Lake Michigan Sparkle

In our dinghy along the Chicago waterfront. 

There's much that sparkled along Lake Michigan.(1) There was clear, Caribbean-like water. The towns were sparkling clean. And, the incredible thunderstorms sparkled with lightning.

We listened to sage advice from locals and experienced Loopers. They described their plans and strategies for traversing down the Wisconsin side and the Michigan side of the lake. We had to pick one or the other, because Lake Michigan was too wide (65-ish miles) to cross back and forth. Ultimately, we made a game-day decision by looking at the wave projections. The waves were smaller on the Michigan side. Decision made.

The West Coast of Michigan had a unique, dependable pattern of harbor-lakes. In each of its harbors, boaters navigated past breakwaters, and into canals that open up into lakes.(2) This made for snug harbors to wait out windy days.

As you can see, we went to Petoskey (four nights to wait out the wind), South Manitou Island (for an afternoon), Leland, Frankfort, Ludington (five nights to wait out the wind), Muskegon, and finally, South Haven.

On our way from an extended stop at Petoskey (due to weather) to Frankfort, we made a welcome side trip here to South Manitou Island for an afternoon. It really was this beautiful. Mike captured this from his drone. We’re the second boat up from the bottom.

There was nothing to dislike about any of these small towns. If you visit, you can expect ice cream shops and breweries. There were nice shops with maritime kitsch and jaunty sweaters. And nice Midwestern people. They are clean and entirely pleasant. (I'm referring to the towns, not the people. Although the people were clean too.)

This sunset in downtown Petoskey was lovely enough for this pose. I found the charming turn-of-the-century architecture and quiet streets typical of the Western Michigan coastal towns.

What I'll remember most are the Looper friends we got to know better. There were dinners, poolside lounging, docktails, and game-playing.(3) 

Here was an evening of working madly together on a COVID-era puzzle with my fellow Looper ladies/deckhands. We found it a relief to share similar, funny stories about the communication challenges we have onboard with our skipper-husbands.

Movie night(4) on our boat. The fisheye lens doesn’t capture how we somehow shoe-horned eight people into this modest space.

We also spent time cleaning and waxing Sacagawea. There were a lot of mayflies of all colors and sizes in the lakes! They make a mess every morning.

Here in Ludington, we stretched our legs with a walk to the pier during one of the windy days. Only the heartiest large fishing boats went out on the lake this day:

Did you know there are huge dunes on the Western Michigan coast? I did not. For miles in various spots, there are tall dunes. The tallest are hundreds of feet. The best known are at Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore. We didn't find a convenient time or method for visiting the dunes, but they were pretty cool to see from our unique vantage in the lake.

In some of the towns, we were surprised to see so many recreational fishermen congregating at specific hot spots in the lakes and the entrances to the lakes. We saw them cleaning the bright orange-pink meat of salmon at every fish station, each day. We found recreational fishermen fiercely rooted in their fishing spots and they made it challenging for us, occasionally, to transit by them safely. The modern history of the salmon that were introduced into Lake Michigan is really interesting. 

On a more pleasant note, we found ourselves with front row seats while at anchor in Muskegon Bay. We were surprised to see we were near a turn point at an early morning regatta. Who doesn’t love seeing sailors raising their spinnakers?:

CROSSING LAKE MICHIGAN

The day of our big seventy-five-mile crossing from South Haven to Chicago, Mike was recovering from COVID. He slept, snugly in the stateroom, while I piloted Sacagawea. I enjoyed my day: I listened to whatever books, podcasts, and music that my heart desired.

For two hours in the middle, I couldn't see land on any side. I anticipated feeling wary about this. However, I kept to my books and such, and I was attentive to the instrument readings. Time just went by. I was hyper-focused on anything out of the ordinary because all I could see were gentle waves and hazy horizon.

There were so few birds—pretty much just gulls. I saw no fish jump. Once I saw a butterfly caught in my draft. "Oh no," I thought, "I hope I don't kill it--or cause a hurricane somewhere."(5) Its flight was so jittery and precarious, I can't imagine that it made it to land. Another time I saw one sparrow and had the same thought.

After six hours, and 20 miles away, the broken toothy Chicago skyline resolved behind the hazy horizon…

…and here at 15 miles out…

…and here 10 miles out…

…and here at about one mile out after eight hours. It was time to stir Mike and get ready to enter our next home base! 

We stayed in a comfortable, centrally-located marina: DuSable Marina. It's directly South of the Chicago River. We stayed for nine hot, humid days and filled every day with something fun.

CHCAGO: MOST ANTICIPATED MOMENTS

When we were apart, Mike did lots of boat maintenance-related work. I visited the Art Institute of Chicago (maybe my fourth time there) and did some mall shopping.

Here at the Art Institute of Chicago I noticed the couple in the giant “Paris Street, Rainy Day” by Gustave Caillebotte looking out at 2024 as we were looking in at them in 1877. Don’t you love how art is a time machine?! 

