Michigan Towns – Harbor Springs, Charlevoix and Leland

August 11 – 14

In Michigan we visited three harbor towns – Harbor Springs, Charlevoix and Leland – and we liked them all. Harbor Springs was thriving and upscale, but we spent most of our time in the marina or on our bike. Most Loopers go to nearby Petoskey, but we met a nice fellow from Walstrom Marina while we were in Sault Sainte Marie, and decided to stay there instead.

Next we visited Charlevoix. It is a very nice, busy town, with regular neighborhoods just off the main street. There are several ‘mushroom’ houses with curved rooflines and boulders covering the exterior walls. We bought vegetables, nuts and a blueberry pie at the Thursday farmers market. We had dinner with some boaters we had met in Hotham, and had perch for the first time. Now we’ve had all three of the popular regional fish: whitefish, pickerel (also called walleye), and perch. They are all delicious - white fish is just that, a very white, mild fish. In Canada, the pickerel is used for fish and chips. The perch fillets were about five inches long and had a very nice medium flavor. 

In Charlevoix we had an appointment to get our oil changed and the fluids topped off. We made it there just in time to go through the 10:00 a.m. bridge opening. The fellow did a very good job and everything seems to be running smoothly. Brian was glad to get that done - it was one of only a few things on this trip that we really had to do. We’ll do it again after another 200-250 engine hours, two or three months from now. 

Our next stop, Leland, was very different. Leland saved their Fishtown, an area of old fishing shacks, restored the buildings, and converted them into shops. I bought a cotton hat and a handmade tile of the Great Lakes. Brian bought some locally made rye vodka. Later we visited with other Loopers on their boat. They left from Fort Myers, Florida, in April so they have already done the east coast that we will do next summer. It was interesting to hear their stories.

The day was very hot and we had hooked up our electric cables so we could use the air conditioning, but with all the boats running their air conditioners, the power went out and the marina was in darkness. Luckily the night had cooled down so we didn’t even need the air. I went up top around 3:30 to look at the stars, but some of the boats had their generators running, so it was noisy and I went back inside.