again and we had 6 players...me, Sue, Carol, Deanna, Peggy and Janet.  Deanna was passing out invitations to Happy Hour Sunday night at the South Clubhouse....it's a "bring a bottle of Michigan wine and/or Michigan appetizers to share" party that Jan put together.  Well, I have both MI wine and MI cheese so I'm all set. 

We attended the Social at the Main Clubhouse this evening and met several nice couples.  We were greeted by Ann and Don Thomson from Houston, TX who own Lot 81.  Then Ron and Penny who own Lot 82 and have open Happy Hour at their place every night.  Around the corner from them are Larry and Ken on Lot 92, Carol and Frank on Lot 108 and Jan and Tim Fox...forgot their lot number but they are  near Carol and Frank.  Deanna also lives somewhere on this street, plus Jan is in 101 next door to the South Clubhouse (there are 4 Jan's here, so far I've met 2 of them).  There is a lot for sale on this street which we are seriously interested in buying....hmmm, we'll see.

After the social, we went to McGee's, a tavern down the street, with Carol and Frank and Jan and Tim where we traded RV stories, had a lot of laughs and learned more about each other.

Friday was cloudy and much cooler....not supposed to get out of the 60's so I took the opportunity to clean the RV and, since we aren't running A/C, I can get caught up on laundry.  Just finished my second Allure Scarf  and started a new knitting project called L'Enveloppe which I found at The Thistledownn Shoppe in Sutton's Bay.   Here's a peek at the yarn....it's called Mineral.
 

We fixed dinner on the grill then took a walk around the park this nice cool evening and got a closer look at Lot 96, the one we like.  There is someone parked in the lot so we'll have to wait for the realtor to escort us around.

It's been a week!

Wow....it's Monday and we've been here a week already.  Can't believe how fast last week passed.  I was thinking of going downtown this morning but I slept too late.  Funny thing, our bedroom is dark, cool and quiet and I could sleep forever. I've already found out that, if you don't get downtown fairly early, you'll never find a place to park. Oh well, ended up going to the grocery store for a few things.   Actually this store is more like a Super Super Market...like Walmart on steroids.  Maybe you've been to one?  It's Meijer (pronounced Meyer).   They have a huge wine, beer and liquor assortment, plus clothes, household and kitchen items, pharmacy, nursery, etc.  Bought a bottle of wine from 3 of the local wineries to try.  As you can see, I really like the Leelanau Cellars Sweet Red.

As I was leaving the campground I saw that Sue was sitting outside on her patio so I stopped to chat.  Well, I have to back-track a bit..I met Jan Saturday morning at the continental breakfast and she told me I needed to meet Sue who has a space up the street from us and that Sue's husband is away on business so she is also looking for someone to hang with.  Anyway, got out of my car and Sue said "you must be Karen", and that was the end of that.  We sat and talked for quite some time and she is just a delightful lady and my new summer friend.

Once home from food shopping, my next door neighbors, Helen and Jerry, were outside and came over to say hello.  They were telling me all kinds of places to go, things to do til my head was spinning.  They have a condo in Dalonoga, GA and are headed back there Sat to put their place on the market.   They own their lot here in Traverse Bay and have recently purchased a lot in Tuscon and will be building there soon. This got me to thinking, I think retirement is a multitude of change....change in passion, change in interests and change in location.  My in-laws, for example, are on their third retirement home.  Perhaps we are constantly in search of the perfect place which may or may not exist.

When George finished work, we went shopping for new outdoor folding chairs.  Checked out Menard's, which I've never heard of, and is like a Home Depot on steroids.  Man, they have some cool stores "up north".  Along the drive, we found Wuerfel Park, the local ball field and home of the Traverse Bay Beach Bums.  Can't wait to go to a baseball game.

Fixed a delicious but simple dinner.....salmon wrapped in heavy foil, seasoned with salt, pepper, a pat of butter and capers.  Also, corn on the cob wrapped in heavy foil with salt and a pat of butter and, lastly, asparagus spears wrapped in heavy foil with a pat of butter.  George put everything on the grill in proper order and it tasted amazing.  Love being able to have dinner outdoors and enjoy the cool evenings (sorry, I don't mean to rub it in but the climate is really nice here!).

