We made it to Traverse City, but not without some excitement. When we departed at 7:30am, the wind was 6 knots out of the north. Our exit had us going west, until we hit the Traverse Bay to turn south. We came out of the draw bridge with another trawler right behind us. We both were heading in the same direction, alternately getting rolled from the side, then beating into the waves. It was not a fun start to the morning. We were seriously questioning how far we would make it. The other boat pulled ahead of us, but we were somewhat following them. At one point, the couch slid across the room and wedged against the refrigerator. At least that won’t open and spill the contents again! No one was happy with the motion of the boat, and the looks I got from the animals were saying to me “you a**hole!”.
It was about 9:30 when Lauren noticed someone had sent her a message on Nebo. This is the app you can follow boats on and see who/where they are in real time. Anyone can download it and follow us. The message was from the boat that left with us, and told us they were going to Northport, and there is a bus there that goes to Traverse City. At this point, Lauren was getting sea sick from the rolling, and the animals were still not digging it. I started to head toward Northport, but realized we had a smoother ride heading south than we did heading west. After consulting with Lauren, we decided to continue south to Traverse City. We made it there around 1:30pm.
The first set of marinas we saw, we thought was where we wanted to be. We entered the area, and couldn’t see a gas dock, or anyone around. I called on the radio and got no response. Lauren had looked at Nebo, and noticed we were in the wrong location. We needed to be a bit further south, at the very bottom of Traverse Bay. We turned out and headed to the correct marina. Once close, I again called on VHF and received a response. I told him we wanted one night, and he told me to pick any spot I want, against the outside wall. This was fine with us, as we like to be a little out of the way. We picked our spot, and headed in. Now the wind was blowing harder, and on our first attempt, we got blown off. So I aborted, and we circled back to try again. Second time is a charm; we successfully landed, and proceeded to get tied up. Once secure, Frank needed his land time, so Lauren took him for a walk while I settled up at the dock office.
Once we were comfortable with everything, we took the bikes for ride. Traverse City is another vacation destination, with lots to do, and they were hosting an Iron Man Triathlon the coming weekend, so there were lots of people about and arriving on a daily basis. We went through town, and stopped at a cheese shop and bought some stinky but delicious cheese, got some pie at a pie shop, and stopped at a cider brewery to quench our thirst. As we were leaving, Lauren turned her bike right into a sign pole. She didn’t fall over, but the bike did. We laughed and laughed and laughed.
We made it back to the boat in one piece, and had dinner. Lauren is quite the chef, making sure we eat well. There is no shortage of food and nibbles for us as we spend our time on the boat. We retired for the evening and I thought about updating the blog, but I did not. my bad.
The next morning, we awoke and had a plan. We needed to get to a Walmart or something similar. There is a bus that travels from downtown Traverse City to a ‘suburb’ that has such a store. They have Meijers in Michigan. Same difference. The bus was free, and we boarded right by the marina. This was great! We had a list of items we needed- especially oil for the boat. This was going to present a problem and we knew it: we had to transport said oil and whatever else we purchased back to the boat. When I say we need oil- we need at least four gallons of oil for an oil change. Plus we needed dog food, which we purchase the large bags of. So goes our mantra: we’ll figure it out!
After our trip to Meijer’s , we made it back to the boat with all of the supplies we set out for, plus some. We probably did look a little silly crossing the road with Lauren and I carrying four containers of oil and a large bag of dog food, plus a couple of bags, but so what? We made it.
Now it was mid afternoon, and we wanted to have lunch. There was a brewery close by that we wanted to check out. Workshop Brewery. We headed there after we put away our supplies and walked Frank. A short walk later, we settled in and were sipping some beer and cider on the patio, when we met some folks from Cleveland. They were in town for the triathlon, and we all chatted about their adventures traveling for the triathlons and biking experiences, and had a really good time hearing about different peoples adventures. In the mean time, we ordered a pickle pizza. yes- pickle pizza. This was a pizza with House-made dill pickles, ranch-whipped ricotta, roasted garlic,
flat leaf parsley, extra virgin olive oil, and house-blend cheese….Delicious.
So at this point, Lauren is telling me we need to not mention all of the breweries we have visited; I asked if cider counts? We have visited a brewery or cider house in almost every town, with the exception of the super small towns that don’t have any offerings. Then we bike to them if possible. So… as I opened and my provisioning question was: “do we have enough alcohol?”… I can tell you we haven’t been thirsty.
So… After our lunch, we again got on the free bus and headed to “The Village“. If you don’t follow the link, let me give a few notes: “The main structure would be large and advanced for Northern Michigan: almost one quarter mile long, over 300,000 square feet, over 70 feet tall at the roof ridge, and employing central heat and electric lights. In April of 1883 construction began on the Victorian-Italianate styled asylum. Over eight million bricks were brought from the local brickyard at Cedar Lake to construct the main building (Building 50). In spite of a time of hand tools and mule power, the immense task of constructing the hospital took less than three years to complete. By November of 1885, it received its first patients.”
“The Northern Michigan Asylum was built more than six decades before the use of the first psychiatric drugs. Founding Medical Superintendent Dr. James Decker Munson believed in the moral treatment movement, which at the time was revolutionary. Central to this belief was Dr. Munson’s philosophy that “Beauty is Therapy.” If patients were surrounded by a beautiful environment, from the architecture to the campus grounds, their emotional and mental state would be uplifted.”
“Dr. Munson made an effort to ensure that patients felt at home rather than trapped in an unfamiliar place. Use of physical restraints was forbidden, except for the most extreme patient situations. Meals at the hospital were served in dining rooms on fine china glazed with the State Seal atop white linen tablecloths. Fresh flowers and plants decorated dining tables & resting areas. Artwork and inspirational sayings adorned the walls of the wide hallways.”
“The architecture of Building 50 in itself exemplified beauty & encouraged the very core belief of Dr. Munson’s founding philosophy. It was built in such a way that each patient room had a window & view to the outside. This let in an abundance of natural light & allowed every patient the opportunity to enjoy a view of the campus, even if they weren’t given the privilege to leave the building & walk the grounds alone.”
The above is directly from their website. This is all fascinating, but it creeped me out. I was not feeling the vibes here. Or I was, and I didn’t like it too much. There are shops, restaurants and condo’s here, as well as a brewery and cider house. Huh. Maybe a drink will make me feel better? So after walking around the main building, and stopping into some shops and browsing, we made our way to the first beverage stop: Left Foot Charlie. This is a winery and cider house. This was a nice first stop at The Village. We continued on to and explored another area of the grounds, and we found another brewery: Earthen Ales. After we were, shall we say, not thirsty, we headed back to the bus stop to take us back to downtown.
Our arrival back downtown greeted us with a closed off roadway, and a street festival going on. What to do, but wander down and see what is going on. We walked the avenue and enjoyed the festivities of Traverse City. As I’ve said: this is a vacation-like town. We meandered around and enjoyed the festivities around us. Eventually we headed back to the boat and had a late dinner. We also had to look at our next stop depending on the weather: Northport if its too rough, Leland if we have good weather. Only tomorrow will tell…