Beautiful Grand Haven

Grand Haven is a lot of fun. This morning I walked a block or so to the Farmer’s Market and bought lots of things. As the guy next to me at one produce stand said “everything is home grown somewhere”. We sat on the swim platform out back to eat a breakfast of strawberries and tomatoes and cheese from the market, along with toast and coffee.

As we were eating, the fish were jumping and the geese with their babies went paddling by. And a surprise bonus show……a huge ore boat pulled up to the big coal-fired power plant that is just down river from us and has been unloading coal ever since. Really fun to watch, and neither the plant nor the ore boat is belching an ounce of pollution anywhere. Must be the clean coal technology we hear about! Attached is a picture of the ore boat.

Yesterday was a fun day. We walked the 2.5 mile boardwalk to the beach. Attached are pictures of both the boardwalk and the beach. The walk goes past a big Coast Guard station, restaurants, an RV campground and parks. Lots of people are here, many multi-generation families and young kids and all are enjoying the fun.

We had cocktails on the swim platform and watched the constant boat traffic that goes right past the marina. They are going upriver to Spring Lake and other marinas, or downriver to Lake Michigan. The final picture is of the boat parade. We then went off to dinner at Porto Bella, an Italian restaurant that had the best meatballs we have ever had. We capped off the evening with the musical fountain light show…..a fun day.

Later today we are moving to Saugatuck, a bit south of us on the lake. Today is another beautiful day so w are expecting a good run. Cheers.

Our Time in Pentwater and Grand Haven

We loved Pentwater. Nice, nice really small Michigan town. We stayed at a very quiet marina called Snug Harbor just at the foot of the main street. The weather has been very hot and the natives love it…Emery and I not so much.

Pentwater Lake itself is small and ringed with cottages. A perfect place for us to break out the dinghy and make sure it still works. It does, and attached above is a picture of Mary bringing the dinghy back in after a spin around Pentwater Lake. And I’ve attached a picture of The Emerys, lest you have forgotten what our summer home looks like.

On Thursday, we moved 50 miles south to Grand Haven. It has one of the largest beaches on the Michigan shore, and being close to Chicago it attracts multitudes of summer visitors. We are at the municipal marina, on the boardwalk that stretches from downtown to the beach. There are vacationers everywhere and everyone is very friendly. The big Viking yacht next to us is owned by Clark and Glenda. They live here in town but so enjoy this marina that they park the yacht here and frequently just hang out.

Last evening we sat on the swim platform and watched the famous musical fountain. The fountain occupies an area about the size of a football field, on the west side of the Grand River, right across from our marina. During the performance (20 minutes long), over 90,000 gallons of water travel through 1.5 miles of pipe and 1300 nozzles, with the water reaching up to 125 feet. The show is controlled by a computer system and is lit by 150,000 watts of colored lights. The opening music theme is the opening theme from the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”. Very cool. You’ll have to trust me on its beauty, as there was no way to take pictures. It was a great way to spend the evening.

We are loving this trip so far. It is always wonderful when the boat and its systems work, and the sunny weather is nice also. Cheers to all.

Wausau Family Reunion

On Saturday and Sunday we were in Wausau visiting the Wynhoff family. Niece Michelle and her husband Jeff (along with daughters Brigitte and Anika) hosted in a big tent in their backyard. Among the attendees was brother Pete and Sue; sister Joan and Bob; niece Ryan and Max along with recently adopted Henry who is a beautiful 2 month old; and nephew Matthew.

We laughed and talked and ate bratwurst and potato salad and strawberry/rhubarb crisp and a special ginger/blackberry trifle. It was a wonderful Father’s Day celebration. Attached above are pictures of the five fathers in attendance, and a picture of the whole group.

Today is Tuesday, June 24th and we crossed Lake Michigan from Sturgeon Bay, WI to Pentwater, MI, a trip of about 80 miles. We had nice flat water all the way across, but….
We left WI in 80 degree sun, got to the middle of the lake and were enclosed in a really cold fog, and arrived in MI to 80 degree sun and lots of people enjoying the Pentwater beach. The middle part was pretty strange. Emery wrapped up in a quilt, turned the radar on full blast and we kept on going, but we were pretty surprised by the dramatic temperature change. The last picture above is the captain staying warm.

We are going to stay here for a day or two then move south a bit. So we will blog again later. Cheers to all.

A Day in Door County

On Friday we visited Door County in the car. Door County is a Wisconsin peninsula of land between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We went all the way to the end of land to Gills Rock and learned that is where many of the delicious whitefish we are eating are caught.

We had lunch in Sister Bay at Al Johnson’s Swedish restaurant. The food is great and the restaurant has a sod roof where the grassed is “mowed” by a small herd of goats! The first two pictures above are from Sister Bay.

Then we moved south to Fish Creek, the home of the fish boil. Yes, we watched the show again; yes, it is still great entertainment. We’ve attached a picture so you can remember the fun from last year.

Great day…we enjoyed our drive.

Family Reunions Begin

The family reunions have begun.

