Tuesday, September 19, 2017

Let's Finish Lake Michigan

Fri-Tues, September 1-12

We visited several more towns down the coast of Michigan. The first was Snug Harbor in Pentwater. The first two nights were not so snug--we bounced around from the wind coming in from Lake Michigan. We then moved from the face dock to a slip and no more movement! We found a great coffee shop with delicious scones. On Labor Day the city basically rolled up the sidewalks!  My favorite store Bitchen Kitchen was still open and I procured a few more necessary items for the boat and for home.

Another whole day was used to call harbors within 100 miles to check the price of diesel fuel. Don't want to wait til we get to high-priced Chicago to buy fuel! 

The winds finally died down after 6 days in Pentwater and we left early for the 7 hour cruise  to Grand Harbor. Five boats left: Time Out, Ellis' Island, Cha Cha, First Forty, and In Deep Ship. We were helped in to the dock by Donna Mae-- another looper. The local bus service took us to the grocery store. We had 30 minutes to shop before catching the last bus back to the marina. We looked like game show contestants putting stuff in the cart and rushing to the next aisle!




That night we went to a local restaurant 'Tip a Few' for their mexican specialties. The real  special treat was meeting brand new loopers that are becoming famous for their RV trek around the country with his 90 year old mother! Look for their book and movie (soon to be released) "Driving Miss Norma". Also that night we got to see the special fountain show, but without the music. It was a great show!
Grand Harbor light show
The next couple days we kept on moving since the weather was still super nice to be on the water. We went to South Haven and then to Michigan City, Indiana. Wow it was beginning to feel like summer! And we entered the Central Time Zone so an extra hour! Great sunshine and very little wind.
Michigan City Lighthouse

View of Michigan City Marina from the top of the lighthouse
The next day was on to Chicago! We took a short detour to Portage City, IN to fill up our tanks with diesel fuel at $2.379 a gallon! We won't have to buy fuel again until we get to the Ohio River! 
Chicago