We woke up early to almost no wind. 2 knots. We wanted to be gone before the staff arrived to the marina and saw us still docked. We left the dock at 7:30am. We arrived across the bay around 8:15am. I called on the radio and told the person answering I wanted a pump out, and a dock for the evening. He was very nice, and said it would be no problem, come on in. Usually arrivals are noon or later, like a hotel. They have to make sure the persons leaving are gone and there is space, before the next arrival shows up. At this time of year, every town we’ve been in has been slower- it seems summer is over in Michigan. The weather has definitely not been summer-like, more like fall. Once we are done with our pump out and directed toward our dock, we get settled in. Lauren has come down with a cold , but is pushing through like a trooper.
Looking around, we notice several other Looper flags. Here we are again, catching up with everyone. Funny how there are some marinas we see a bunch, others none. Once the bikes were ready, we went out to explore. Apparently we are training for a Tour de France, or something like that, because this was another day of long biking, but it was worth it. I have to say, Michigan has done a wonderful job with their lakefront access and bike/walking paths. All very well kept, clean and well connected.
First biking destination: Bay Harbor. This is a wealthy resort town, about 4 miles away, that has everything to offer, and a bay that has million dollar yachts and homes. We walked around the downtown area, and got some lunch, which we enjoyed out on a picnic table overlooking the bay. There was a restaurant next to us with an acoustic guitar player, so we had live entertainment too! After lunch, we headed back toward the marina. We needed to get some dog food, and thought there was a store near by that would have some. Nope. We biked back to Petoskey and up the main road. When I say up, I mean up a steep hill, to the point we were walking the bikes up them. The hill was a main road/highway which had a lot of traffic, so we stayed on the sidewalks. We ended up stopping after a couple miles, and found a Walgreen’s, where we could get a small bag of food for Frank. He wasn’t completely out, but it was coming to the end and this would last us until we could get to a larger store with cheaper prices.
Now that we had the dog food and returned to the boat, we re-hydrated and prepared for another bike ride. This time we were going the other direction and following the bike path. I wasn’t sure of our final destination, but we did stop at Kilwin’s Ice Cream and Fudge Shop. Tasty ice cream they have there. We continued on for about 4 miles or so, and ended up at Petoskey Brewery. We enjoyed a couple of pints on the patio and read about the history of the building. We also were deciding on our next stop, which is Charlevoix. Finally we had to leave, as we wanted to get back before dark. We stopped and had a spectacular sunset overlooking the water. We also did some searching for the Petoskey stones that are unique to the area and found some souvenirs.
Now we’re back on board, and tired from all the biking. Lauren prepared dinner, and we eat and lounge around. Later Lauren retires, and I am contemplating going to bed, when I decide to go out for one last smoke. Usually I sit on the back ‘porch’ area, but tonight I decide to sit on the front, as the wind is blowing and I was hoping it would block the chill. I am looking out on the dock and see movement in a shadow. A small animal seems to be on the dock- it looks like a cat. It looks like our cat! Alice had got out and actually jumped to the dock. The cats are allowed to roam the boat when we are outside, and they have never made any attempt to leave or jump onto the docks. We do keep a close eye on them, and we do usually close the screen door when we are outside and they are inside. When she decided to go for a stroll, we’ll have no idea. She could have been out for an hour or ten minutes, but either way, it gave me a startle!
I jumped off of the boat and almost tripped myself right into the water! Alice was a bit startled at the sudden movement and started to go toward a neighboring boat, which looked kind of similar to ours. I called her name and she stopped, unsure of what was going on!? In her moment of hesitation, I grabbed her, and brought her back inside. Her new nickname is : “My Little Runaway”, and I can’t stop singing that song!. Once All was secured and all animals accounted for, I retired for the evening.
Our next stop in this vacation-like week is Charlevoix, another destination place with lots to do, and some strange houses…