Observations about Charlevoix:
They have a brat stand... in the middle of Round Lake! So you get into your dinghy and scoot over to the brat stand! A Girl, A Guy, and A Boat. Very clever!! Almost like you were in Wisconsin!! We didn't stop but we loved the idea.
Charlevoix is actually on Round Lake, a little round lake right inside Lake Michigan. The municipal marina is just under a cool drawbridge (opens on the hour and half hour - need to time your entrance and exit carefully or you will have to dance around with is hard in a boat.) A channel leads from Round Lake to Lake Charlevoix. This is a long lake with a great restaurant at the other end and Boyne Mountain, a ski resort popular with Chicagoans and others (but I remember ads for Boyne Mountain when I lived in Chicago).
The lake is ringed with summer homes. We didn't go because we chose not to take the big boat into Lake Charlevoix. But we dipped into it with the dinghy. Kermit did NOT enjoy the dinghy ride into Lake Charlevoix. Wake from other boats had him freaking out. See the boat in the background? Big wake! We got very wet and Kermit turned us around and we went back into Round Lake.
I ignored him, preferring to focus on the well kept homes and colorful landscaping. These folks really know how to use flowers.
Instead of boating around Lake Charlevoix, I biked around town to see the Earl Young stone houses. Earl Young was a local architect, mostly self trained, who took the whole Wright form and function thought to a whole new level. His buildings use local stone in crazy patterns with roof lines that are soft, round and warm. Not at all symetrical, the roofs look like elves live inside! A whole neighborhood of Keeblers. I can't imagine what a new roof costs. Has to be hand shaked around corners and curves.
Another great municipal marina, this one won awards for best designed community effort. The brickwork reflects the crazy random look popular in the Peter Young buildings. They included a water sculpture that kids can play in, a trout pond with a little waterfall, seating and picnic area at different levels to vary the view of the water and town, and a bandshell! So considerate for locals, families, and boaters. Great use of government as I continually remind Kermit.
We met Loopers who do the name honor (as contrast to the less friendly ones we met in Petosky). We met Darryl and Julie from St.Louis in Why Knot and Ross and Laura in Zone. We've been following Why Knot's blog for the while now hoping to meet up after they came through the North Channel. He is such a good writer, he inspires me to write better myself. I didnt tell him that though. Maybe next time. I was a little embarrassed.
So we organized a big dinner grill out last night with Bob and Sally and Ron and Diana we met in Petosky and the loopers Darryl and Julie and Ross and Laura. We laughed and laughed telling funny stories about boating and learning more about Michigan towns on the route from Ron and Diana. Good food too. An interesting corn salad in light vinegrette from Diana and spinach pie from Laura. Best was the alcohol. You can tell we are all good boaters becauseI of the nice assortment. Laura brought vodka with pineapple and cranberry juice. I could drink that all day. Kermit made Kermit juice, always a big hit, and others had different beers and wine.
Afterwards Kerm and I went to the movies where we had a private screening of the Bourne Legacy. A solid 4 stars. Definitely worth seeing.
One afternoon we were puttering around the boat and a huge shadow appeared through the window. The cruise ship, Yorktown, home port Detroit, pulled into Round Lake with about 130 passengers. It is 257 feet long. The pump out took all afternoon! http://www.greatlakescruising.com/yorktown/
Here is a picture we took from our bridge. You can see the shadow this thing laid off the boats on our dock. So you can judge the size, that boat in the lower left corner is a 52 foot Jefferson, The Zone owned by Ross and Laura, loopers we had dinner with later that day. The captain tried to tie up on the dock with regular boats, only succeeding in ripping out two posts before deciding that the gas dock with its steel post supports was a better choice. It was entertainment for us though!
Kermit went crazy on a bunch of projects in the afternoon while I workedand went for a bike ride. He installed backets over the rear tire, installed a lock on the dinghy glove compartment that broke immediately, and a bit of other puttering.
