Annie – W9 thru W14 (Lake Michigan to Chicago)

Week 9

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 9

Back to the US, Welcome Michigan

We entered the US and cleared customs at a small community called De Tour Village, Michigan. It is in the northeastern side of the state near the entrance of the St. Mary’s River that connects Lake Huron and Lake Superior. Due to the upcoming weather, we decided to skip the side trip to see Lake Superior but rather we went to De Tour and stayed there for 4 days. The wind was blowing pretty hard for days but thank God we are in a very protective marina and surrounded with many friendly loopers who enjoyed docktails. There were some boats who tried to leave De Tour but only to come back due to high seas. Then on the 4th night, the wind has died and everyone was excited to leave the next morning.

The next stop was a beautiful island called Mackinac Island, a 4 square mile island where no cars are allowed, only horse drawn carriages or bikes. It’s a charming island with people enjoying their carriage rides, some with professional carriage drivers and some without, so you can imagine the excitement. We rode the 8.2 mile bike ride around the island and stopped at various rock formations and turquoise beaches. Mackinac Island has a nice shopping area and they have so many fudge stores that I lost count. We dined at the Pink Pony Club Restaurant and the song got stacked to my mind.

We stayed there for two nights and head south to get closer to Traverse City as Eliza is coming this Monday. We had to do 2 more stops before Traverse City, first the town of Northport where they have the Friday night concert in the marina. Then the next day we anchored at Sutton for a more peaceful night.

Here are some pictures from this week’s adventures.

The clarity of Lake Michigan, fresh and unsalted.

“**UP North**” means places that are north of the more populated areas and often associated with natural beauty, outdoor activities, and slower pace of life.

Docktails with more loopers, now we’re hiding behind the building due to strong wind

After surviving 4 windy days in De Tour, we left the next day as the sun is just rising.
We have a long way to Mackinac Island.

The weather calmed down and all loopers at the marina left De Tour.

De Tour Reef Lighthouse, 100ft tall guiding ships between Lake Huron & Lake Michigan

Round Island Lighthouse built in 1947, marks the Northern passage between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac

Mackinac Island, here we come.
An island with NO CARS allowed.

The Fort Mackinac is at the top of the hill

Chicago to Mackinac Sailboat Race – maybe someday.

Mackinac Island looks like Martha’s Vineyard without cars

The 8.2 mile ride along the island is pretty flat and scenic

Everything is within biking or walking distance

But you need to have good health to go up 287 step to see the Arch Rock

I wonder how people put their stickers on this Keep OFF sign

For those who cannot climb 287 steps, the Arch Rock is visible from the ground

We’re almost done with the 8.2 miles island loop

A meal at the Pink Pony Grill after the bike ride

Pink Pony Club, I’m gonna keep on dancing at the Pink Pony Club, Pink Pony Club (c’mon sing it)

Good night Mackinac Island, it’s been fun

Week 10

Eliza joins us at Traverse City

Since we are going to be at Traverse CIty for 6 days, we ordered two CARBO electric bike so we can go more than walking distance from marina. Fed Ex delivered one bike at the marina and the other one, we picked up at the Fed Ex office. Go figure. But the bike is pretty nice and light, highly recommended.

Eliza joining us for 6 days was the highlight of my loop so far. My daughter and I hang out so well that I enjoyed every moment. We rented a car so we can visit more places. We did so many things and sometimes Steve’s too tired to join us. We did bike ride, dune climbing, swim at the beach, visited winery, climbed lighthouse, fine and casual dining, lots of shopping and most important we played pickleball.

I was sad the day she left but at the same time I was excited for her to go home to start her internship program.

Here are some pictures from this week’s adventures.

Traverse CIty is a hub for wine enthusiasts, with tones of wineries and vineyards. Right next to the visitor center is a a tasting room. We did some of those.

Test ride of our new E-bikes delivered in Traverse City.

Tasting Cherry wine from The Cherry Republic

Then we move to the Sleeping Bear Dunes, where UP is optional

There’s Eliza, the little person on the top of sand dune

Next we drove to Mackinaw City. I wonder why the island is called Mackinac and the city is called Mackinaw.

Shopping time, look at the smile on her face and the grin on Steve’s face

This is the 5 mile long Mackinac Bridge, one of the longest suspension bridges in the US. We crossed under this last week via boat to go from Lake Huron to Lake Michigan. Now we are crossing this to go from Mackinaw to St Ignace.

