Day 2 in Charlevoix

Today we spent a lot of time talking to 3 very talented artists.  
Todd J. Warner is a sculptor of imaginative creatures based on real life animals tweeked to the extent that they become hilariously gross.  He states that he sees beauty in ugly (or vice versa?)  His shop is a museum of humor.
A jeweler is spending time in the shop developing jewelry based on Warners charactors but with his own modifications.  We enjoyed  some of his excellent work as well (his name?)
The third artist Cal Kemppainen has a variety of beautiful paintings on exhibit in the shop.
An interesting morning!!

We ate breakfast in Judy's restuarant  (a recommended stop).  I had the specialty of the house Judy's Mess containing eggs, cheezes, potatoe, ham, vegetables of all kinds, etc. with the whole thing scrambled, layered and mixed.  Boy, it was good! Took 1/2 home!
Jayne behaved herself, excercised restraint and ate pancakes

The rest of the day will be spent on tasks and do some swimming in the marina pool.

Some scenes of Charlevoix

A stone birdhouse!

Michigan is reputed to be the cherry capitol of the world

Some examples of Warners art



Jeweler at work





Art by Cal Kemppainen



3 pictures of a restored 62 corvair convertable; Nader almost single handedly killed production.Note the rear plate!(NADER)



What you should do in a pretty  place



The winds look good for early morning Monday so we will leave for Leland Michigan by 6 or 7 AM (ouch!) before the winds change

Beaver Island to Charlevoix

Beaver Island was the site of James Strange and his morman followers in the 1600s.  After one of his followers assasinated him the irish imigration moved in and are still the prevalant group on the island. 

We replaced the  natural beauty of Beaver Island by traveling to the sophisticated touristic beauty of Charlevoix.  We were unable to stay at the marina of our choice but still managed to enjoy the city and it's terrific art galleries.  We were amazed at the artistic stonework of the artist Earl Young.  His influence is evident throughout the area.  We enjoyed our lunch at the beautiful Weathervane resturant
which was designed by him and then we walked past a group of  houses that are known as the "mushroom" cottages which were also designed by him.  Earl Young is known as the Frank lloyd Wright of Michigan and we have seen enough to know that he was a genious.



Weathervane
resturant




The fireplace consisting of a few big stones 



Driftwood as a mantal

 The Mushroom houses

Stopsign!!



These little fish (Gobi?) arethreatening to destroy the great lakes fishery

 We will stay in Charlevoix for two days to wait for good wind conditions.  Our next stop will be the city of Leland Michigan

Mackinac to Beaver Island

On our 2nd day at Mackinac Island we biked 8 miles around the island; ate a great icecream cone and felt that we needed to bike around the island again to get rid of those wonderful calories; we did!  We visited the Grand Hotel; we had visited the hotel 5 years ago and it was a nice thing to do again. 
This hotel was the playground of the rich and famous many years ago.  It is a very expensive place to stay;  but it is a very classy place.

The main street of Mackinac Island is very colorful and busy during the tourist season with bicycles and horse drawn carriages everywhere
The next morning we left early for Beaver Island.  This island proved to be a diamond in the rough.  It is the biggest island in Lake Michigan and is considered to be the cruising center of upper lake Michigan.  The day we arrived a 2:00 brass quintet concert took place followed by a 7:30 orchestra concert featuring the 40th symphony of Mozart. 
 We could have easily spent a week or more on this paradise but we regret that we need to move on because tomorrow seems to be a good wind day and we must take advantage of those days when on Lake Michigan. We will return to this beautiful island some day.

Scenes of Mackinac Island

 found: one electric service box!



Lighthouse on the way to Beaver Island




The Marine Museum - Great!

 Tomorrow we will travel 30 miles across the lake to the town of Charlevoix Michigan.

Drummond and Mackinac Island

The winds were too strong to venture out into open water so we stayed a second day at Drummond Island.
On our second day at Drummond we visited the local museum which was very interesting. While there we met Marlys who invited us to her beautiful rustic home.  I played her grand piano and she and Mike her husband and Jayne and I toured their resort area. We shared a pizza and had a great time talking about a lot of subjects including golf, skiing and the loop.  They had completed the loop in 2006 and as a result were able to offer a lot of tips on the subject. 
We traveled Wednesday to Mackinaw Island in perfect conditions.  We had to wait for 1 and 1/2 hours to obtain a dock because  the famous Chicago to Mackinac sailboat race had brought a lot of boats to the area. We finally were given a dock assignment. 
After docking we enjoyed walking around town, eating a meal and a terrific icecream cone. 
This island forbids all modes of transportation except for horses and bicycles which lends to its charm.   Many of the homes, bed and breakfasts are of victorian style.   The island as a whole is simply beautiful.
We walked throughout many of the town streets today and plan to bicycle around the perimiter of the island tomorrow morning.
We may stay one more day in this paradise.





Jaynes Collier relatives!



an exercise bike from the  1800s!

A light hours on the way to Mackinac



One of two  light houses  in the entrance to Mackinac Island




Ferry boat with a tail




One of many hotels on the island




carrying people and bags to the hotels




To the Fort!




Main Street




Beautiful!




This is a biking Island!




God bless America




Lots of B and Bs




a miniature golf course using realing grass!!




another downtown view