Lake Michigan St Ignace to Traverse City

“Mighty Mac”: Today we crossed into Lake Michigan as we went under Mackinaw Bridge. Very different perspective cruising under it versus traveling over it by car. We could see the vehicles thru the grated roadbed. But before we crossed into Lake Michigan, we stopped to take a milestone picture with our looper flag, Martha (Me) and the bridge in the background. Hard to believe we’ve made it this far. Now on to Beaver Island. I’m holding the gold burgee in my hand–the one we can fly once we reach Northport.

Beaver Island: I wasn’t too keen going to Beaver Island as it seemed out-of-the-way, but I’m glad we did. But first the condition of the cruise, we went west from St. Ignace and then south thru Grey’s Reef and then west again to the island. Not fun!!! Lots of riding the rollers at an angle to avoid rolling. Seemed like it took forever, but we did arrive. Once we entered the “lagoon” or lake we cruised around the outer perimeter to the north side where we docked. This is a very unique island as the way-of-life is sort of modern, but yet very quaint/slow. There is a population that stays on the island all year and is supplied by ferry in the summer and plane in the winter. And yes, the ferry can bring your car to the island. The island has a downtown(ish) with a few restaurants, bars, grocery store, post office and a few other necessary businesses. We enjoyed the lack of business on the island and few tourists. We rode our bikes to the Circle M Bar & Restaurant for dinner one night (the building was once a rectory for a church). The church building was moved 1 mile into town so the townspeople could attend more easily. We also walked out to the lighthouse and on the way visited the maritime museum and a toy shop (almost didn’t find this shop as it was hidden behind bushes and trees). Our second day there a storm blew in with lots of rain, but we did manage to get out when the sun came out. This island is one place I would like to visit again when the weather is nicer.

Charlevoix: Next stop Charlevoix. The wind wasn’t in our favor today which made part of the journey uncomfortable, but eventually we were able to aim right to the channel at Charlevoix. We waited for the drawbridge to open, then into Round Lake and the Municipal Marina to dock for the night. It was kind of special to meet up with Jeff & Lisa, on Boomerang, who we hadn’t seen since Southport, SC. Enjoyed a walk by the mushroom houses and dinner with them that evening. I miss seeing the loopers that we traveled with who are mostly ahead of us on the loop.

Boyne City: The next day we traveled down Lake Charlevoix towards Boyne City to attend the CRAM event to be held this weekend. Tim helped the boaters set up their boats while I toured the small downtown (lots of summers sales going on). The next day Tim helped the man on the committee boat from his dingy. Apparently the man was new to being the committee boat and Tim made it possible for the race to happen because of his help. That evening we had dinner at Ed & Tara’s house with several of the CRAM boaters as well as enjoyed time around the firepit in their yard. The next day, it was decided the wind was not sufficient to run more races, so the event was called and everyone went home early. For dinner we found a good Mexican restaurant and bought a few things at the grocery store. It was a nice marina, except we had to dock on the inside of a T-head because most of the slips didn’t have electric. But fortunately our spot did, even though we had to use extention cords. The sunsets were amazing. That evening we put all the toys (rowboat, dingy) back up on the boat in anticipation of our trip tomorrow to East Jordan.

East Jordan: 1 hour towards Charlevoix and 1 hour on the South Arm and we arrived in East Jordan. We did have to be careful while crossing the chain of the ferry that crosses the South Arm, but we made it. East Jordan is kind of depressed as the major employer, East Jordan Metal, moved to another location about 15 miles away. We did find a restaurant called the Foundry which was good. We also walked thru a campground across the lake from the harbor–maybe for future reference.

Charlevoix: Back again for a two-night stay while we wait out the windy weather. The day we arrived it was rainy and very windy and the wind lasted thru the night. I was thankful not to be out on Lake Michigan because it was very rough out there. We enjoyed docktails with about 10 looper couples that first night…most of them we hadn’t ever traveled with. There were a few Gold loopers who were interesting to talk to and share stories. One of the couples brought out “little beers” and we all celebrated our accomplishments, but then they wanted to celebrate Tim & I and almost finishing our journey. Cheers to all of us. Today, the sun was shinning, but very cool. We did laundry first thing, toured the mushroom houses, bought whitefish dip, had lunch at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant (very good) and other chores (like catching up on the blog). Tomorrow we head to Northport where Tim says we cross our wake, and raise the GOLD burgee, for officially crossing our wake. Not sure how it will feel when we are done. So many unknowns in the future.

North Port: Off to Northport and the bay where this whole trip started. Nice day for cruising but a day with lots of emotions. As much as I looked forward to this ending date, I do believe my feelings have changed. We are entering a familiar port after so many harbors that were unknown to us. We came into the harbor a bit early for check-in so we ended up docking on the breakwater wall. In spite of the plethora of spiders, the spot was away for everyone, except those walking the breakwater. We could step off our boat onto the breakwater and enjoy seeing the expanse of the bay. What a view and to know the our homeport was just a few hours away. Officially we crossed our wake in Northport so we had a passerby take the photos of the changing of the burgee from white to gold. What an accomplishment to actually finish the loop. There were times I thought, never mind what I actually thought…. We are officially Gold Loopers. We didn’t do much in this town as we had explored it many times before. We did visit the bakery.

Traverse City/CenterPointe Marina: So strange to be cruising to our final destination after all those miles. We entered our marina quietly while Jay was using his drone to capture the moment. The crew from Walrus also greeted us but that was it. Later, many from the marina welcomed us back and we had a small gathering to celebrate with Preston, John, Jay and many others from the marina. So we are back, now what???? We plan to stay on the boat for about 10 days before we head to Grand Rapids for appointments, then Kailey’s and camp.

WE ARE GOLD LOOPERS—What a year (actually 13 months) this has been.