Day 6: "Lake Charlevoix: Clean & Quiet"

The sign at the beach reads, "Lake Charlevoix: Clean & Quiet" (we agree)

Wednesday, July 31: As our time in Michigan winds down, we took advantage of a lazy day in Charlevoix to just relax. I always feel like the best days on vacation are those you accomplish nothing. :-) In the morning, Ben and I went for a 3 mile walk along the lake to the beach, and then took the main road back, stopping in a few stores along the way. Dennis & Christa were having an equally lazy day, but I still was able to convince everyone to take a ride out on Lake Charlevoix to grill lunch.

Lake Charlevoix

Ben playing navigator (my job)

Awesome boat lunch. Chili-cheese sausages, fresh zucchini, Michigan cherries!

We explored the lake a bit, then found a nice protected area to make an awesome lunch. Thanks for the zucchini dad! It was still very windy, and the lake a little to cold to swim in comfortably for us (about 66 degrees), so we spent a couple hours hanging out, then headed back to the dock to do nothing some more! :-) Well, I think what actually happened was Ben took another nap, while I went off exploring on my own (usual afternoon).

Charlevoix Library

Charlevoix "Mushroom" house

"Boulder Manor"

Postcard-perfect Charlevoix beach

My late afternoon exploration took me a few miles around Charlevoix. My favorite sights are above - the garden in front of the library (nerd alert), the Earl Young"mushroom houses," and then another mile or so away, another Earl Young design named "Boulder Manor." The sun came out for just a bit on my walk, so of course I had to spend some time at the beach before walking back to the marina.

Waiting for dinner at The Villager Pub

When I returned to the marina, it was pre-dinner cocktail hour. Dinner for the evening was across the street at the Villager Pub, where we ordered perch (me) and cod (ben). Delicious! Luckily for us, we were right across from the marina, so when a huge storm blew in, Ben was able to run back and make sure all the windows were closed on the boat. We ended up getting back to the boat right before the storm hit with very heavy rain, wind & lightning. Although I always prefer a bright sunny day, we love watching storms from the comfort of the boat!

View of the storm moving in, from the restaurant

Tomorrow will be our last day in Charlevoix, and our last day in Michigan for this trip. After some thinking, we decided to head up to Canada a day early to be able to spend the first night in the Spanish Marina. We will be sad to say goodbye to our friends on Wet Ink, but Seapickle still has another week of adventure ahead of her!