Back in the USA!

From our last anchorage in Baie Fine, we traveled to Spider Bay Marina in Little Current, where our friends Phil & Lise let us use their slip. Thank You so much! We fueled  and pumped out, and spent the night there. The next day we traveled 50 miles to an anchorage at Breardrop Harbour.
This was a large, busy anchorage, and had some very nice, secluded areas to dinghy.

And......of course another spectacular sunset!!!

On Wednesday, the 25th, we traveled another 50 miles to Thessalon Marina. Thessalon is a small, old town on the west end of the North Channel. It was a drizzly afternoon, but we put on our rain gear, and walked into town in search of the library, and an internet connection. We found the library, but it was locked. “No Problem”, a couple of young local gals said. “Just sit in the foyer, and you can get hooked up. They leave it on all the time”.

On Thursday AM, we headed across the North Channel to Drummond Island, where we had to stop to check back into US Customs. We got a fairly early start, and got to Drummond at 10:00 AM, but discovered the agents don’t start work until 10:30. The check in was quick, and off we went to our next “major” destination of Mackinac Island. 

Pictured above is the Grand Hotel on Mackinac. It was built by the railroads in 1887, as Mackinac was becoming a popular summer vacation destination. We took a walk thru it, and it is truly impressive!

At 660’ long, the front porch is the largest in the world. More than 130,000 guests stay at the Grand each season! The 5,000,000th guest in Grand Hotel history checked in on June 26, 2006.

 The interior furnishings and carpet are fit for royalty! Of the 338 rooms, no two are alike. I could not help notice while walking one of the stairs, that the entire four floor staircase was crooked, and much of the trim work did not match properly.  I was told this was due to the hotel being built in 90 days!

We have told you that we always take the trolley tour of any town we really want to see. Not here - there are no cars on Mackinac! So we took the carriage tour! 

In 1896, the City of Mackinac voted to ban all “horseless carriages” from the island, and that law is still in effect today!  Even the garbage truck is pulled by horses!  The mode of transportation here is by bike, and a 20 MPH speed limit exists. Our carriage driver told us his room mate was caught by the police, with a radar gun, doing 37 MPH down a hill, no hands on the handlebars, and texting on his phone. $110 fine!

We saw some spectacular scenery on our ride, and even an antique carriage museum.

On Saturday, we rented bikes, and took our own tour. We rode the 8 mile perimeter road around the island. The beaches have small, polished rock in some areas, and larger rocks in others. The water is crystal clear! I would say better visibility than the Caribbean!

We found some nature hike areas through the woods along the way.

We noticed many of these rock “statues” along the water front. They are called cairns’, or inuksuks. They were originated by the Inuit Indians, and were used to mark their paths.

So we decided to build one of our own!

Today is Pats B-day, so tonight we decided to take a taxi ride out to the Woods restaurant for dinner. It is about a 1/2 hour buggy ride out of town.
We had a lovely dinner in the woods, and a nice ride back to town.

Tomorrow morning we head down Lake Michigan to Charlevoix, which will begin our leg to Racine, Wisconsin,  where we will meet our friends Denny & Jean who slip their boat there. 

Good Night

Captn Ken