My first visit to Charlevoix

Walking back after breakfast. Bob and Liz will be heading home while Tim and Carol join us in Elk Rapids.

In all the years Ben and I have been boating on the Great Lakes, I've heard how wonderful Charlevoix is, yet we have never been here with our boat. We found other stops to be fabulous so we just didn't make a huge effort to come here and the times we tried to get into the marina, they were always full. Ben was here years ago, I am new to the Charlevoix experience. So, since we have our friends with us who have not been anywhere along these waters, we tried to get in and low and behold, we were able to get all three of us in, and on a Friday no less!! Woot woot!

Charlevoix is a shopping town and we happened to arrive during side walk sales. I am not a big fan of shopping but this town makes it fun. Carol and I spent a couple hours being tourists and supporting the local economy and then met up for some food with the boys. We enjoyed our time with Tim and Carol and Bob and Liz here as this is the last time we travel the Loop with Bob and Liz. They will be making their way home to Grand Haven while we take Tim and Carol to Elk Rapids/Torch Lake!

Downtown Charlevoix

Great shopping here!

Crocket loved it here! There is a large grass area he was able to run and be a crazy dog, he even met some new dog friends.

Benji and Crocket...happy dogs!

Another Springer, Baxter, joined in on the fun!

We were planning to spend two days here but winds and storms kept us three. I always enjoy rainy days on the boat. Ben and I get cozy and watch a movie, or we read and relax. But it is one of the only times I can get Ben to sit still. We had no trouble finding things to do and food to eat and drinks to drink. Life is great and so is Charlevoix.

Great music! 

There were 8 other Looper boats here in Charlevoix, we entertained some on our flybridge. 

LOOK WHO HAS A BIRTHDAY TODAY!!!

Happy Birthday Honey!! I love you!!

Happy Birthday to the best husband a girl could ask for! I may not always say it, but I am one lucky girl to have found him! We have shared some wonderful experiences this past year and to be able to still want to be together really says a lot about the depth of our love. I wish him nothing but a wonderful year ahead and many more to come. 

Thank you for making me laugh everyday, for taking care of all the mechanical issues we have encountered, for being my sexy tool man, forever the grill master and an expert snuggler!

Ben is spending his birthday doing exactly what he loves doing...boating!!! And with his favorite two people...me and Crocket!

WOW!!!!...Bay Harbor

DeVere and Ben. DeVere came down to great us when we came into dock.

This is the lovely Carol...we enjoyed every minute of our time together!

We were invited to stay at the Bay Harbor Yacht Club in Bay Harbor, MI, as guests of our Looper friends, Carol and DeVere. Carol and I were Facebook friends, sharing our Loop travels, for months before we actually met face to face. We traveled this trip together even if physically we were not together! They run much faster than us and we seemed to either be a day behind them or a day ahead. Until finally, we caught up in Demopolis and then we spent our winter together in Marathon. What a treat this was as Carol and DeVere were also able to get our three buddy boats (Liquid Assets, Knot Sew Easy and Chasing 80) all together for three full days!! Since Ben and I are very close to crossing our wake and completing the Loop, this was a special time for us to have all our friends together for a bit before we all make our way home (at least for now!). 

This is not like any other yacht club we have been staying at, Bay Harbor was more like a country club. The amenities were plentiful, the grounds gorgeous, and the service spectacular! 

We enjoyed our time immensely by the pool, at the beach bar, shopping in town, dinner at the club and of course the BEST docktails with our forever friends!!! 

Thank you to Carol and DeVere for their generous hospitality! We will be stalking you!!

Carol and DeVere have their boat, Job Site, in Hilton Head. They will resume the Loop in the near future, in the meantime we were able to use their slip.

The beautiful Bay Harbor Yacht Club

Complete with pool and hot tub

Lunch at the club...Jill in purple, Carol B, Tim, Ben, Shawn, Kevin, Bob, DeVere, Ana, Carol, me and Liz

Hanging out at the beach bar

Ok, so maybe drinking at the beach bar. 

Loved listening to the fountain

Getting ready for some docktails! 

We have too much fun together!!

Ben caught us all walking to dinner...Carol B(on the right) does not like to be in pictures...hahaha! Ben got her!

Saying goodbye to Chasing 80 who left us a day early. They are on the move back home.
 L-R: Bob and Liz, Kevin and Jill, Me and Ben, Carol, of course hiding, and Tim
Front and center is Crocket and Benji

Docktails on our last night

Petosky Shopping!

Today we made our shortest run on the Loop so far...a whooping 3 miles! No sooner did we leave Harbor Springs, we were on the dock fueling up in Petosky! One night here and we will be off to Bay Harbor to visit with some Looper friends. We enjoyed lunch in town and some shopping, most of it at WestMarine, then eating our leftover Thanksgiving dinner later in the day. We were among Loopers finally! There were 6 other boats traveling the Great Loop here in Petosky. How jealous we are that most of them are just getting started.

Tim and Carol got a good shot of us moving along about 18 miles an hour.

Everyone is giddy with excitement over their purchases!! I found new Sperry's, new shoes for Tim, Carol picked up a little something for home and Ben purchased some Yeti products.

I love shopping in West Marine...is that wrong?

Docked in Petosky

Dinghy ride in Crocket's boat

Tim, Benji and Carol enjoying their day on the water.

Harbor Springs...never disappoints!

Excited faces!

We had a great day on both Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, waves were 2 feet with some clouds and spotty rain. We were lucky and missed the storms. We traveled 70 miles from Cheboygan to Harbor Springs. It is a great feeling to be back on Lake Michigan, our home turf, we were thrilled to see the Mackinaw bridge!

Approaching the Mackinaw Bridge...almost on Lake Michigan!

We are officially on Lake Michigan

Harbor Springs is one of our favorite stops. This is a place for anyone who loves to see some really nice classic boats. It seems the locals have beautifully restored Chris Crafts, Bertram Mopies, a Trumpy, sprinkled in are some large Flemings and usually you will see the Amway yachts here as well. The town boasts some great shopping and several restaurants, including Tom's Mom's Cookies! We picked up a dozen homemade delicious chocolate chip cookies and they only lasted a couple days!!

This is a smaller town and the locals are very friendly and the marina is top notch. Crocket has lots of grass to run around and it seems the town is always hopping on the weekends. The marina dock is a must for visitors to walk and look at all us boaters. We usually like to sit on our boat and people watch. This time around we enjoyed watching a wedding party photo shoot while enjoying cocktails with Tim and Carol on the flybridge.

So pretty! What a great background for this couple.

Love the laid back feeling here

Even the water here tastes great!

We spent time out on the dinghy, or shall we say "Crocket's Boat"?

We were docked with spectacular views of the sunrise/sunset

Liquid Assets out for a dinghy ride

This is Crocket being a good boy sitting

This is Crocket not being a good boy and standing 

But he's so cute, we let him swim...his favorite thing to do now that we are in fresh water.

Our first night we ate out...

Aren't they cute?!

Ben, me, Tim, Carol, John and Gaby

Our second night we ate in! Ben cooked a smoked turkey, stuffed and all, while I made all the fixings for a Thanksgiving in August! Thank you so much to John and Gaby on the boat Crazy Love for the turkey contribution complete with delivery and the run to the store for all items needed.

Ben had people offering him money for the turkey as he was bringing it back to the boat!

My dad says Ben's turkeys look like Norman Rockwell paintings. 

And I wonder why my shorts are too small!

Tim, Carol and me getting turkey drunk!

Me, Ben, John and Gaby

This is us launching our dinghy...