We have met up with the “other” Conyers……John and Jean from Seabrook Island, South Carolina. The first picture attached above is of the four of us having dinner at Donny’s Glidden Lodge and Restaurant on Lake Michigan, north of Sturgeon Bay in Door County here in Wisconsin. We had a great time and look forward to seeing them again in various ports this summer.

Then tonight we drove south to the Green Bay area where we had dinner with assorted Lehman relatives. Brother-in-law Mick joined us at his daughter DeAnn’s house. Also there was Mick’s son David and his two children, and assorted spouses and significant others. We had fun reminiscing, sharing stories and generally enjoying the terrific weather. Second picture attached is of that whole group.

We moved the boat to a different marina in Sturgeon Bay today so the boat can take part in a weekend boat show while we are gone to Wausau for a third reunion with member’s of the Wynhoff clan (Mary’s brother and sister and many others.)

Tomorrow we are planning to drive north deeper into Door County to enjoy the sights. It is probably going to rain, but we have slickers. Cheers to all.

Today We Went to Menominee, MI

Ore Boat in Dock

Today we took the boat out for a shakedown cruise......after we replaced the engine batteries!

Emery decided the engines didn't sound good as they started up. So, seeing this marina also has a big repair facility, we got a mechanic down to look. Seeing the batteries are original to the boat (2005)time to replace them. Done in an hour...terrific.

So then we motored out to Green Bay. Attached are pictures from the Sturgeon Bay channel into big Green Bay. Lots of bridges and the ore boats that take up a lot of room. See the pictures above for our vistas today.

Menominee is 25 miles away across Green Bay, and just across the Wisconsin border into the Michigan upper peninsula. It was a beautiful day, calm water, and the boat ran beautifully. Tomorrow the ice maker guy will come to fix that, and then we are set for the summer.

At the end of the day, John and Jean Conyers came in to get gas in their sailboat. They just came in from a day of sailing and are at Centre Point Marina across the channel from us. We will go to dinner with them tomorrow evening. So we are running in to friends on the lake....small community for sure.

Thursday evening we are meeting with Lehman family, and Saturday and Sunday we will be in Wausau, WI to meet with Mary's brother and sister and various family members. So we will have some good days.

Hope you are well. Call or email anytime, we miss you.

We Are In Sturgeon Bay

The Weed Whacker

Welcome Back, Boaters

Mary and the Fully Loaded Jeep

Emery's Indianapolis House

Hello From Sturgeon Bay, WI

It is a beautiful Monday afternoon, 68 degrees and sunny!!! Let me bring you up to date. NOTE: Pictures are backwards, I'll do better next time!!

We left Williamsburg late Wednesday morning and drove a few hundred miles into West Virginia where rain and fog caused us to call it a day quite early. Thursday brought us to Indianapolis where we drove past Emery’s old house (where the small trees are now huge and a picture is the first shown above); past Dow AgroSciences (where he worked and I sold off property); and to an old favorite for dinner. Then Friday we slogged around Chicago on Freeway 294 where EVERY mile of it was under construction and full of trucks!! Anyway, 1200 miles later we arrived in Sturgeon Bay on Friday evening. The boat was in the water at Quarterdeck Marina getting all its batteries charged up, so we stayed at the terrific Stone Harbor Resort for the evening.

Saturday the boat got moved to a slip on “D” dock with other big boats. We are docked next to Jerry and Christy from South Carolina who we met here last year, so we feel pretty welcome. Then we had to unload the Jeep.. a real job!! The second picture above is a view of the Jeep as we started to unload. The Quarterdeck had a “Welcome Back” barbecue for all boaters on Saturday night (see third picture above) and we dined wonderfully before tumbling dead tired into bed for our first night on the boat for the season.

Now we are cleaning, checking all systems, provisioning the boat and generally getting ready to rock and roll. Tomorrow we will go across Green Bay to Menominee, MI for lunch (about 25 miles) to make sure all systems are go. Today we installed a bigger, heavier anchor so we can safely anchor in the North Channel in August and watched the Sturgeon Bay “weed whacker” come through the marina in order to keep the seaweed under control. The last picture above is the weed whacker.

Hope all is well with everyone and you will follow our summer, 2009 adventures. Cheers.

We Are Starting 2009

Hello to everyone.

We are in Williamsburg getting ready for departure for Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin on June 10th. See the photo above of Emery moving the stock of good wine in Williamsburg to its summer storage location as a sample of the "getting the house ready for closing for 3 months" activities.

"The Emerys" spent the winter in storage in Sturgeon Bay and we will have it pulled out on June 15th. As many of you know, we offered the boat for sale but there are no takers. So we are happily planning to spend another summer in the Midwest.

The overall plan is to get to several family reunions this summer (four so far), spend 3 weeks in August in the North Channel of Lake Huron, touch into Lake Superior and end up with the boat in storage for winter 2009/10 in Michigan in mid-September.
We breezed through the North Channel at the end of our Virginia to Michigan trip in summer, 2007; we have heard so much about it that we are going to go back to enjoy it.

We are delighted to be able to spend a third summer on the boat, and hope you will tune in to catch the fun and adventures. Enjoy your summer; feel free to call us on my cell phone (757 810-8717) or email at mjlehman@cox.net. Or come visit, we can always fit you in. Cheers.