Lake Superior, NOT gonna happen...But that's OK

The plan was to head up to Lake Superior mid June. The plan didn't go as planned! First we waited a bit too long to order our new life jackets, so by the time they arrived we were already one week behind schedule. Then wouldn't you know it, I ended up getting the flu. Not the way I wanted to spend the week we were supposed to be cruising north. This cut 2 weeks from our 5-week trip, quite a big deal for us since we travel at 10 knots (slow and steady wins the race!) and we need those two weeks just to get there and back. So...what do we do? We listen to the forces that seem to be holding us here, we decide with this... "Lake Superior will be there when we return, so we will keep this on our 'must complete trips' list." After all, we ARE leaving in August to begin the adventure (The Great Loop) of a lifetime. Besides, this will give us something to look forward to when we return.
(Bonus: Planning and research are already complete) By then, maybe it won't be as scary to me to cruise the largest AND deepest of the great lakes.

Instead of sitting around in the harbor we took a week to visit some of our favorite spots and one we have never been to previously. We started our week with a two hour run to Cedar River, MI (we have never been here) with our friends Charlie, Jan, and Charlie Jr. Ben, Crocket and I enjoyed a dinghy ride up the river then grilled out that evening. This was all there was to do in Cedar River, while the marina is very clean, well maintained and provides gorgeous sunset views, if you arrive without food you better hope your fellow boaters have extra. We split from our friends the next morning, they went back to our harbor while we headed to Escanaba, MI (3-hour run) for a couple of days. This happens to be one of my most favorite spots. They have bikes for use, the best pasties around, wonderful history landmarks along the shore, and great people. This particular day I was feeling overly excited to arrive in Escanaba, and maybe a tad bit anxious for a pastie, that while handing Ben our power cord, I dropped our shore power splitter into the drink. NOT GOOD! This happens to be an expensive item that also happens to be brand new. Let us not forget Ben just reminded me not to do this very thing not two weeks ago! You know what it is like, it happens in slow motion and all you keep thinking is how you wish you could rewind and do over. Nope, not today! Great! Now we are both bummed (and maybe some other emotions I will not mention here) about the darn splitter. After numerous tries with a hook (a fellow boater helped me for a good hour) to drag the very muddy and weedy bottom still no splitter, it is gone we conclude. Not going to let it ruin the rest of our day, we take Crocket for a walk, enjoy a fabulous dinner at the Stone House and snuggle in for the night. Our second day brings us better luck! There happened to be a diver about 8 boats down from us that was planning a dive for the marina...how lucky can we be? No sooner was he under water did he reappear with our lost splitter! Thank You!!! The very gentleman that helped me drag for the splitter happened to supply Ben with his new toy, a concertina...oh boy, I hope he learns how to play that thing quickly! 

Next stop Fayette, MI...another amazing spot. Once one of the Upper Peninsula's most productive iron smelting operations producing charcoal pig iron (from 1867-1891), now the town is a historical state park. No shore power here and no generator after 11pm. This is what we love about it. There are numerous historic buildings and homes to walk through, all reconstructed to show you what life was like back then. Lots of hiking trails and a large campground are located on Fayette. A MUST stop for everyone! We love to come here every year to relax, walk around and enjoy peace and quiet. Ben was the fishing pro (yet again, but only because I did not fish...hehehe!)catching us a yummy perch lunch. In my opinion, there is NOTHING better than eating fish within hours of catching it. Even better... Ben cooked! There is a cute gift shop a short walk from the dock that happens to carry ice cream, I couldn't resist even though the temperature dropped and rain was imminent. Always worth the calories in my book! After two days we headed back to our harbor (storms and high winds predicted for the next couple of days) under a gorgeous morning sun, minimal to no wind and the bay to ourselves. The 4-hour run flew by as we pulled up to our slip with smiles on our faces and new memories to share.
There is not a day that goes by that I don't feel blessed. I've learned that things don't always go as planned, but they go the way they are supposed to. While we were not able to make it to Lake Superior and I almost lost our splitter, we still have smiles on our faces...and now with the extra time we will be getting more tasks complete on the boat!

