Before I get started on our week, I wanted to mention
something that I forgot in last week’s blog. There was a bear trap set up
within 100 yards of our site. We didn’t think too much of it until we heard the
heavy clank of the trap closing during our 2nd night in residence.
Turned out it was “Booboo” bear, not “Yogi.” Pretty exciting stuff; we never
did see them take the bear away, as we had gone into Bayfield for the day.
Now on to this past week…
We set out from Memorial Park in Washburn, WI at 1 p.m. Monday,
Sept. 29. Other than the continuous drizzle from there to Marquette, MI where
we spent 1 night in the Walmart parking lot, all went well. The parking lot was
fairly quiet, which was surprising to us, as that has not been the case with
other Walmart stops. It was really
cold, with temperatures dipping to the mid-30s that night. We did run the
furnace, but with the slides in the furnace vents were partially covered. We
snuggled down to watch a TV drama on my computer, under layers of blankets.
Actually, it was pretty cozy—and pretty chilly when we got up Tuesday morning!
Didn’t take us long to get dressed! After coffee and breakfast at McDonald’s we
were on the road by 8 a.m., heading to Barnes Park Campground in Eastport, MI.
The leaf colors were dazzling as we headed farther into
Michigan. The only road construction we came upon was on the Mackinac Bridge,
where traffic was down to 1 lane across, in either direction. There was no fog
or rain as we crossed, so we were able to see for miles in all directions.
Beautiful!
We arrived about 1 p.m. Barnes Park is a beautiful
campground, located on the shores of Lake Michigan. We’re surrounded by
old-growth pine with a few deciduous trees thrown in for color. There’s only
electric at the sites, so we filled our onboard water tank before parking. At
this time of year, the campground is pretty empty; there were only 3 other
campsites occupied when we arrived, although a few others did show up later in
the day.
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| Lake Michigan from Barnes Park Campground |
There are mixed reviews on this campground, but other than
finding that the office is closed most of the time (perhaps it’s just this time
of year?), we enjoyed our stay. The surrounding area has plenty to offer, as
far as things to do. This area is known for its apple, cherry and peach orchards,
as well as vineyards.
Wednesday we ventured into Petoskey
for the day. What a delightful place and full of history! It’s located about 30
miles north of our park. We spent an hour or so at the Petoskey Library to
catch up on emails and do research on the area before we ventured out. (We have
no WiFi at the park.) There are so many little shops and boutiques (over 100),
many in Victorian-style buildings, and lots of restaurants, walking trails and
parks. Petoskey celebrates festivals all year-round, so it’s a real
community-centric place. One thing that we noticed immediately, were the corn
stalks tied around virtually every corner street sign in the downtown area. So
cool!
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| Gazebo in City Park, adjacent to the City Park Grill |
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| Hemingway Carnegie Library: see plaque below |
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| Public Library building in Petoskey |
History of Petoskey: Early
navigators and traders called this little town Bear River, after the river that
now divides the town in half, and eventually empties into Little Traverse Bay
on Lake Michigan. In the 1850s, missionaries arrived in the area and set up a
mission school for children. It wasn’t until 1873 when the railroad arrived
that the area began to grow. That same year the name was changed from Bear
River to Petoskey, to honor Chief Ignatius Pe-to-se-ga (Rising Sun), who owned much
of the land east of the Bear River. (People couldn’t pronounce his last name correctly,
so Petoskey it became.)
By the spring of 1874 thousands
of people were arriving by train (3 times daily), from cities like
Indianapolis, Chicago, Cincinnati and Detroit, and by steamers from ports
throughout the Great Lakes. Many folks decided to build summer cottages, or
stay and build year-round homes and businesses. By the turn of the century,
over 6,000 full-time residents lived in the town, with 125,000 summer-time
visitors. During peak season, the rail stations were handling more than 100 trains
and 5,000 passengers per day! The economy grew, as a result of local businesses
growing to meet the increasing demand of the new tourist trade; and, 21
enormous hotels were built in town to accommodate them. Unfortunately, all but
one—The Perry, which was constructed of brick--were destroyed by fire; they
were constructed of wood and all burned within about an hour. The heat from the
fire literally melted the railroad tracks. The Perry is the only original
resort hotel in Petoskey, and is still in operation today.
Petoskey is also the setting for
several Ernest Hemingway’s novels featuring Nick Adams. The Hemingway family
spent summers in this area beginning in 1900, so there’s a lot of Hemingway
history throughout the town.
