Thursday August 19, 2021.
Temp: 87/67. Humidity: 50/93 %, Top Wind: W8 mph, Precip: none! Sunny Day, Miles Traveled: a couple on bikes
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Remember the big ship that came by yesterday? We watched it go back out the channel….. stern first! And then this one came in. I guess this is a one way street and no turn arounds for these monsters. They don’t seem quite so huge out on the lake, but they are just so big in this channel in tight quarters!
We had bacon and eggs for breakfast today. 🥓🍳 A benefit of staying in one place for more than one night. 😋. After noon, we got the bikes out and went for a little ride to West Marine and Home Depot for a couple of parts. Our shower isn’t quite functioning right. Cold water dribbles out of the shower, and hot water comes out the faucet and burns your feet. 😵💫 Nearby those stores was Lemon Creek Winery tasting room. I voted we go scope it out. I didn’t have to twist Kenny’s arm too much.
The Lemon family has been growing fruits and grapes in Michigan since 1855!
We were surprised that they required masks to come inside, but once seated the masks could be removed. We’ve seen a lot more people wearing masks again. I guess people who watch the news know something we don’t know. Anyway, we decided to do a couple of tasting flights.
They have predetermined flights, based upon red, white, sweet, dry. Kenny did a dry-red, and I did a sweet combo. And then they have a lot more wines that are not even included in any of the flights. Each wine really had it’s own flavor and characteristics, and were all pretty tasty.
We had fun just hangin out and enjoying the different tastes, and chatting with the ladies who work there. They serve the flight in plastic glasses, then you pour each taste into the glass glass for tasting. This was way nicer than the winery we went to in upstate New York that just served the tastes in plastic cups. 😏
We finished our tasting, then tootled back to Island Girl. I decided that I needed to go explore a bit and see some of the town. This is a shot of the marina and the nice wide walkway that goes all along the waterfront. The ‘marina’ is just a row of slips along the long wall. The duckweed is something else! I looks like a green carpet floating on the water. There were even some ducks, but they need to eat WAY more of it.
Farther up the channel was the fishing fleet! I think these are all charter for-hire fishing boats.
There were lots of neat things in the park available for anyone to use. This was a ping-pong table. There were stationary corn hole boards too.
This ol’ train caught my attention. It is the Pere Marquette #1223. Pere Marquette is a very popular name in Michigan. Remember – he was the French Jesuit Missionary who founded the first Euopean settlement in 1668 in Sault Saint Marie.
Anyway, this locomotive was built in 1941 for freight transport in lower Michigan for the Pere Marquette Railroad. It had 3,000 horsepower and couild pull a mile-long train at 50 mph. Surprisingly, it was retired just 10 years later in 1951.
There is a splash fountain here in the park, just like at Charlevoix. There is Island Girl, parked nearby, so that we can hear the children play and scream in the water.
This is the amphitheatre where the big band was playing last night. It is really a neat park in this town!!
At the back of the amphitheatre is this old brick building. It has an ice cream shop, and a few specialty shops now.
Historically, it was built in 1870 as a railroad station, and served as a passenger depot for 85 years until 1955.
This was a big sculpture of sailboats in the park.
The town has so many wonderful old buildings. The ‘Grand’ is a restaurant, but looks like it was once a theatre.
The First Reformed Church began as the Dutch Reformed Church in 1848. This building was constructed in 1914.
The Akeley Building was constructed in 1871 and has been pretty much in constant use ever since! It is now the Tri-Cities Historical Museum. It has really been restored beautifully.
There were so many cool old buildings here, all full of shops and restaurants. I love it when a town takes care of their history!
I stopped in the Great Harvest Bread Company. What a neat little shop! They had all kinds of breads, cookies, and even cinnamon rolls. They had contemporary Christian music playing, and this beautiful quote on the wall. I bought a cookie and a loaf of cinnamon swirl bread. I’m thinking that we’re going to be at our next marina for three nights, away from town. This will make some awesome french toast!
As I was finishing my tour, I texted the Captain and had him meet me at Oddside Brewing. He said there were more flavors calling his name. He even tried a dry hopped double IPA. It sucked the spit right out of his mouth. This picture was right after he made a really crazy face.
After that, we headed back to Grand Armory Brewing because Dr Rolf’s BBQ was open today. Ooooh – I had loaded tater tots with pulled pork and queso cheese. Yum. Kenny had a couple of meats and a couple of sides, and their cornbread was cooked as a waffle. Nothin’ wrong with that!
We enjoyed Grand Haven. It is a nice town with a lot going on, and the marina is right in town which is great. Tomorrow we’re headed to Holland – however there are no marinas in town there. We’ll be about five miles west of town, but hey! we have Speedy & Speedo, right? We originally were only going to be there for one night, but I called and extended our stay to three. That will be better since we’re so far out of town. And, the wind is going to pick up on Sunday, so we might as well just stay until Monday. We’re in no rush, right?