Drummond Island, Mackinac Island, Beaver Island

This has been a bittersweet week of cruising. We said good-bye to Canada at the Blind River Marina and hello to the U.S.A in Drummond Island. We found ourselves hanging in Blind River an extra day as the winds were higher than we were comfortable cruising with. While the winds slowed down from 18-20 knots to 5-10, the mornings remain cool (as you can see by my sweatshirt/jacket combination) but warmed up nicely in the afternoons.
We have been cruising with our friends on Ariel, Rock-Me Baby and Time Out. We enjoyed a potluck with them our final night at Blind River and then dinner out at a great Mexican restaurant on Drummond Island.

The girls- Gale (Time Out), Annie (Rock-Me-Baby) and Corinne (Ariel) after our potluck.

The boys- Mike (Time Out), Robert (Ariel) and Bill (Rock-Me-Baby)



Leaving at sunrise our final day in Canada

When we reached Drummond Island we got in line to go through Customs. An agent came to our boat and could not have been nicer (so different than our Customs experience in Canada). No fines- I just needed to throw away 2 uncooked eggs and 2 limes. No questions about our alcohol- although I am sure they know how very expensive alcohol is in Canada (a box of pinot grigio was $42!) and no one can afford to have more than the allowed limit!

Our first beautiful sunset back in the United States

We left early the next morning for Mackinac Island, MI. Our cruising weather was perfect and we stayed in close radio contact with Chester B, SeaVenture, Ariel, Rock-Me-Baby and Time Out. It kind of reminded me of the 70's movie- Convoy. I really think Dave enjoys the cruising camaraderie and information sharing that goes with the radio communications. All of us got reservations at Mackinac except for Sea Venture who moved further down Michigan coast.
Mackinac is such a unique place as there are no motor vehicles allowed (except for a police cruiser, fire truck and electric lineman). We walked around the village and enjoyed people watching. The marina was beautiful there but it was extremely rocky-rolly in our slip. I felt like we were still cruising throughout the night. On Friday, my cousin Dan and Tina came over from Manistique to visit us and deliver our many packages that we had delivered to their home. We had planned on taking our boat over there this week, but unfortunately they had a death in the family and will need to go to Buffalo this week. We truly appreciated them coming over and visiting and playing UPS for us! We enjoyed their visit and did some sightseeing. We took a 2-hour carriage ride around the perimeter and interior of the island. Mackinac has a lot of history dating back to the 1670's. The British in 1781 made it a military base and fur-trading posts. It was the hub of the Astor's fur empire after 1817 and then became a popular resort when fur trading declined during the 1830's. We saw men and women dressed in period costumes riding the high-wheeled bicycles that were popular during the early 1900's. I just couldn't get enough of the beautiful homes and cottages, rich history and of course the people watching. We enjoyed lunch at the Pink Pony (which faced the marina and provided wonderful entertainment on Thursday and Saturday). We had dinner at Millie's on Main- which I thought was appropriate since that was Dan's mom's name and one of my favorite aunts!
Dan and Tina left yesterday and I did some solo shopping and Dave did some touring on his own. Found some really cool buys- but since there is such limited space on the boat I had to pass up most of my finds!

A few of the beautiful homes along the street in front of our marina

Bicycles and horse drawn carriages are everywhere!

Early Saturday morning the cruise ship Saint Laurent out of Chicago pulled in behind us! What a surprise to wake up to!



Our picture in front of the waterfront at Fort Mackinac. The view was amazing!

Tina, Dan and I at another overlook at the Fort

The Depot channel lighthouse on the way to  Mackinac

Ferry Dock on Drummond Island

Some of the beautiful flowers all around Mackinac Island. I was surprised when I saw this picture how much the lady on the left in the black looked like my mom! I really had to do a double-take!



The beautiful Grand Hotel as seen from the water. We did not pay the $10 entrance fee to just walk on the grounds.



Loved these Belgium's as they had trimmed their manes and were so precise



The Pink Pony where we enjoyed lunch




One of the many ore ships that we saw passing by the marina

One of the many ferry's that came from St. Ignace or Mackinaw City. The plumes were just for show!

Another of the Grand Hotel from our carriage ride

 

We left Mackinac this morning and headed for Beaver Island, the largest island in Michigan. It felt good to push away from the dock and our ride over was comfortable.

Beaver Island Marina approach



Ferry that runs between Beaver Island and Charlevoix




The cute town right in front of the marina.



Last one of the Grand Hotel as we were leaving Mackinac

Mackinaw Bridge- appeared as long as our Chesapeake Bay Bridge

 

Tomorrow we are heading back to the Eastern shore of Michigan and Harbor Springs or Charlevoix depending upon the weather forecast! Thanks for reading!