Wednesday, September 11, 2013

MAGICAL MICHIGAN HOSTING DAZE ....THIS AND THAT

Our Hosting Daze are winding down with less than a week to go.  Since Labor Day the campground has been under-occupied and the park is not manning the Ranger’s station up here so campers coming in just need to pick a spot, set up camp and fill out a form at the Ranger’s Station and put it and $ in an envelope thru the slot.  After Labor Day there are no site-specific campsite reservations so it makes it easier on everyone.

Still, during the week the park is less than 25% occupied with our being the only ‘park presence’ here.  

Last weekend we had a fair amount of people, enough that they drank almost all the coffee and I had about 10 kids for crafts.  Once again we did “rock art” which has proved to be the MOST popular craft among both boys and girls.  Couldn't be simpler…lots of nail polish and a bunch of rocks!

Although the mid-west is getting hit with a heat wave, we’re staying about 79-82 degrees which is manageable.  Going to head down into the upper 30’s Friday night although probably in the 40's along the Lake!  So far we have lost about 50 minutes of our day with sun setting around 8:05 rather than almost 9:00.

Billy has been enjoying his playtime at the Sports Complex.  There is a large grassy field where he can play fetch.  He’s in his glory.  When we walk in that direction, he sled-dogs on the leash to get over there faster.  We have to remind him we’re doing a “walk about” in the lower campground and can’t go over to the field every minute of the day!  He’s an easy guy and veers down to the lower campground so he can complete his nightly patrol.


 From his early days of hiking in NC, Billy is quite proficient at drinking from a water bottle.  He also prefers his water out of a faucet!




Hiked up to the Block House in the state park which has somewhat of a view of Lake Michigan.  In the fall it must be spectacular with all the colors reflecting on the lake.



Hosting at Lake Michigan CG has not been difficult by any stretch.  With a total of five hours of designated duties (2 hours Sat and 2 hours Sun for coffee and 1 hour crafts), the rest of the time is ours.  We’re the campground presence and that’s really all we need to be!


MICHIGAN INSECTS ……….. BITING FLIES

Florida has nothing on Michigan when it comes to flying insects!  At least in Florida you can use bug repellent! 

FRUIT FLIES

First there are those pesky fruit flies.  I thought if I didn’t keep fruit outside the refrigerator, it would cut down on those buggers but…..as soon as you open a bottle of wine and pour a glass it is an invitation for them to dive bomb your face and sit on the edge of the glass.  When I drink wine I keep a napkin over it so that I don’t inadvertently eat a fruit fly.  And……you can’t swat those things!  They are so tiny they fly through a slapped hand!

BITING FLIES!!!!

And……there are the BITING FLIES.  How they torment the campers.  Apparently they live in the dunes so that those premium sites that back up to the dunes are now infested with biting flies.  They are mostly in the lower campground and we can hear the swatting of newspapers as we walk through the area!

Billy's black coat attracts them and they ride along on his back as we walk.  Once his whole back was covered with the flies but his coat is so thick they couldn't bite through it - at least Billy wasn't reacting to their presence.

They are also on the beach and when it’s still or the wind is out of a direction that doesn’t stir them up, they get you good.  Campers have complained they were covered in them just walking from the step at the bottom of the stairs to the water, a good ways across the dunes!  Apparently there isn’t any repellant you can use.  Ah well, the joys of the great outdoors!

WORLD’S LARGEST WEATHERVANE



Took a ride up to Montague, a quaint little town outside of Whitehall.  Montague is the home of the World’s Largest Weathervane!  

It is topped by the Ella Ellenwood a lumbering schooner that frequented White Lake transporting lumber from Montague to Milwaukee.  It sank in a storm in 1901 but the wooden nameplate floated back to the shore of Montague where it was found in 1902.  Many people believe the boat was 
coming home!



DOG & SUDS

Montague also has the Dog & Suds where we had to stop for a root beer float to satisfy Dave’s nostalgia.  We don’t have any Dog & Suds in New England so  I didn’t fully understand the gravity of the trip!

THURSDAY NIGHT TRADITION …. PIZZA & BEER

Being the traditionalists that we are, we maintained our Thursday night ritual of pizza and beer.  Our favorite pizza place is called Handsome Hobo’s and they have the best Chicago-style pizza ever.  We manage to make it there at least once if not twice a week.   Our choice of beer is Oberon and will miss it when we return to Florida.

Speaking of which, this is a great beer state.  I’m a hoppy beer lover and in my glory with all the IPAs available.  Unfortunately the smaller breweries can’t sell more than a growler and there isn’t enough room in my little refrigerator to stock growlers.

LUDINGTON

We drove up to Ludington which is a very pretty town north of Muskegon by about 60 miles. 

Ludington was settled in 1675 by Jacques Marquette, a very busy missionary.  Originally the town was named Pere Marquette but later named after the industrialist James Ludington whose logging operations built up around the town.  It was a booming town in 19th century with sawmills and salt deposits.

 Ludington was a major Great Lakes shipping port.  In 1875 the Flint and Pere Marquette Railroad (F &PM) began cross lake shipping operations.  By 1897 the F&PM constructed the first steel car ferry, the Pere Marquette and was the beginning of a fleet of ferries to continue the rail cargo across Lake Michigan to Manitowoc, WI.  It was expanded to carry cars.  By mid-1950’s Ludington became the largest car ferry port in the world.  




Currently only the SS Badger makes regular trips across the lake from Ludington and one of only two lake-crossing car ferries on Lake Michigan.  

The Badger will take RV’s.  Although the trip with an RV isn’t cheap, upwards of $500, it saves the time of driving down and around.  Unfortunately it wasn’t due back in until 7 PM so grabbed this one off the net.

The second one is the Lake Express out of Muskegon.

but only carries cars & people, no RV's.


MOR’ MICHIGAN BEER



Had lunch at Jamestown Brewery sharing a sampler of their best five beers.  

KALSH  - A light mild beer
ALTBIER – Smooth, reminded Dave of a Blue Moon
IPA – India Pale Ale, smooth hoppy
ESB – Classic English Bitter, hoppy and delish
Scottish Strong – malty, full bodied but not a stout.  An award winner.

IPa’S are my favorite and I wasn’t disappointed. 

LUDINGTON NORTH LIGHT



One our way out to the State Park we passed Pere Marquette River Park where the river meets Lake Michigan.  Standing at the breakwater is the Ludington North Breakwater Light.  It is a tall, steel-plated lighthouse sitting on a prow-like structure designed to break waves.

LUDINGTON STATE PARK



With six miles of shoreline and 5,300 acres of dunes, a dam, lakes and rivers it is the #! State Park in Michigan.  It has two very large campgrounds (373 sites) which usually book  up in the summer. The day use area runs through the entire park.   

HAMLIN LAKE

It’s situated between Lake Michigan and Hamlin Lake with the Sable River flowing between the two, so there is kayaking, canoeing, tubing, fishing, hiking, swimming.  Whatever you want.      



Even on a Tuesday in September there were a fair amount of people enjoying Ludington SP.


Big Sable Point Lighthouse built in 1876 is a two mile walk on the sandy beach.  We didn’t have enough time to walk out there so cop’d a picture off the internet.



Hamlin Lake is an artificial lake created by the backup of the Big Sable River by the Hamlin Lake Dam.  


The lake covers 4,990 acres and great for swimming as it’s warmer than Lake Michigan and that wouldn’t take much!

We have now checked off the coastal towns we wanted to visit while here.  We may be able to fit in one more Grand Rapids visit before leaving on Monday.  

Two more coffee socials and one more craft day and we're done.  It’s been a great time and highly recommend a gig like this to everyone!


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