#59 Michigan! Well, just the first part.

Serendipity! You can’t hold it in your hand or put it in a box to save for when you need it, but it appears when you sometimes least expect it. After crossing back into the United States-

-we landed at De Tour Village, Michigan, located at the very very very east end of the UP, Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Weather and scheduling was going to hold us here for two and a half days, and when we got here and I saw how small the town is, I was like, “Oh boy, this might be a long weekend.” It really is a village, with one main street, one block of downtown, and one restaurant. Picturesque, sure, but seemingly not a lot to do.

That’s when serendipity started to step into our weekend.

Friday evening we walked over to the local (and interesting) restaurant with fellow Loopers on “Wanderful”, Scott and Amy, who were just a few slips down from us. We first met them in Midland, ON, when we were at Bay Port Marina. We had a surprisingly good dinner, a Guinness, (Butch) and a glass of wine (Cheryl) and a couple of hours of great conversation. So Friday turned out fine, not boring at all.

The next day, on a beautiful Saturday morning (what happened to that rain they predicted?) we walked down to the local Farmers Market, which as expected was pretty small. A lady there had pasties for sale. A U.P. pasty (pronounced PASS-tee) is a traditional baked pastry filled with diced or ground beef, potatoes, onions, and root vegetables like rutabaga or carrot. It was brought to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula by 19th-century Cornish iron and copper miners and I can vouch for them, they are delicious.

So now we could look forward to some good eating.

As we were coming back we saw Salty Mitten coming in, more Loopers who are also Youtubers with a widely followed channel. We first met Mckenzie and Hannon way back in Iuka and have Loop-frogged back and forth since. For some excellent viewing of places they (and we) have been, like the North Channel, click here:

https://www.youtube.com/@SaltyMittenAdventures

As we were on the dock, we met Jeff and Laura aboard Tuggin’ Time. We mentioned that we were looking for a ride to the largest antique wooden boat festival in the United States, which just happened to be going on only 30 miles away in Hessel. (No Uber or taxies easily available here. I was prepared to just start walking around town and asking people if they would rent me a car. I bet I would have found one.) Jeff and Laura were in right away, as were Mckenzie and Hannon, so soon we piled into Jeff’s truck and drove over to the show.

That’s Mckenzie and Hannon of Salty Mitten sharing the spotlight with us.

I may have discovered what my next boat is going to be. There were some gorgeous classics here!

So we made new friends and got to go to a festival. On a day I thought would be a washout. But wait! We got back the marina to find a concert going on! More serendipity!

There was a fishing tournament happening so we had a live concert right off the bow! This is turning out to be a busy day! And finally, to top off the evening, Cheryl put together last-minute docktails, where we got to visit with Baywater, Tuggin’ Time, Salty Mitten, and Quanta.

But wait! There’s even more! Sunday, Sean, (Sean is a friend of Cheryl’s friends Lee and Patti, and happens to have a place here), and his friend Dennis came over for dinner and conversation. On top of that, Sean was kind enough to let me ship some boat parts to him, so we got those hand-delivered.

Serendipity indeed! A weekend that I thought was going to be a washout instead became one of our busiest. This Looping life is simply – amazing.

Meanwhile, Cheryl fell in love with the way Canadians package milk. Bags instead of cartons. They store nicely in the fridge.

It is beautiful up here, no doubt. But sorry, I won’t be buying a place here. I’m not living anywhere where the fire plugs need to have flags installed so the firemen can find them when the snow is multiple feet deep!

Mackinac Island was our next stop. Cheryl was excited to get here!

Where Cheryl drove us around the island on a horse and buggy!

And wow, check out that water. Those rocks are about ten feet below the boat.

As we did on our last trip here, we found the homes and yards gorgeous.

As was the view. Moonshine is just behind that light pole.

While we where here on Mackinac Island, yep another docktails! We got to hang out with Wanderful and friends, Loma, and Quanta.

Along the way on this trip we’ve constantly gotten compliments about the boat. Yeah, we think she’s a good-looking boat, but still, we have been surprised at the number of people who have said something. However, she needs a good polish; this trip is hard on the finish!

Tomorrow morning we head out for the mainland, with Petoskey our first stop. Where I hope to find a nice big Petoskey stone to add to my collection of geological curiosities. Next update will be from somewhere on the west coast of Michigan!

“A man who is not afraid of the sea will soon be drownded….for he will go out on a day when he shouldn’t. But we do be afraid of the sea, and we do only be drownded now and again.” ~Inn Synge