Our run to Cedar River

Cedar River sky

S'mores!

Grilling with the Schult family

How cute are these boat dogs? Crocket and Mazzie

Escanaba Beef pastie from Gram's

The actual school bells used in Escanaba in the 1800's

Sand Point Lighthouse, climb to the top the views are spectacular

The new toy!

Fayette, here we come!

The glorious run to Fayette 

If there are no bugs, this is what he does. Bugs scare the poor guy!

Crazy, comfy tree

Ahhh...only one other boat here

Fayette perch fry, possibly the best I've eaten! Thank you Fayette and the sexy fisherman/cook!

Road Trip...Last visit to the Northwoods for a while

Sunset in the Northwoods

It has been pretty ugly here at our harbor for the last few weeks with rain, gusting winds and cold weather. Not much for us to do but spend time cutting our boat project list down to a mere 1/4 page! So, instead of doing more projects (really Ben is the handyman, I'm his assistant!) and staring out the windows wishing we could be anchored out catching some sun, Ben had the most perfect idea! "Let's go up north and walleye fish!" he says while I was getting ready to clean something. How could I say no? I love the northwoods every bit as much as I love Door County, but the northwoods have my soul. I learned to love winter here, I learned to fish, ski, snowmobile and this is where our love story blossomed, heck even Crocket was born here! We truly are at 'home' up north, life seems to be so much more complete. "OK! When are we going and for how long?!" I exclaim without trying to sound too excited, hehehe! After all we will be on our trip for at least a year so this will be our last trip for awhile.
We packed our bags for a 3-day visit...off to fish, spend time with Ben's dad and our friends, who by the way just got a springer puppy...I could not wait to get my hands on that little guy!
Fishing was great, Ben won for catching the most fish AND for catching almost every species of fish! He also won for the darkest tan!
I spent the time watching Ben catch fish after fish while only catching one small northern. Crocket spent his time bouncing from the bow to the stern and chatting non stop, he was so excited yet so annoying. He licks each fish caught before we release them back. He gets soon excited he can't control himself. He is waaaay lucky his cuteness factor outweighs his crazy obsession with fishing so we deal.
Ben got a real nice walleye and a crappie which he turned into the best shore lunch fish fry complete with potatoes and beans...yummmmm!
Time spent up north was what we both needed to reboot our systems. Knowing we will not be back for over a year made the visit that much more special. We visited our favorite eateries and made our last stop to our favorite hot dog stand before we left town. The Northwoods will be missed but the adventures that await us are calling us loud and clear. AND we will be back!

Pontoon ride with Ben's dad  

Gotta kiss each fish!

My only fish...but the fishing was spectacular!

Walleye...Yum (notice the crazy dog all over the boat!)

Check out Doc, the cute puppy... with his brother, Will

Vickie's hot dog stand, best dogs in town! Sad to say, she will be retiring making this her last year

Hate to say it but these are probably our last dogs from Vickie's...sniff sniff!

Washington Island...puking, bitters, clowns, and a birthday!

