I got up at the "crack" of 9:00 am so I was in a great mood and ready to explore. However, just as a little reality check, I spent some time blogging to catch up. Then we headed to town with the first stop being a basket store that had been closed when we walked past last evening. It was a really amazing store with both functional baskets and baskets as "art".
The downtown area extended for several blocks in both directions. One side was bordered by a block size park (photo at right), and the stores that faced the adjacent streets had added back entrances. Also, I was standing on an old railroad track that cut diagonally across the park. Several blocks along the track was an old passenger station. Around 1900 before the age of automobiles, this area had already become a major summer destination, and Petoskey had about 100 trains passing through each day. There were about 5,000 passengers through here each day from Chicago, Detroit and other cities.
My photos for Petoskey are going to all be from the marina/park area since for some unknown reason I did not take any more pictures of the town. Unfortunately, I am famous for leaving my phone on the boat. The east end of the marina was formed by a boulevard style walkway from the breakwater extending to the tunnel into downtown. The focal point of the walkway is this bell tower (photo at left) that chimed once every half hour during the day. The Admiral and I enjoyed the chime, but it did manage to scare Lucky every time is chimed...
The walkway continued out onto the breakwater, and it was always busy with walkers and fishermen. It also had this restored steel lifeboat from the cement freighter J.B. John that loaded cement at a cement plant in Petoskey for delivery (photo at right). It is in remarkably good shape since it was built in 1922 and now lives outside. This lifeboat is only 22 feet long, but it looks a little more seaworthy than the smaller one that was on display at Jackson Harbor. Then again I guess that I never want to find out how sea worthy any lifeboat is...
While we are on the topic of smaller boats, this is a reproduction of a Native American cargo canoe. I happened to be walking across the boat launch area earlier in the day when the couple that built it was launching her. According to the owners, the hull and interior are authentic as to size, shape, etc., but it was built using modern techniques and materials. She can carry up to 25 people or two tons of cargo. It was a basic means of transport until the late 18th century. The photo at left shows her out for a paddle with paying customers later in the day.
The western end of the marina coincides with this spillway (photo at right) for a small dam that impounds a long skinny lake through town. I just love the wonderful "noise" of the water as it flows through the rapids created here. This lake also makes a popular skating area when the reservoir freezes over in winter. Towns, like Petoskey, have recognized the importance of tourism on a year round basis. For example, I do not think that the cement plant that the freighter J.B. Johns served still exist, but the freighter's lifeboat lives on as a part of the tourist scene.
The last photo at left is "yet another" classic, old band stand. This one is obviously still being used, but unfortunately we were not around for a concert. However, until the next concert, the band stand seemed to be doing well as a local gathering spot for lunch.
One negative came out of our stay here. Lucky was attacked by
two dogs that the owner had tied together but did not have any other control over. I did not see the dogs coming until they were almost on top of Lucky, and I tried to literally leap on the most aggressive of the two. However, it slipped through my grasp, and I ended up on the ground tangled in dog
leashes. I was finally able to scoop Lucky up but not before she was bitten, which we did not
discover until later. An observer came over to
help and pointed out to the other owner that he had observed her breaking
two laws, the dogs were not on a leash and not picking up after their dogs
pooped. He was ready to go to the
police, but we headed back to Lucky Us just happy to be in one piece.
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