Did Someone Say Wine Trail?

From Mackinaw City, we headed for Grand Traverse Bay.  My brother suggested a visit to the Old Mission Peninsula wine trail…well, that sounds like a lovely idea!

We anchored at Bowers Harbor (near #7), and used the Whaler to transport our ebikes to shore.  While I understand how this might sound…irresponsible, right?  Let me assure you that we had a plan, which included sharing sample flights, peddling a lot (using the electric motor as little as possible), drinking extra water between stops, and making extended stops (for lunch and produce stands) between wineries.  Our goal was to sample wines for the purpose of making purchases to restock our ‘wine cellar’ as we let our selection get low before entering Canada to avoid paying extra duty taxes.  

Not bragging, but the plan was perfect!

It was a beautiful day for a ride, and our panniers were ready to carry the load!

Cheers!

One tasting room was in an old schoolhouse, and the wines had fun names like Detention, and Pop Quiz😁

Another, looked like a mansion on a mountain, and let me tell you…my ebike did not have enough ‘e’.  This hill could have probably used a triple E…EEEbike!  On the plus side, there was definitely no alcohol left in my system after peddling up this hill🥵

But the view was worth it!

A very productive day, indeed!  And those panniers earned their keep!

Next stop, Sutton Bay…

Small but adorable!

With fantastic art!

Thinking we should ‘get back to nature’ after doing so much town hopping, our next stop was North Manitou Island…

We anchored off the island, and took the Whaler to he public dock with the pan of hiking to the lake.

The forested part of the island was beautiful, but we thought it was a little funny when we saw this sign, “Entering Wilderness”🤷🏼‍♀️  We agreed that this island didn’t match our definition of wilderness, but quickly found out that the ‘wilderness’ designation dictates the use, care, and maintenance of the area.  We passed a ranger with an ax swinging away at a downed tree blocking the path.  When we joked that he should get his chainsaw, he informed us that chainsaws are not allowed in the wilderness area without special permits…ohhh.

They might want to apply for a permit, because it seems a strong storm recently blew through and downed a lot of BIG trees!

After our hike we returned to the boat with the intention of moving to the other side of the island to anchor for the night, as strong winds were forecasted to come out of the NE.  When we got back to the dock we noticed someone had moved the Whaler, that seemed strange, but everything was fine.  When Keith checked his cell phone (which was left on Right Hand) he saw a text that said something to the effect of ‘…return to you boat immediately…you have overstayed your allowed time’. What the heck, we were gone a total of three hours🤷🏼‍♀️ The text message meant they actually got our registration numbers off the Whaler and contacted Maryland DNR to get a phone number…crazy!

On to Frankfort…

Another very nice town, much larger than the last

Do you see the blue heron?

Frankfort has an extensive walk/bike trail that goes everywhere.  We stopped to pick blackberries for $3/bag.  There was a jar with money, and a jar with bags along the trail…I love the honor system!

Right next to the dinghy dock, we discovered this school of baby catfish.  So cool…each one was only about an inch long!

We had great weather for our excursions into Lake Michigan.

Loved our visit to Manistee!  This town has a long canal that cuts through the middle of town.

It feels like we stepped back in time.

And surprise…large ships go through the canal😳


As always, I am behind in posting, and this time I’m not going to promise to catch up…if it happens, we can all be shocked😉

We have spent the past week in the river system, going from the Illinois to the Upper Mississippi, and today onto the Ohio River.  We are currently anchored in Paducah, KY