We took our dear friend Chuck to Washington Island for his birthday! While heading to Washington Island from Ephraim, we experienced some bigger water than what we expected. According to NOAA, winds were out of the NE with waves 1-3 feet. No big deal! Our boat is WAY more than capable of handling waves of this size...and...I can too. See, I have a bit of a confession to make...I tend to get sea sick! OK I said it, not proud of it, wish it wasn't true, hate that it is and darn it, I'm not going to let it stop me from the adventures that await us.  Not 15 minutes into our 3 hour trip, did the winds switch from east to west and picked up giving us steady 5 footers (for the remainder of our trip might I let you know).
Ben always operates the boat from our flybridge, so I hang out up there when we are underway as well. Because it sits higher off the water, naturally you feel more movement up top, so Ben sent me down into the saloon and/or our stateroom (which is at water level) to help with my nausea. Perfect! It usually works no problem. I also carry lots of ginger treats for this reason. Well, this time it did NOT work...
I found myself on our double bed, in the fetal position with the trash can craddled in my arms and a cold towel on my head. I had no escape from the cause of my sensitive gut! We took a wave that sent our TV (which I lay down on our counter and it is usually fine) off the counter and dangling from its cords getting ready to take a beating. I drag myself off the bed and up the stairs to save the TV.
Then the darn fridge door opens and starts spilling out its contents. Let's just say I didn't tie the door shut tight enough and it was opening just enough to fit about 5 items out at a time. In my weakened condition I wasn't thinking about the logical way to solve this problem, I decided the best way to handle this situation was to sit on the floor in front of the fridge crying, swearing and screaming from the top of my lungs while trying to shove all the items in the small opening so I could shut the door. I'm not at all proud of this moment especially since Ben came down to check on me precisely at the moment I was screaming. Of course he saved the day, took all the items that were rolling about the galley and stashed them in the sink until we got to the marina. Phew! His last words to me before he headed back up were "Are you going to be ok for another hour?" I believe I screamed back in a not so nice tone "We have another 2 hours left...I'll have to survive!!" I stormed back down to my little hospital bed equipped with all my goodies and hunkered down. That is when Ben had Chuck come down to take care of me. What a guy!!!
What I did not realize was Ben was changing our destination from Jackson Harbor to Kap's Marina (which is on the South end of the island vs. the North) so we could get in an hour sooner. Again, What a great guy! However, as we got into the lee of the land winds picked up more and we now had a beam sea. It was not fun taking the waves at our side. Apparently, the water Gods weren't finished with me, they sent one more nice wave before we got to the marina. This one actually caused my mattress to come off my berth while I could hear the prop out of water. Wow! Looking out the bow of the boat I could see our anchor and pulpit under water, I have never seen that before! One thing that NEVER crossed my mind was fear, I know our boat can handle A LOT more than this, and Ben is more than capable of getting us to our destination safely. I was so angry that I was sick I just wanted to jump off the darn thing. I really believe if I wasn't so sick, I probably would have joined my husband and Chuck cheering along the way!! Ben enjoyed every minute, Chuck said he would have preferred a calm day! Even Crocket was not fazed by the 5 footers, I'm really starting to think I'm a wimp!
No time to be sick, I got myself on deck and got all lines and fenders set to dock at the marina. Once settled in, all of us went for a walk to find some lunch and some sightseeing on the island. This was our first visit to Kap's Marina, we have been to both Jackson Harbor and Shipyard Marine.
We had a great visit here, the owner has a great sense of humor as displayed by his use of clowns in telephone booths, camels in windows, his wig wearing and the decorations used in the Ship's Wheel Restaurant (located steps away from the boat). He supplied us with a rental car so we could explore the island. Of course our first stop was to get our Bitter's Club Card at the famous Nelsen's Hall and a bowl of soup. Some shopping and a visit to the sand dunes came next. Every where on this island has a gorgeous view! The people at Kap's were extremely friendly, every one making sure we were happy and taken care of. The breakfast at the Ship's Wheel Restaurant was really good. But one thing you HAVE to do while on the island is have some fresh lawyer (other wise know as burbit or eel pout) at KK Fiske. Lawyer is a fish that resembles lobster in taste if prepared properly, poached and served with drawn butter, which KK Fiske has mastered. The Best Fish I've eaten!
We had a great day and night on the island and will for sure make many more stops here! The fun we had overshadowed the agony I was in on our ride up, I think I would even endure the ride again if I HAD too!

OH! Our ride back was glorious and uneventful...just the way we love it!

Since this trip, we ordered me a ReliefBand for sea sickness...crossing my fingers this will be the cure!!

Check out some shots of our weekend! Happy Birthday to Chuck!

Kap's Marina owner delivered our rental car wearing this wig and jacket...I thought some crazy girl was stealing the car! What a hoot this guy is!

Sand dunes

The famous Nelsen's Hall, Bitters for all!

Crocket getting refreshed at Jackson Harbor

Really cute chicken at 'The Farm' on the island

Crocket enjoying his boat ride back at our harbor

Chuck's birthday dinner: Rack of lamb, veggie couscous and asparagus

Happy Birthday Gelato for Chuck...only the best for our friend!