Sutton's Bay

We slept late this morning after our Saturday adventures then decided to take a drive up to Charlevoix and Petosky.  After we got ready, we noticed that the coach was getting warm and realized that the a/c wasn't coming on.  Rut Row....the thermostat would not budge so George had his head stuck in manuals and blogs until after 12 0'clock.  I fixed lunch then my genius husband found the problem.... YEAH!  It would have been a shame not to get out and enjoy this beautiful day.

So, it's now after 1:00 and too late to stick with Plan A so we switched to Plan B, which is a drive up to the town of  Sutton's Bay.  We drove through this town on the way home yesterday but "somebody" had his fill of cute little towns and just kept on driving.  So, here we are today.

Found a great parking space right in the middle of downtown, next to the Lima Bean shop.  So we went in to explore and I bought a cute pair of earrings for $10.

Walked a couple of blocks and we were ready to turn around when George said, " let's go on up to the crosswalk", and I said "okay".  He is now kicking himself in the butt because I spied a yarn shop across the street and the rest is history.  The yarn shop is called Thistledown Shoppe and she had some yarn I've never seen before and a darling pattern called L' Envelope.  It's not a sweater, it's not a poncho, it's not a wrap and it's not a cowl....it's an "envelope" because it envelopes your upper body in warmth on a cool evening.  That's enough to sell me, so I bought the pattern and yarn.

Left there and finished our walk around town, stopping at a few shops here and there, one in particular had a lot of glass "yard art"...pretty but the POA would never approve, besides, it's 3:00 and they were closing.

We started our drive home and stopped at the Leelanau Cheese Company.  It's a local cheese maker that makes Alpine Style Raclette which I've never heard of before but, after tasting it, we both loved it.  It has a mild buttery flavor so we bought a slab.

Last stop before going home was for frozen custard at Culver's.  This was George's first visit and I think he liked it...we're having too much fun!

Once home, I sat outside and knitted for a few hours and enjoyed the wonderfully cool evening....I think I'm in paradise!

Sleeping Bear Dunes

It's Saturday, July 9 and we attended a continental breakfast in the Main Clubhouse hosted by the campground.  The pastries were from a local bakery and to-die-for, plus we met some of our fellow RV-ers.  Afterward, we were off to discover Sleeping Bear Dunes, which has been designated a National Lakeshore by the National Park Service and flows along the Western shore of Lake Michigan.   It is a must-see if you are traveling in this area.  After checking in at the Visitor's Center and getting our National Park Passport stamped, we stopped downtown for lunch at Joe's Friendly Tavern where we had some great Clam Chowder...in MI no less!   

Our first stop was Glen Lake which reaches a depth of 130 feet in places and only 12 feet deep in others.  It is amazing to me how the color of the water changes so dramatically with the depth of the lake.  It's like someone drew a straight line between the depths.

Next stop is the Dune Overlook aka The Dune Climb which is a 110 foot high sand dune and a whopping 3 mile hike from the lake to the top of the sand dune.  You can see from the pictures that it is an almost vertical climb.  These pictures were taken from the overlook and the people look like ants, which tells you just how big this dune is.  Kids were having a ball!

Our next stop was Lake Michigan Overlook which stands about 450 feet above the lake.  We were told that this is one of the most magnificent views in all of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

After leaving Sleeping Bear Dunes, we headed over to the quaint little artsy-fartsy town of Glen Arbor.  The population is 229 and it boasts 8 art galleries and 3 yarn shops.  Naturally, I was in hog heaven.  Visited 6 of 8 art galleries and 1 yarn shop.  What a glorious little town...love, love, love it.  My favorite gallery is Imagine That where I bought a special gift for a special friend.  Met a very nice lady, Mary, at  The Yarn Shop.  I could have sat and talked with her for hours.  I couldn't resist purchasing some yarn and a pattern from her.

The Yarn Shop

George is bored silly by now so we headed back home but not without a stop at our favorite restaurant, West End Tavern, where we had drinks and an artisan pizza and enjoyed the beautiful scenery of the harbor.

West End Tavern

Once home, we both took a power nap before heading down to the National Cherry Festival to watch the fireworks.  Glad we made the effort to do this as the fireworks would put Disney to shame.  Got home about midnight, exhausted!

The rest of the week...

