August 19 - 27 Elliott's Adventure (Petoskey, Charlevoix, Leland, Frankfort, Manistee, Pentwater & Grand Haven MI)

August 28, 2025

The Elliott's adventure on Cady Girl was quite a ride. Thanks to John for taking over some of my driving duties & Pat for assisting with the lines and KP duty! They are a good crew! All in all, we think they had an adventure of a lifetime on Lake Michigan!

The choppy seas continued, but the weather was decent, and the towns were delightful.

Petoskey was our first stop on this leg. Petoskey is one of many resort towns in Northern Michigan on the Little Traverse Bay and is known for its natural beauty, historic Gaslight Shopping District and for finding Petoskey stones, which are fossils of ancient coral and are Michigan's state rock. We did not find any, but we did go shopping! There is also a connection to this area with Ernest Hemingway, particularly Walloon Lake, which was a formative influence on him and features in his stories.

On 8/20 & 8/21 we visited Charlevoix, a charming coastal town known for its beautiful beaches and unique mushroom houses, The mushroom houses were built by a local artist, Earl Young and are whimsical, hobbit-like homes. They are of stone construction and organic shapes!

We bought some fresh vegetable and sweets at the Farmer's Market and bought some Cherry Sangria from the Cherry Republic store. Even though Michigan does not currently have an official state fruit, tart Cherries are often considered the unofficial one since Michigan is the nation's leading producer!

Michigan also has wonderful sandy beaches, unlike our neighbors to the north. So Pat, Don and I enjoyed a nice swim!

Next stop, Leland. It is another charming village and is known for its historic Fishtown, a preserved commercial fishing district on the Leland River. We walked the town and had a delicious fish dinner at a local restaurant - oh yes. and cherry pie ala mode. The restaurant was a collection of old motors, boat parts, and more! Needless to say, Don and John enjoyed the museum pieces.

On August 23rd, Pat and John's 57th wedding anniversary, we motored to Frankfort. We strolled the downtown area and walked out to the beautiful beach! That night we had a delicious Italian meal at Vita Bella! Yum!

On Sunday, August 24th we motored to Manistee. It is known for its natural beauty & historic downtown. The town has Victorian architecture and a riverwalk! The weather wasn't cooperative, so we didn't walk much. Met some other loopers who were surprised we had been out in the Lake because of the wind and waves. Had docktails with them in the marina lounge! They were all staying put, until the wind slowed, but we had a deadline to keep!

Next stop, Pentwater. Wind was howling and Don bumped into the dock - the grumpy harbor master yelled at him that he couldn't hit his dock. Suffice it to say, we docked, walked the town, shopped and had dinner and played games!

Motored to Grand Haven on the 26th. Beautiful marina with pool and hot tub, so we took advantage of those and then walked to dinner! It was one of the biggest towns we've been in as of late; so, didn't see much of it.

During Pat and John's visit we traveled over 250 miles. They departed Cady Girl at '0" dark thirty on the 27th with another adventure ahead of them - an Uber to Holland, train to Chicago, and then train home. They'll get home Friday around 11;30 am.

Don spent the following day changing engine oil and fuel filters, we call that Engine Room yoga. I did laundry! Thank God for hot tubs and margaritas!

We are almost at the end of this leg of our LOOP. See photo at bottom of the entire trip so far! We are more than 1/2 way! Whoop Whoop!

Happy trails!