We decided to have lunch before
we ventured out. Our choice was the City Park Grill, one of Ernest Hemingway’s
favorite hangouts. The City Park Grill, built in 1875, was originally called
McCarthy Hall, and was a male-only billiard hall that served “intoxicating
beverages.” By 1888 ownership changed hands, and the name was changed to The
Annex. Dining and entertainment were added, serving the adjacent Cushman Hotel,
and a garden patio was added. On the interior, a 32-foot mahogany bar was
installed.
When Ernest Hemingway made
Northern Michigan his summer home, The Annex was one of his favorite haunts. He
would sit for hours at the 2nd seat from the end of the bar, writing
his ideas down for short stories and books. (The short story “Gentlemen of the
World” mentions The Annex.)
In 1897 ownership was passed on,
additional adjacent property was purchased to expand the business, and a
bowling alley was built into the basement. The name changed to the Grill Café.
Then prohibition arrived in 1917. However, the then owner didn’t abide by it
and illegally served alcohol to his patrons. He built secret underground
tunnels to the Cushman Hotel and the Grill Café to export alcohol; although
these tunnels no longer exist due to the city’s infrastructure and sewers, the
door and openings are still visible. The Grill Café was raided by the sheriff
in 1918, the owner was fined and ultimately sentenced to jail for violating the
liquor law.
Since 1932 the restaurant has
changed hands and changed names. Additions were made to allow more guests to enjoy
the restaurant, and a new kitchen was added. The façade was changed to English
Tudor, bricks were installed, and gas lights were attached to the front, and by
1986 the Victorian façade and interior were restored to their original
character. In 1997 the current owners changed the name to the City Park Grill;
the menu was changed to reflect their daily and seasonal specials, and the
restaurant has been restored to the glory days of the past.
As you’re seated, warm soda buns
with whipped butter appear immediately. The wait staff was pleasant and very
helpful when making selections. Dick dined on broiled white fish with mashed
potatoes and coleslaw; I had the City Park Club sandwich with homemade BBQ
potato chips. Yum-yum!!!
Then, we needed to walk it all off! We headed through town,
toward the Little Traverse Bay and Bayfront Park and marina.
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| Hundreds of seagulls were perched on the pilings all throughout the marina. |
Adjacent to Bayfront Park is the Little Traverse Bay Museum.
For $3 per person admittance, we enjoyed seeing the dioramas of Petoskey’s
history including the railroad, local Indian influence, and the Victorian age.
Also included were tons of memorabilia from Ernest Hemingway, including a copy
of his book, “The Torrents of Spring,” which is based in Petoskey.
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| Little Traverse Bay Museum |
Another interesting item in the museum is an exhibit of
Petoskey Stones. These stones consist of tightly packed, 6-sided corallites
(skeletons of once-living coral polyps). The dark center or eyes were the mouth
of the coral; the lines surrounding the eyes were once tentacles which brought
food to the mouth. When the stones are dry they resemble ordinary limestone but
when wet or polished the distinctive pattern of the coral fossils emerges. The
most popular place for hunting these stones is along Lake Michigan beaches, but
they can be found on roadbeds, gravel pits and even in farmers’ fields.
We were also interested in the work of sculptor Stanley
Kellogg, famous for his life-like human sculptures, as well as works in pottery
and other medium. One of his amazing creations was the illuminated Ice Throne
from the 1935 Winter Carnival in Petoskey. Cut from ice slabs from Little
Traverse Bay, colored lights were placed between the layers of ice. The sculpture
was 125 feet long, 100 feet deep, and 75 feet high. It required 1,300 tons of
ice and took 6 weeks to create.
Another exhibit in the museum was of stool pigeons. Although
interesting, the exhibit was rather upsetting. This area is a popular hunting
area, and stool pigeons were used as decoys to attract flocks of birds early
on. Trappers would sew shut the pigeon’s eyes, and fasten their feet to a long
wooden handle called a “stool.” While hiding, the hunter would raise and lower
the decoy pigeon causing the bird to flutter its wings. Seeing the fluttering
bird would cause other birds to circle around it. The hunter would then cast
their nets around the birds as they flew close, and crush their heads with
their thumbs and forefingers through the mesh of the net.
From there we walked up the hill a bit to the Bear River and
park. We noticed about half-dozen fishermen at the river bridge, hoping to
catch salmon that were swimming the ladder, and other fish. Although we didn’t
see anything caught, I did speak with one of the gentlemen casting his line,
who said they had been catching salmon up to 20#. Wow! That would’ve been fun to
see.