Tuesday was housekeeping day so I vacuumed, mopped and did a couple of loads of laundry.  Because I was running the washing machine and dryer (+ A/C), I overloaded the electrical panel and we had to call maintenance.  Got my hand slapped.  So, from now on, I can only do laundry at night, whatever! 

Had to get out of the house Wednesday, so I went out in search of, you guessed it, yarn shops.  First stop was Yarn Quest where I met Sandra, the owner.  She has a plethora of nice yarn and took me on a tour of the shop describing each skein and what size needle to use.  I asked if she had any "knit-in's" on the calendar (this is where ladies congregate for a few hours to sit, knit, talk, and "show and tell" about their latest projects).  She said "no...she used to, but there were problems".  Didn't ask any more questions.  Bought a skein of yarn and was on my way...

Next stop was Lost Art, which was nearby.  A very nice German lady owns this shop.  Her granddaughter also works there and her black standard poodle, Matilda, acts as the mascot.  The yarn selection is mostly heavy wool which doesn't appeal to this Floridian.  She also has a lot of needlepoint supplies.  Said goodbye and on my way...

The next one is Knit Knorth right in the middle of downtown Traverse City.  Just by the funky spelling of the name, I think I will like this one.  Well, downtown TC is packed with tourists (ahem) and street parking is the only option.  I drove around the block six ways to Sunday but wasn't able to find a spot so I will save this visit for when the Cherry Festival is over.  On the way home I treated myself to a Chocolate Cherry Custard...YUM!

It's everything "CHERRY" here...

It's now Thursday which is Mah Jongg day at the Main Clubhouse.  We had two tables, including me, so it worked out perfectly.  Met some nice ladies, three of which were also from FL, one of which lives no more than 5 miles from my house...go figure.  Look forward to playing with them again.

George and I cooked steaks on the grill tonight accompanied by steamed veggies and garlic mushrooms cooked in butter.  It started to sprinkle so we pulled the picnic table under our awning...nothing was going to spoil our cookout!

Woke up Friday morning to rain which turned into a real downpour by mid-morning.  Didn't have much planned other than finding the nearest Walmart and shopping area which we did.  They actually have a mall here.  After scoping out the shopping area, the sun came out so we drove up to the Mission Point Lighthouse.  It's a very small lighthouse, built in 1870, located on the northernmost tip of Old Mission Peninsula.  It is also on the 45th parallel (or halfway between the North Pole and the Equator).  There were a lot of people up here, many of which dared to wade in the cold waters of the Bay.

Old Mission Lighthouse

The Hessler Log House was built in 1854 of hand hewn pine and hemlock logs and eventually  transferred to the lighthouse property in the late 1800's.

On the way home, we passed about 8 wineries, which I will visit another day...

May "The Fourth" be with you....

Today is the 4th of July and we had a pretty easy travel day.  It was cloudy, 66 degrees and a great day to travel.  We stopped at a rest stop for a picnic lunch of ham and swiss cheese sandwiches and, as we were nearing our campground, we spotted the Blue Angels performing an air show over the West Bay of Lake Michigan.  What a sight!  They pulled a nose dive and got as close as 20 feet from the lake.  There were only 5 of them as the 6th died in a recent tragic accident. 

We are staying at Traverse Bay RV Resort which is a magnificent place and has definitely earned the right to call themselves a resort.  We have had reservations here for quite some time so the anticipation has been building and, so far, has not disappointed.  Here is a view

out our front window:

Once we got settled in, we took a drive into downtown Traverse City where the National Cherry Festival was in full swing....a reported 500,000 people to be exact.  We found a restaurant on the West Bay called West End Tavern which had just opened 4 days ago.  The menu was average but the ambiance was fantastic....we waited 30 minutes to get a table outside on a large patio overlooking the harbor where all the boats were moored.

Wow....I'm duly impressed with this area already.  The temperature was perfect with only 35% humidity....that's 35% okay?  Not 95% which is what we it was when we left Florida.

On the road to Michigan...

Friday, July 1 We pulled out of Stonecrest at 11:00 am and, after a few miles, George announced that he left his wallet and watch on the chest of drawers, so we turned around at Del Webb/Spruce Creek CC and returned home to retrieve his stuff so, make that 11:30 that we actually left Stonecrest.

We started an audio book named "Tourist Season" by Carl Hiaasen.  We've listened to his books before and like him ok...albeit a little gorey at times.  However, the title seemed appropriate since we live in a tourist town, are traveling to a tourist town and will pass through many other tourist towns along the way.  The book took our minds off the driziling rain plunking on our windshield and made the drive seem shorter than it was.

