Big day ahead exploring the Leelanau Pennisula! The five of us began the day with an al fresco breakfast prepared by Candace on her large wraparound porch. It was such a beautiful morning that Kenny & I decided to take a walk along the beach out to the breakwater leading to the Frankfort lighthouse.
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| Frankfort lighthouse at entrance to harbor inlet |
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| Frankfort lighthouse |
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| Namesake of the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive |
After our walk, we headed north on Rt. 22, then Rt. 109, to explore the Leelanau Peninsula. Hugo & Carolina had similar plans and had departed immediately after breakfast. However, we caught up with them at the Dune Overlook on the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive inside the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. The PS Scenic Drive is a 7.5 mile one-way loop that has 12 points of interest--well worth 60-90 minutes! The volume of sand along the shoreline of Michigan is amazing with 100-1000+ foot tall dunes as far a the eye can see. Unfortunately, we learned that the namesake "Sleeping Bear" dune formation has gradually eroded to look more like a blob than a bear.
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| Hugo and Carolina |
The Lake Michigan Overlook and the Dune Climb are both located near the 1024 foot point of highest dune elevation. At the Overlook there are signs warning "after the easy slide down to Lake Michigan the return climb up is about TWO HOURS...and we don't want to have to come down to rescue you!". And if you "reverse pinch/enlarge the next image (below) and you will see those two little "dots" near the Lake are a couple folks who decided to take the big slide down regardless.
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| A couple who took the challenge off the Lake Michigan Overlook |
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| Looking south from the Lake Michigan Overlook |
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| This is the approved dune climb, NOT from the Overlook |
From the PS Scenic Drive, we continued north to the Sleeping Bear Point Coast Guard Maritime Museum. Staffed by very knowledgable volunteers, the museum lends fascinating insight into the life of those men manning the U.S. Life Saving Service many years ago. The docent in blue jeans in the museum boathouse (see photo) was particularly adept at verbally transporting you back 100 years to better understand the triumphs & challenges faced by those in the USLSS. The Lyle Gun (last of 3 photos below) was quite interesting as it would fire a 14 lb. projectile with an attached light rope OVER the sinking vessel which then allows a heavier rope to be pulled onboard for rescue of the ship's crew. Fine idea...but during initial trials, the rope would snarl or create so much drag that the projectile would fall short of the target. The solution was found in those wooden spindles on the chair above the Lyle Gun in the photo. With experimentation they found the light rope would be strung in a precise sequence on the spindles and then the entire spindle/rope box would be carefully turned upside down on the ground. The spindle form would be carefully lifted away...leaving the rope in this precise sequence that would feed cleanly allowing the projectile to travel up to 600 yards.
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| Docent in the boathouse |
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| USLSS boathouse with rails to the water |
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| Lyle Gun and Spindle Box |
The USLSS crew quarters also gave interesting insight showing how the surfmen lived. Duty in the USLSS was described as "long periods of boredom punctuated with short periods of high drama and terror". Most lifesaving was obviously done in bad weather conditions which was risky in the small wooden lifesaving boats. The USLSS began as a group of volunteers and then became a professional lifesaving service in 1876, finally being incorporated into the Coast Guard in 1939.
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| 7 beds, closets & hooks--and not much privacy! |
Next, our day trip took us to the charming little town of Glen Arbor where we had lunch on the deck of the Cherry Republic. Northwest Michigan is known for it's wonderful cherries and the Cherry Republic celebrates this distinction by working the cherry theme into their menu (cherry salsa on their burgers!) and a free-standing building selling every cherry product you can imagine.
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| Viewpoint of Lake Michigan from the Empire Bluff trail |
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| Sleeping Bear dunes from the Empire Bluff trail |
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| Point Betsie lighthouse |
After walking the Empire Bluff Trail and visiting one last lighthouse (Point Betsie), we headed back to Frankfort for a bike ride and cocktails on the beach with Candace. After an hour bike ride around the Frankfort harbor, we were ready for cocktail hour. If you are looking for Candace, it was quite clear that the beach was a good place to look first. It is amazing how a few drinks can make you think a photo of the sun taken thru your sunglasses looks way cool!!!
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| Cocktail Art! |
Posted by TBW Travel Today!
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