A note about the looper locator. When I entered the city name, Charlevoix, Google Earth put it so far away from the marina it wasn't funny. So I am skipping it for a while. Check out our location on Google Maps by entering Charlevoix Municipal Marina. Sorry. Here is a link to downtown Charlevoix with some words about the marina construction. I hope that suffices for today. http://www.downtowncharlevoix.com/
They have a brat stand... in the middle of Round Lake! So you get into your dinghy and scoot over to the brat stand! A Girl, A Guy, and A Boat. Very clever!! Almost like you were in Wisconsin!! We didn't stop but we loved the idea.
Charlevoix is actually on Round Lake, a little round lake right inside Lake Michigan. The municipal marina is just under a cool drawbridge (opens on the hour and half hour - need to time your entrance and exit carefully or you will have to dance around with is hard in a boat.) A channel leads from Round Lake to Lake Charlevoix. This is a long lake with a great restaurant at the other end and Boyne Mountain, a ski resort popular with Chicagoans and others (but I remember ads for Boyne Mountain when I lived in Chicago).
You can see Good Karma with the green canvas at our dock.
I ignored him, preferring to focus on the well kept homes and colorful landscaping. These folks really know how to use flowers.
Instead of boating around Lake Charlevoix, I biked around town to see the Earl Young stone houses. Earl Young was a local architect, mostly self trained, who took the whole Wright form and function thought to a whole new level. His buildings use local stone in crazy patterns with roof lines that are soft, round and warm. Not at all symetrical, the roofs look like elves live inside! A whole neighborhood of Keeblers. I can't imagine what a new roof costs. Has to be hand shaked around corners and curves.
Another great municipal marina, this one won awards for best designed community effort. The brickwork reflects the crazy random look popular in the Peter Young buildings. They included a water sculpture that kids can play in, a trout pond with a little waterfall, seating and picnic area at different levels to vary the view of the water and town, and a bandshell! So considerate for locals, families, and boaters. Great use of government as I continually remind Kermit.
We met Loopers who do the name honor (as contrast to the less friendly ones we met in Petosky). We met Darryl and Julie from St.Louis in Why Knot and Ross and Laura in Zone. We've been following Why Knot's blog for the while now hoping to meet up after they came through the North Channel. He is such a good writer, he inspires me to write better myself. I didnt tell him that though. Maybe next time. I was a little embarrassed.So we organized a big dinner grill out last night with Bob and Sally and Ron and Diana we met in Petosky and the loopers Darryl and Julie and Ross and Laura. We laughed and laughed telling funny stories about boating and learning more about Michigan towns on the route from Ron and Diana. Good food too. An interesting corn salad in light vinegrette from Diana and spinach pie from Laura. Best was the alcohol. You can tell we are all good boaters becauseI of the nice assortment. Laura brought vodka with pineapple and cranberry juice. I could drink that all day. Kermit made Kermit juice, always a big hit, and others had different beers and wine.
Afterwards Kerm and I went to the movies where we had a private screening of the Bourne Legacy. A solid 4 stars. Definitely worth seeing.
One afternoon we were puttering around the boat and a huge shadow appeared through the window. The cruise ship, Yorktown, home port Detroit, pulled into Round Lake with about 130 passengers. It is 257 feet long. The pump out took all afternoon! http://www.greatlakescruising.com/yorktown/
Here is a picture we took from our bridge. You can see the shadow this thing laid off the boats on our dock. So you can judge the size, that boat in the lower left corner is a 52 foot Jefferson, The Zone owned by Ross and Laura, loopers we had dinner with later that day. The captain tried to tie up on the dock with regular boats, only succeeding in ripping out two posts before deciding that the gas dock with its steel post supports was a better choice. It was entertainment for us though!
Kermit went crazy on a bunch of projects in the afternoon while I workedand went for a bike ride. He installed backets over the rear tire, installed a lock on the dinghy glove compartment that broke immediately, and a bit of other puttering.
A note about the looper locator. When I entered the city name, Charlevoix, Google Earth put it so far away from the marina it wasn't funny. So I am skipping it for a while. Check out our location on Google Maps by entering Charlevoix Municipal Marina. Sorry. Here is a link to downtown Charlevoix with some words about the marina construction. I hope that suffices for today. http://www.downtowncharlevoix.com/
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