Wawatam Lighthouse, built in 1910 and is no longer active

This is the city on the other side of the bridge

Mission Point Lighthouse, used to guide mariners along Grand Traverse Bay from 1870 to 1933

This is where the Mission Point lighthouse is

And all the other lighthouses in Michigan

We get to climb the top of the lighthouse

Of course, Eliza has to put her toes in the water

Highly recommended vineyard located on lovely Old Mission Peninsula just north of Traverse.City

Great tasting wines from local grown grapes

Bye girl, come back and join us again soon

On to the next adventure, the Great Lake Michigan

Week 11

Leland Fish Town and High Winds in Frankfort

Leland is another interesting small town where there have a Fish town next to the marina. It’s a small rustic village of shops and galleries with the dam in the middle so you can hear the water falls sound. There are many loopers in Leland marina, some we met way back in June and some we met here for the first time. Going to the loopers docktails is always fun.

The next day, I went to the beach, swim a little and chat with a Michigan teacher and we picked rocks along the beach for a long time. She showed me the Leland blue rocks which can be made as jewelry.

The next morning some of the loopers went to Frankfort, about 40 miles south, some went further as the weather will be turning bad again for few days. We checked in at Frankfort and the wind started picking up. We were there for 5 nights. Despite getting stacked in Frankfort, I would say that was memorable for me because i made really good friends with the loopers wifes. Aside from nightly docktails, we rode bikes, field trip at the fruit drying factory, hamburger night at the American Legion, farmers market, watched football at the bar and saw Freakier Friday at the theater.

Here are some pictures from this week’s adventures.

This reminds me of the big oak tree in our house

Leland’s Historic Fishtown – one of the last working fishing districts on the Great Lakes with weathered fishing shanties, smokehouses, overhanging docks lined with fish tugs, charter fishing boats and a ferry.

Amphibious car – can operate in both land and water. Can you see the propeller?

Lots of women spend more time looking for rocks, but I rather swim

And minutes later, i am looking for rocks too

Which has more engine power, the one on the left 3*6 or the one on the right 4*4? Either way, they are both expensive boats.

2nd loopers night at Leland, more boats, more fun

Point Betsie Lighthouse – located south of the Sleeping Bear Dunes & north of Frankfort

Frankfort lighthouse – it was calm when we got here

Frankfort Marina – our home for 5 nights due to high winds

Where docktails and friendships build every night

Boat is tied up and secured for the upcoming wind gusts

In between rain, we’re able to squeeze a bike ride and a hair cut

Lake has stunning different shades of turquoise water

Lucky to have shared 5 days with these friendly loopers

Field trip at Graceland Fruit Drying Facility

Chris, the harbor host happened to work here and gave us a tour of the facility

We are so excited, all dressed up and sanitized

We got to taste amazing fresh dried fruits

Trip at the overlook to see the strong winds in Lake Michigan. Some husbands stayed in the marina to watch the boats.

This was about 6ft waves and 30 knots wind gust

Girls just wanna have fun on a freaky Friday

Last night at the bar watching college football… go Michigan State

Then on Sunday morning, wind has calmed down and we all left Frankfort

Week 12

Ludington to Muskegon then to Grand Haven

The ride from Frankfort to Ludington was so choppy but we brave the 4 hour trip and made it to Ludington. Ludington is a good size town with nice shops, maritime museum and it is the home of the ship called SS Badger, the biggest car ferry to ever operate in the Great Lakes. Here, we had a fine dinner at Timbers Prime Steakhouse with fellow loopers that we became really good friends. Hopefully our paths will cross again.

After Ludington, our next stop was Muskegon. No looper gathering in this marina, just casual chats with 3 other looper boats. Here we visited the USS Silversides Submarine museum and we were able to get inside it. As a previous submarine navy, Steve knows what each component do in the submarine. He said, they have to know it all to be qualified to work in the submarine. We have been using our bikes to restaurants for dinner as they are quite far from the marina and it sort of fun.

Next stop is Grand Isle Marina in Grand Haven. We are now in the mid section of Lake Michigan and thank goodness, the weather has turned so nice and it felt like summer again. Good thing this marina has a nice pool to cool off. Grand Haven hosts a Musical Water Fountain Show in the downtown water front, they played great pop songs synchronized with colorful water fountain. On Sunday afternoon, we rode the bike to the end of the pier and tons of teenagers jumping off and playing in the water. It looks fun. Then we ended up at Smoke Joe’s Bar and see Eagles beat Kansas City. I did not see Taylor Swift but I saw Tom Brady, so that’s good enough.

Here are some pictures from this week’s adventures.

