Brown Eyed Girl: Charlevoix and Leland Michigan

Haven't posted for two days becuase we were busy and the Internet at Leland was spotty. We left Harbor Springs early in the morning and headed for Charlevoix. The weather was overcast with rain in the forecast. We were traveling away from the weather and we did arrive at Charlevoix without a storm. It was windy and we had to time the bridge opening so we weren't floundering in the channel. If you look closely at the track you will see where we went in a circle outside of the harbor. Charlevoix was another pretty city like Harbor Springs only a little bigger with more stores. We were pretty tired so we did not walk to the mushroom houses. The marina is bueatiful and was almost as pretty as Put-in-Bay. The docks were great and the facilities were new. We went across the street to an oyster bar for lunch which was really good. There was a full service grocery store close so we stocked up a little. Honestly, we don't seem to buy very much but we did get some chicken that we cooked in Leland. We got up early to leave and were greeted by a dense fog bank. It burned off quickly and we were underway at 8:30 headed to Leland. The ride over was OK but there were 2-3 footers closely spaced with white caps. We bounded a little but made it fine. Leland is a small harbor of refuge and when you get through the break wall the docks are right there. I really didn't have much time to get the lines out. They put us all the way in the back in a small dock and said to bow in. We did but the dock wasn't long enough for us to get off the boat so we stearned into the dock next to us which was much better. We were facing East and the Direct TV Satellite is to the South so it should not have been a problem except the sailboat's mast next to us was in the way. No problem, I just pulled to boat back a little and all was well. Leland is a great little city with Historic Fishtown and a lot of nice shops and another grocery store. Behind the city is a large inland lake with many nice houses around it. We met a couple on a 44' foot boat that was not doing the loop but they had been out since June 29th. He works at Michigan State. They are preparing for the loop int the next 3-4 years. We had also met a couple (Jim and Dale) in Charlevoix from Westport MA thar are doing the loop in a 44' Tolleycraft. The boat's name is Sweet Pea, I like it. They were also at Leland and will probably be at Frankfornt today with us. As I write this we are headed to Frankfort, MI. The waves are about 2-3 and expected to get worse so we left at 7:15. The coastline is just fantastic. There are sand dunes, forests and beaches.