We had a 4 day boat trip over the 4th holiday to Les Cheneaux Islands with DeFever friends, Barb and Dave Reinken and Nancy and Tom Rea. We anchored off Government Island with the Reinkens a couple nights and then joined the Reas at St. Ignace for the Independence Day celebrations. The weather couldn’t have been nicer, flat waters and a wonderful cool breeze off. It was a perfect way to get the big boat warmed up after winter and to get the dinghy out.
We gave ourselves a couple days after the trip to put the boat away, wash clothes, and stock the RV and we were off again, this time in the RV. We had hoped to spend some time boating this summer up on Lake Superior, but various factors made us tweak that plan. Instead of boat tripping, we decided to see the Lake Superior and Door County, Wisconsin via RV.
We started our adventure at the Soo Locks in Sault Ste. Marie. We stayed at a wonderful campground right along the river where we could watch the freighters cruise into and out of Lake Superior. While we were there, the William J Delaney passed from Lake Superior into Lake Huron. She is known as the Queen of the Lakes, a title given to the longest boat plying the Lakes.
We continued up the peninsula to Whitefish bay and then went west along the lake stopping in Munising for the night. We made stops in Marquette and in Calumet before ending our third day at Ft. Wilkins in Copper Harbor.
Marquette- We made a quick stop here on our way north. It is a city we’d love to explore more.
Calumet- I was particularly interested in Calumet because it is the setting of a book I was reading at the time. The Women of Copper Country is an historical fiction about Big Annie Clements who organized copper miners in the early 1900s. A great book about and amazing woman.
Ft. Wilkens
After leaving Ft. Wilkens, we had a long drive down to Wells State Park in Cedar River, Wi for the night before finally hitting Door County.
We have heard so many great things about the Door County, Tim and I knew we had to go while we were in this area. Door County is the peninsula between Green Bay and Lake Michigan. We decided to make this an RV trip instead of a boat trip so we could experience more of the interior than just the harbors. We’re very glad we did. For one thing, the interior is immensely picturesque- crumbling old farm houses, rolling hills of wheat and corn, rows of cherry trees full of ripening fruit, quaint farms atop hills and the miles of beautiful shore line. We stopped for the night at a private campground near Bailey’s Harbor, spent 2 nights at Tranquil Timber Resorts and then enjoyed one night at Peninsula State Park.
Egg Harbor- Oh my gosh! One of our best finds was Cherry Lager. All the breweries had at least one brand of this light, refreshing, cold beer. My favorite was the Door County Trolley Red Cherry Lager. If you get to Door, you gotta try it. I was even able to buy a 6 pack to bring back with us. We found it at the One Barrel Brewing Company.
Bailey’s Harbor- Unexpectedly we found this community market. Maggie enjoyed meeting the alpaca and I enjoyed shopping for yarn.
I saw a sign to Cave Point County Park and we decided to check it out. So glad we did. Limestone rock and caves line the shoreline here. This is a favorite amount locals who were out picnicking, hiking and playing in the cool water.
Sturgeon Bay- We were a bit disappointed in Sturgeon Bay. It isn’t as quaint as the other smaller towns along the water, but it did have some interesting street art in town.
Sister Bay- Home of famous Al Johnson’s Swedish Restaurant with the goats on the roof. No we didn’t eat there. The line of people waiting kept us away, but we did enjoy wandering the town.
One of the things I enjoyed most about the towns were the amazing flowers. The communities take a lot of pride in their towns and businesses and residents do their best to brighten up their grounds with color.
Our final campground was Peninsula State Park. Nestled just north of Fish Creek and a few miles south of Sister Bay, Peninsula is a true beauty. The park has a maze of bike and hiking trails, wonderful wooded campsites and the largest, cleanest, newest dump station we have ever seen .
Unfortunately, poor weather was in the forecast and even though we had reservations for a second night, after a great morning bike ride, we decided to pack up and head back to Cheboygan.
Coming up – Boat trip down Lake Huron
Such a beautiful area!
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Glad to see a new blog. Looks like you’re having a great summer despite all.