Ludington Big Sablle Point Lighthouse – the ride here is a little rough

Ludington is a charming city in the west shore of Lake Michigan with a beautiful park and beaches

Docktails in Ludington where we met Salty Mitten, this was the first day of their loop

One of the nicest maritime museums we visited in the loop

The Rhode Island Lighthouse in Block Island, our first stop in the loop back in June 14

So grateful to see some of these lighthouses in person

The Lake Michigan can be very dangerous to boaters so they put a lot of lighthouses

There are at least 40 lighthouses in Lake Michigan, more than the other Great

Steve and Gerry watching the Badger docked

Dinner at the steakhouse before we parted ways again

Now in Muskegon – we have passed the halfway point of Lake Michigan

Can you imagine your bed is next to the turpedo

Steve looks happy visiting submarine, it reminded him of great memories while in the Navy

We have to remember and honor the brave soldiers who gave their lives for our freedom

Nice marina lounge for docktails but no loopers to be found here

Biked to the end of the pier to see the lighthouse

Watched NFL at Smoke Joe’s Bar at Grand Haven

3 nights in South Haven was fun with Tom Brady on the last night

Week 13

From Grand Haven to St. Joseph, Michigan

The cruise along Lake Michigan from Grand Haven to Saugatuck was smooth, it looks like the lake winds will be calm for the next few days. To get to the marina, we had to cruise along Kalamazoo River which has thick greenery and some pristine houses. Even though we did not do much tourist activities here in Saugatuck, I was glad to have played pickleball with fellow loopers for the first time.

Then we moved to South Haven, a beautiful town with sandy white beach, maritime museum, shops and great restaurants. Watching different types of boats passing by the marina was very entertaining too.

One night stay in St. Joseph – Benton Harbor marked our last day in the state of Michigan which gave us 5 amazing weeks of memories and friendships. It also marks our 100th day in this America’s Great Loop. It is true when they say, time flies when you’re having fun.

Here are some pictures from this week’s adventures.

Just entered Saugatuck through Kalamazoo River

Safe Harbor Marina – our home for 3 nights

Star of Saugatuck – an authentic sternwheel paddle board passing by

This is a laid-back electric donut shaped boat you can rent for cruising along the Kalamazoo River

This bridge connects Saugatuck and Douglas

Second night – dinner with other loopers at The Southener serving good southern cooking

The next day we took this spider with us to South Haven

Leaving Saugatuck on a very calm day at the lake

Home for 2 nights – South Haven Municipal Marina

Lots of nice little shops in Downtown, a quarter mile walk from the marina

If the town has a museum, we’ll be there.

Mediterranean dish – eeny, meeny, miny, moe, which dip should i try

Entering St Joseph. Why 2 lighthouses? When the. 2 lights appeared aligned directly on top each other, the boats know they are on course with the river’s mouth, ensuring safe passage between the piers.

West Basin marina – our home for our last night in Michigan

We are curious about the 2 lighthouses so we went out and checked them out

I was tempted to go to the beach but it started raining

Well, that a wrap for our 35 day’s adventures in the state of Michigan.

What we’ve done in 100 days – stayed in 32 marinas, 13 anchorage and 1 mooring.

We’ve also covered just over 1,500 miles of the planned 6,000 miles cruise so we are almost a quarter done.

Week 14

From Michigan City, Indiana to Chicago

Well we are no longer in the state of Michigan but our next stop was called Michigan City, Indiana. I guess Indiana called it Michigan city because its shoreline is in the Lake Michigan. We stopped at Municipal Park marina, a huge marina with super strict security gates. I went to the beach, gorgeous white sand and clear water. It’s cold but I swim. There was a hobie cat sail boat race which made the beach day more fun. Then we visited the old light house museum then walked to the new location of their new light house. We have visited many lighthouses in the past weeks and they are all beautiful.

Two days later, we crossed over to the other side of Lake Michigan to be in Chicago, Illinois. We stayed at Belmont marina, north of Downtown Chicago to get us closer to my childhood friend, Yolanda, who lives nearby and came to visit us. Then Steve’s sister, Gail, niece Stephanie and husband Dan and our daughter Eliza, also flew in to Chicago and joined us for few days. We moved to the Navy Pier marina, my favorite marina so far, it has a spectacular view of the city skylines. The marina is brand new, launched this 2025, very clean, roomy, sophisticated and it feel safe even though it is right at downtown. Pricy but worth it. It’s a famous looper stop, they have a nice lounge for looper docktails where we made new friends and met some old ones.

Since we have a small boat, our guests stayed at the Swissotel not very far from marina where I’m sure have better beds and pillows. They have an amazing view including the Navy Pier Ferris Wheel and the river.

Highlights of the Chicago stop was spending time with family. We ate and laugh a lot. Went to the Cloud Gate also known as The Bean, the Willi’s (former Sear’s tower) and ride the famous architectural tour along the Chicago river with the tour guide telling us interesting facts about the massive, unique & iconic buildings along the river. We also watched Stephanie do the 5K run in south Chicago. We did fun things that we’ll remember forever.

Here are some pictures from this week’s adventures..