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| Above and below: Bear River Park |
Continuing on up the hill, we had to stop at Murdick’s for
ice cream. Yum-yum! As we were walking we passed this coffee shop, the Roast
and Toast, and just had to take a picture. Embedded in the concrete surround were hundreds of coffee mugs and cups.
On our way back to the park we saw herds of deer in the
fields, as well as wild turkeys, and a llama.
That night the rains came. Just call us Mr. and Mrs. Noah!
It rained, and rained, and rained for almost 3½ days straight. Good grief! We
had our own little lake!
When we arrived at the park on Monday I noticed that one of
the original tires on the trailer had a bulge on it, so we had our Good Sam
roadside assistance remove the bad tire and put the spare on the ground. The
weather was terrible, continuing to pour, hour after hour. We ordered a new
tire from Discount Tire in Traverse City, so we needed to get there to have the
new tire put on the rim. In spite of the weather, we drove about 30 miles south
on Thursday, to Traverse City to pick up the tire.
Traverse City is a real vacation destination with winter
skiing nearby and other sports, but it’s also known for its cherries. We were disappointed that we were about a
month too late to enjoy fresh cherries, but we did stop at Cherry Republic on
Front Street to sample their wares and purchase a few items: cherry salsa, blue
cherry preserves (mixture of blueberries and cherries), and white chocolate
cherry peanut butter. Yum-yum!!!
With a let-up in the rain we walked around
downtown for an hour or so, just enjoying the sites and people.
A local auto repair shop, Lakeshore Auto Sales &
Service, mounted the new tire on the camper for us Friday morning. We were very
happy to have that done! While we were waiting we stopped in at nearby Gander
Mountain to pick up some convertible pants for both of us.
Not to be stifled by the rain, Friday afternoon we drove
north about 17 miles to Charlevoix, Michigan. Charlevoix is a quaint little
town, located between Lake Charlevoix and Lake Michigan. We were able to get
out to take photos of the marina and downtown park area, but a huge wind and
rain squall hit so we quickly headed back to the truck.
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| The park had beautiful seating areas overlooking the marina, with piped in music. Below one of the areas was a pond with fish. |
The Charlevoix Public Library
was next on our list. What a beautiful building! Underwritten by the Carnegie
family, it’s one of the most beautiful libraries we’ve been in.
Charlevoix (originally called Pine River) was initially settled by fishermen who were there by the year 1852. Soon after Charlevoix entered into a short lived conflict with Jesse Strang, leader and namesake of the Strangite Mormons. Relations between Charlevoix residents and the Strangites were often tense. In 1853, a gunfight broke out between the two groups as the townspeople refused to hand over a man who was called for jury duty, an event known locally as The Battle of Pine River. When Strang was assassinated on June 20, 1856, many believed residents from Charlevoix to be responsible. In 1892, the first rail traffic to Charlevoix arrived as the Chicago and West Michigan Railway extended rail service from Traverse City to Bay View. The rail also brought tourist traffic from warmer areas south. It wasn't long before the city became known as a resort destination. It became, and still is, one of the nation's finest summer communities.
As we returned from Charlevoix, we again saw deer and
turkeys, and a herd of sheep.
We stayed around the camper on Saturday, doing a few things
in preparation for our departure on Sunday. Marge, one of our Texas neighbors
is from this part of Michigan, and lives on Torch Lake, about 4 miles from our
park. She invited us for dinner on Saturday night, so off we went. What a
delightful evening. Her home is right on Torch Lake, so in spite of the
continuous rain, we enjoyed her view of the lake. (Reminded us of living on
Lake Coeur d’Alene in Idaho...) We dined
on salad, a chicken casserole, and a broccoli/carrot medley, and mint ice cream
with crème de menthe for dessert. Yum-yum! Thank you, Marge, for a wonderful
evening. We so cherish your friendship. (We do need to get the slide convertor
from you somehow…)
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| View through Marge's dining room, and her decks to Torch Lake |
Sunday morning, amid a few rain showers, we did our final
preparations for the next leg of our trip: 257 miles south to Buchanan,
Michigan, and the Bear Cave Resort where we’ll be for 6 days. We did see blue
skies and the sun for the first time in days as we drove south. The trip was
uneventful, and we arrived just after 4 p.m. Buchanan is just north of South
Bend, Indiana, in a beautiful wooded area near Lake Chapin and the St. Joseph
River. Photos will follow next week, with interesting information on the area
with regard to the Underground Railroad, bear caves, etc.
Stay tuned for updates on our journey. We next head to Ohio
to see Dick’s brother and family, and friends. Until then, be safe. Drop us an
email; we’d love to hear from you.
Blessings,
RJ and Gail
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