We departed Beaver Island at 7:30 a.m. under hazy blue skies and calm winds. Lake Michigan was like a mill pond! Other than one little patch of fog, it was a perfect day to cross over to Petoskey in Little Traverse Bay. By 12:30 we were tied up securely in our slips at Petoskey Municipal Marina. What a nice facility ---- located in a lovely lakefront park, right on the bike trail and just a tunnel away from the downtown shopping area!
The bay was so calm we decided to take a little dinghy cruise over to Harbor Springs. It's just so nice to finally be in swimsuits! We tied up at the dinghy dock and did a little shopping, then cruised the harbor before returning to the Petoskey side of the bay.
Friday August 30
Farmer's Market Day -- we rose early and headed up town. There were several farms represented with wonderful produce -- lettuces, tomatoes, sweet corn, honey, jams, pies and other baked goods. We were only limited by available fridg space! We had just finished our shopping when the thunder started rumbling, so we ducked into Julienne Tomato, a lovely little restaurant/deli for breakfast. We made our way back to the dock in between downpours. Garry had some paperwork to complete and send out, so when the rain subsided, we walked to the post office and on to the local Rite Aid, stopping at West Marine on our way back ---- no need for more exercise today!
We enjoyed a great dinner at the Palette Bistro overlooking the bay and called it a night.
Saturday August 31
The rain and storms have moved on and we have a beautiful sunny day. First, a little experiment to see if our dinghy will fit aboard Day Dreams (they are in the market for a new one and have a little different configuration on the upper deck). With a little jockeying, Success! We'll soon have "twin" dinghies, too.
The marina is situated right on a great bike path that runs along the shore in both directions -- to Harbor Springs one direction and all the way to Charlevoix in the other. We just did the 2-3 mile run to Bay Harbor. The views along the shoreline were amazing. Here we're looking out over Little Traverse Bay into Lake Michigan.
We parked our bikes at the Inn at Bay Harbor and walked along the beach to the marina and shopping area. I found a couple of great buys at the "sidewalk sales" followed by lunch outside at the Knot Just a Bar restaurant overlooking the marina.This is the Bay Harbor Yacht club at the end of the harbor.
Back at the dock, we did a great dinner of flank steak accompanied by fresh sweet corn and caprese salad from the farmer's market. And for dessert, fresh peach pie with ice cream, yum!
We have really enjoyed our stay in Petoskey. Though the marina is not as protected as some, the facilities are great, the people friendly, and the shopping and restaurants are great!
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