After seeing the bridge over the Straits of Mackinac for over 4 days, we finally got to pass under the bridge on our way to Petosky, Michigan. It is spectacular from any angle, but it is over 5 miles long so getting the whole bridge into one picture... We did pass under the main span, but not in the middle since I was trying to "save" a little distance. Out trip for the day was 51.7 miles, and I was expecting more current in the Straits of Mackinac, which would have slowed us down. As it turned out, the current was only 0.5 mph based on our speed, and we made the trip in about 6.5 hours.
We headed west under the bridge for about 10 miles before turning south, which for me was a funny feeling. Yes, we are now "generally" headed south back towards the Gulf of Mexico and ultimately back to our home in Texas. It is not like the trip is almost over, since it will still take at least 3 months so I guess that turning south was just another milestone (?). The picture at the left shows the abandoned lighthouse off Waugoshance Island. The main shipping channel out of the north end of Lake Michigan now goes around the far side of the Grey's Reef Lighthouse in the background (west).
The modern shipping channel was moved westward to deeper water and still part of the new channel has to be dredged to accommodate today's larger ships. She may have been abandoned, but she is still a wonderful sight.
Heading south, it was a strange feeling to be only one or two miles off shore and in well over 100 feet of water. Going south down the west coast of Michigan, we will pass many areas of sand dunes along the coast. Many of the dunes have been stabilized by erosion and are no longer active. In some places the lake is actively eroding the sand, and we see sand beaches and long (unstable) slopes of bare sand above the shore.
About 20 miles after heading south, we could see Little Traverse Bay, and then we headed up (southeast) the bay about 10 more miles to Petosky, MI. It was a good thing that we had a reservation since our marina was 100% booked as were several others in this general areas. Of course, this is the prime boating season, but so far, we have found the Lake Michigan side to be much busier than we had experienced coming up the Lake Huron coast. Here (at left) is a picture of Lucky Us tucked into her berth.
In the late afternoon we headed into town for "some" shopping and dinner. There is a pedestrian tunnel under M-31, which is the main west coast highway. The downtown area was a surprise as it was really pretty upscale. Yes, there were still t-shirt stores, but there were clothing, jewelry, etc. stores that sold high quality merchandise. So, we had a good time "looking" at the stores. We got a good recommendation for a place for dinner. We ate at a slightly upscale restaurant with a glass wall overlooking the waterfront and bay. Great view/great food is an unbeatable combination.
After dinner we headed back through the tunnel and toured the waterfront. The Admiral took the lead and climbed down over the big rocks to wade along the shore. One of the "prized" local finds is a Petosky stone. Of course, you can buy highly polished ones in stores, but Terry managed to find several during her brief search. The actual stone is a local limestone with colonies of a fossil coral that give it its unique appearance. The picture at the left shows the Admiral during her search, and as you can see, I took the photo while comfortably seated on a nice, smooth, flat rock... The chain link fence on the right is the outfield fence where a playoff baseball game was underway between Ann Arbor and Petosky. So, I could keep track of the Admiral and watch baseball at the same time.
Petosky has been a very nice stop, but we are on the move tomorrow around Noon. So, the last event in Petosky will be the first event in tomorrow's blog. Wow! I am sure that this mysterious ending will have you on the edge of your seat until the next post (ha, ha).
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