After 7 hours, we reached New Green Acres RV Park, Walterboro, SC.   The office was closed but they left us a site map, a lot assignment and a credit card receipt for our nightly fee. We've stayed in this park several times as it's just about the perfect time to stop for the night.  We were, however, a bit worried as Mike Gaskill got his rig stuck in the mud here once and, after all, it had been raining most of the day.  Looked at the site map and, sure enough, looks like we were assigned "Mike's spot".  Just our luck.  Well, it turned out ok as they had laid fresh gravel and, fortunately, we didn't get stuck.  The drive here was 322 miles.  This doesn't sound like a lot of miles but, trust me, in a big motorhome, it is; not to mention the fact that we don't exceed the speed limit, and, in some instances, we don't even go the speed limit.

Day 2 We got on the road at 9:15 am and it was a "slow train through Arkansas" as my mother would have said, except that we were in Virginia and, did I mention that it is still raining?  After 7 hours and 320 miles, we rolled into Fort Chiswell RV Park in Max Meadows, VA.  We have also stayed here before and I remembered that there was a crazy looking cat that hung out with me at the laundry facility.  Took me a while to get up the nerve to pet it but, when I did, it wasn't nearly as mean as it looked.  I asked about the cat and they told me that one of the employees took it home with her (about 10 miles away) but, after a week or so, the darned cat returned to the campground.  Unfortunately, I didn't encounter the cat this visit.

Day 3 Today was our long travel day so we got on the road at 8:15.  More sprinkles today and more audio books.  We finished the first one yesterday and started "Skin Tight".  After 9 hours, we reached Fireside Resort RV Park in Auburn, IN.  Some parks use the term "resort" loosely....this is one of them. 

Mud Bug Massacre

Ok, all has been going so well on the trip so far so it's time for a "mud bug massacre" (my new name for an RV disaster).  So, I'm blow drying my hair and I plugged in my flat iron -big mistake- then they both shut down and suddenly no electricity.  I tried pushing the reset button to no avail so I had to yell for George and own up to my screw up of plugging in too many appliances at the same time. With the smell of singed wires in the air, he comes running into the bathroom with that "what have you done now Lucy" look.  He immediately tried to diagnose the problem without success so Mike comes to the rescue and sounds like he knows a lot about electrical problems (from previous "mud bug massacre" experiences).  They eventually figure out that one of the main electrical lines had burned up so we call a mobile service guy and wait, and wait, and wait.


The natives are restless so we set off to a shop where the guys buy a $369.00 supposed "fix" to our electrical and, much to our amazement, it worked (after spending the whole day working on it).


So now....on to bigger and better things. 


We took a tour of Reunion Pointe with Richard Parker, the developer.  This is a new RV Port-Home Community with about 31 lots to pick from.  Richard took us through his unit which is still under construction but very nicely laid out on the best lot in the neighborhood.  He also took us through a unit that has just been completed and we were very impressed, however, George is not sure he likes the location of this community but I'm glad we got a feel for what port-home living is all about. 

Panhandle or bust...

We are on a weeklong trip with the Gaskills to Lake Osprey RV Resort in Elberta, AL which is near Gulf Shores.  We stopped by their booth back in January at the Tampa RV Show and each received a coupon for their $99 Special weekly rate so...here we are.  We left at 7:00 am Friday morning and had a leisurely drive over, although a bit windy at times, arriving at 3:00.  And who should be in the lobby to greet us but Mark, a high school buddy of George's.

Mark and George were reacquainted on Facebook and have been communicating about RV-ing for a while now.  Mark is in the market for an RV and came over to observe the set up, etc so George was more than happy to accommodate.  In return, Mark got out his guitar and played some songs that he  has written and recorded.  Ahhh....so nice sitting by the lake in the warm sunshine, having a glass of wine with friends and being serenaded with song.  My favorite is the Mud Bug Massacre...you had to be there!

resort where we shared hors 'd oeuvres and mingled with the residents.  We also met the sales rep and made an appointment to find out all about resort RV living.

We retired back at the Gaskill's coach where we cooked brats on their Traeger grill (THE best brats I've had).  Then off to bed early after a long, busy day.