Notice the change in scenery...no more rocks...been replaced by sand sand and more sand....

Short run down the lake to Leland...FISHTOWN...busy though SMALL marina... a few interesting shops..and a historic fish town replica...we mingled then just hung out...read and worked on our tans. It was a fun place to people watch. Oh, and they too were hosting a craft fair...can't say that we helped any of those vendors either...but it is fun to look.

It was a busy couple of days. The annual Arts and Craft show started Saturday morning. (We were able to visit before leaving.) Boyne City, the town at the other end of the lake, was hosting a cigarette boat poker run...soooo lots of go-fast boats in the channel. We scrambled to make the 10:30 bridge opening...and as luck would have it, guess who was coming in???? That Beaver Islander...but, hey, this time we had working steering!!!!

Charlevoix was truly a special stop for us. A chance for me to catch up with a (no, I am not using the word OLD) Mary Kay friend that I had reconnected with on Facebook. Linda Bemis and her husband have a cottage in Charlevoix and spend their summers there. SOOOOOO....delightful new and modern marina...busy quaint town right beside us...and Linda. She arranged for us to have manicures/pedicures on Friday morning. They gave us a personal tour of the place. I managed to do a little shopping splurge... and we ate really well. Oh, and the steering got fixed.

Entering a busy Charlevoix channel was gonna be a challenge...just engines and gears....we were doing just fine til we misjudged the bridge opening by 4 minutes...that's a long wait in a busy channel...finally they opened...we zipped through only to be greeted by the Beaver Islander coming across our bow...turning into the channel...needless to say, it went fine...we made it safely to our slip... even though the guy who supposedly helped us dock wanted to argue with the First Mate about what to do ... let's just say my arteries are clear!!!!

Wind forecast and worries about traveling the Straits of Mackinaw got us up and at 'em at O'Dark Thirty...though all that was for naught. Looking at that bridge as the sun rose was an awesome sight....Our first day on Lake Michigan was smooth and easy..."George", our auto pilot, did most the driving as we made our way to Charlevoix. Seemed like a piece of cake...until we switched off George and realized that we had no manual control steering...

Seems the Brits started all this at Mackinaw Island...and they seem to have left a little something behind...Floyd almost jumped off the carriage. He'd really like to own one of these phone booths though heaven knows where he'd put it???? A kind fellow fudgee took our picture...do we look like boat people you know????....yea, that's what we thought...

We thought the trash truck pick up that we happened on was a hoot....and couldn't resist that cute post office. We understand that there is no home delivery on the island...everyone comes to the post office to pick up their mail. Police ride bikes as well. We did hear and see a garage for fire trucks...and understand that those are the only vehicles allowed on the island. It was a nice place to visit...glad we went...but no need to return....crowded, pricey, and I just didn't really get the whole walk walk walk idea...