Days 271-272 in Elk Rapids, MI -having fun!

Two full days in Elk Rapids starting with:
Day 1.
     We headed to town about 9:30 am for some shopping. We ended up having an early lunch in downtown. The first restaurant that we chose was (emphatically) serving only breakfast until Noon so we found another nearby. We got back to Lucky Us about 12:30 pm, and we unloaded the "bikes". We set off on a back road about 1.5 miles south of Elk River to the "Art Park". The park is a do it yourself walking tour along a path with fairly dense tree cover. Perhaps it was just perfect timing, but the sun lit the "Lotus" perfectly in this tiny clearing. The figure seated in the Lotus position is carved in Spruce (and coated with epoxy (?) to protect it from the elements.

     Altogether, there were 16 pieces of art along the trail, and the park itself is along about a half mile of public beach that was totally uninhabited while we were there.

     One very unusual piece of art was actually partway out on the beach (photo at left). The work is titled "Singing Pail of Dreams", and the shovels and the half buried beach basket are made if stainless steel. The Admiral is holding a shovel for scale in the picture. Since the inside is shaded, it was difficult to photograph, but if I had my own beach, I would love to have this as a cabana, but I would skip the shovels since they would be a little heavy... In case you have not gathered it, this was one of my personal favorites!

   Another simple but very graceful piece was "Sail Form". It was also along the edge of the beach and easier to photograph.

     I skipped several of the pieces, but the Admiral (Terry) and Seaman 3rd Class (Ann) claim to have visited all of the pieces.

     We all met back at the parking lot for some water, and then we bid "Goodbye" to the Admiral as she started off on her electric assisted bike to the Traverse City Airport about 16.5 miles south. She had reserved a rental car there for pick up at about 3:00 pm. She had a safe, if somewhat hilly, trip with several stops for water (and to check the map on her I-Pad). This was her longest trip on the bike, but she said that the electric assist was especially useful on the uphill portions of the trip. The bike folds up nicely for storing in a cars trunk. Anyway, about 2.5 hours after she left us at the park, she arrived safely back at Lucky Us.

     We decided on a late afternoon swim, and of course, even though we had a rental car, the Admiral insisted that we walk about a half mile to the beach.... Show off!

     I tried to get the ladies to take my photograph as proof that I had finally had a swim in Lake Michigan, but there were no takers??? The various reports that I saw put the lake temperature at 64 or 66, but the water was really shallow so it might well have been a little warmer. The Admiral and I probably spent 15+ minutes in the water while Ann perhaps chose the wiser course by just wading along the shore.

Day 2.

      We headed west in the rental car at about 9:00 am for a visit to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Our trip took across the southern end of the West Arm of Grand Traverse Bay to the shore of Lake Michigan. Then we headed north along the coast with Lake Michigan to the left and Grand Traverse Bay a short distance to the east. Thus, we were travelling along a narrow peninsula-like strip of land that ended when Grand Traverse Bay opened into Lake Michigan. Along the last 8 or so miles of the Lake Michigan coast lies the Sleeping Bear Dunes. One of the first sights was this reproduction of a wooden bridge done by the National Park Service. It looked realistic enough, but most of the wooden bridges that I have seen were fairly narrow one-lane bridges.

     What makes this park unusual is that there are large areas where the dunes have not been stabilized by vegetation. The picture at left is a view looking north with Lake Michigan on the left. The very steep slope down to the water has been formed by erosion by waves at the base of the sand. The top of the sand has been partially stabilized by vegetation, and we are perhaps 300 feet above the lake at this point.

     The picture at the right was taken from about the same place as the one above. However, this picture is taken looking down the slope (to the west) at the water below. For scale, the larger of the two boats is a 58 foot Hatteras yacht that we had been docked next to in Mackinaw City. You can also see people (tiny "dots") on the slope. These people are learning the hard way about how easy it is go down a sandy slope like this and how hard a climb it is back up! Several people had given up trying to walk/climb up in an upright position and were crawling up the slope on all fours...

     The views from on top were often quite good. The picture at the left shows where Lake Michigan meets Grand Traverse Bay (in the middle). Most of the small "hills and valleys" that you see are probably dunes or dune related features that have been stabilized by vegetation. We did drive north to the lighthouse (and chapel) at the north end. At that point we decided that we were long overdue on a lunch stop. The Admiral found a town just a few miles away with several restaurants. The one that we chose had a waiting list to sit outside, but by then we were more than happy to sit inside in air conditioned comfort. I had a perch sandwich with genuine imported (from Canada) perch. The sandwich was so full of perch that I ate 2 full filets before actually eating the sandwich.

    We got back home to Lucky Us about 3:00 pm, which was just in time for a nap... We had dinner on board, and headed to town for some evening shopping. We had agreed earlier that we would end this excursion with a visit to an ice cream parlor. We found one that was open but actually trying to close up (we got there at 8:57 pm). As we walked out the door, the owner, who had been waiting outside, locked the door behind us. We were so happy to get the ice cream that none of us actually realized that the servings were very small until after we got outside. Oh well, we were all so tired that we were happy to be headed back to a much needed early bedtime. When we got back to Lucky Us we were pleasantly surprised to find her rocking away in a 10 mph wind on the beam (side). Ah, yes. We were all rocked to sleep ...