I also got a few precious hours with my dear friend, Natalie, who was visiting Chicago from California! (I don’t have a pic of this—it’s in only in my heart.) Gosh, I really miss you all! We’re half way through The Loop, y'all! I’m still glad to be on the quest.

ROCKIN’ IT UP AT WRIGLEY FIELD

Originally, we wanted to see a Cubs game at Wrigley Field. However, there were only away games during our stay. Instead, we saw the sensational band, Pearl Jam, at Wrigley Field. They still rock. Like better than ever.

That bespectacled couple is us, at Wrigley Field. We wanted to share with you the beautiful graphics at the Pearl Jam concert. In my estimation, the concert-goers were mostly contemporaries of our grunge era. Some of you know we lived in grunge central, Seattle, in the 1990s. 

Below is a clip worth listening to. For a bunch of old guys (our age actually) Pearl Jam can still rock. I mean REALLY ROCK AND ROLL. Wait for the split jump:

HUMID MEALS AND OTHER EVENING DRAMA

We had one great dinner out after another. We hit many countries with those meals: Japan, Peru, Greece, Mexico, and Midwest American steaks.

It was hot and humid during most of our stay. You can practically see the humidity in this pic. We paused one evening at a brewery along the Chicago Riverwalk. We learned that the Riverwalk was only completed in 2016. It seemed like a natural and essential part of Chicago, from my tourist perspective. We walked through it virtually every day.

Near the end of our Chicago stay, we took an hour dinghying over to the swimming spot North of the Chicago River entrance. It was so very hot. There were dozens of lake boats all around us. 

Our friend snapped this pic of us. Shortly after, we noticed a huge, round cloud surrounding a hazy-looking thundercloud to the Northwest of our spot. It was time to split! We raced back to Sacagawea and got ready to meet some Looper friends for dinner.  

While we called a Lyft, we could see on our weather apps that rain and wind were about to hit us. But you really don’t need a weather app when you see this outside the back of your boat:

We walked quickly up to the Lyft pick up when the weather hit us with a vengeance. We were immediately drenched and had to take shelter behind a small building to avoid the sideways wind, rain, and blowing branches and leaves.

After dinner and drinks—all of us drenched—we made our way back to our boat to watch the lightening all around us. Watch this one, which was many miles away, from inside our boat: 

I don't think I've ever experienced a storm like this. Midwest summer weather was no joke!

EVENING ARCHITECTURAL TOUR

We opted for an evening architectural tour on the Chicago River. It was sensational. We craned our necks like owls and non-stop smiled in appreciation for the architectural artistry. The energy, pride, and creative spirit of downtown Chicago was palpable when you floated through it at night.

LA PORTE, INDIANA - HOME SWEET HOME FOR MIKE’S EXTENDED FAMILY 

Like many of our August evenings along Lake Michigan, we saw a soothing, colorful sunset from the back of our boat. This pic was on our last evening at DuSable Marina. You were gorgeous, sparkly Chicago!

We waved goodbye to bustling Chicago and headed East on Lake Michigan to Hammond, Indiana. 

I had never met most of Mike’s extended family and we had been anticipating seeing as many as possible when we first started The Loop.

In Hammond, we met up with Mike's cousin Diane Searle, and her husband Brett. We spent Labor Day weekend meeting Mike's local extended family and doing drive-bys through the town of La Porte, Indiana, where Mike's mom, Marcia, (as well as her parents, siblings, and cousins) grew up. We were able to match places with the youthful stories we had heard about.

Hello First Cousins, Once Removed, Donna and Claudia (Mike’s Godmother). “Nice to meetcha!” As we arrived for the get together at Mike’s cousin Diane and husband Brett’s home. 

Here’s Mike with Great Aunt Susie. She’s 104. (No typo!) We especially enjoyed and were touched that she made her signature dish for us: golumki. I learned what a lovely person she is while we talked about our Great Loop experience.

Brett and Diane took us to some of the best Southern Michigan wineries on day two of Labor Day weekend. Where else can you see vineyards on the left and corn fields on the right? We hope to reciprocate Cousin Diane's hospitality when we have a home in the U.S. again.   

NEXT: THE RIVER SYSTEM

The weather cooperated and we were able to push off as planned into the river system. Summer ended and it was time to leave the sparkling days, weather, and water of Lake Michigan.(6)

FOOTNOTES FOR FUN FACT FANS

(1) Lake Michigan is a Great Lake, but not a superior lake. There already is a Great Lake called Lake Superior. Ba dum tss.
(2) It makes sense to have this lollipop configuration. You can't have a harbor on the side of Lake Michigan. The lake has been known to have 5 - 10 foot wave heights regularly. On rare occasions, it has wave heights of 20 feet or more during storms. These would decimate exposed boat harbors.

(3) It was Captain Ron, of course!
(4) Rummikub! Anyone want to play?!
(5) The Butterfly Effect

(6) Even if we lowered Sacagawea's antennas and anchor light, we may have hit a stationary bridge or two in the Chicago River. We decided instead to enter the river system via the Calumet River. Its stationary bridges have taller spans.