This morning we slept in a bit given the promise of very little in the way of wind or waves., since Charlevoix is just a short jump across Little Traverse Bay from Harbor Springs. Not even long enough to break out the Triscuits, which we’re happy to see once again being sold as a Nabisco product. Christies is somewhat offputting, although we courageously dealt with it while in Canada.
The name Charlevoix is derived from the Native American word for “Too many damn boats in the canal.”
It also was the site of a fierce and fatal gun battle in which Mormons attacked innocent Irish fishermen or Irish fishermen attacked innocent Mormons, depending on which side of history is accurate. Irish and Mormons don’t really seem like traditional rivals, although a football game between BYU and Notre Dame might create some sectarian animosity. They could—but probably wouldn’t—call the game “The Battle of Pine River II.”
Most importantly Charlevoix will be known in the future as the place where Mallory rejoined us. Hopefully tomorrow. In preparation, we spent most of the day cleaning Misty Pearl. Nothing much interesting about that. Except if we actually knew a joke about a frog and a duck, this would be a most excellent time to use it. While cleaning the flybridge, we discovered a sticky-toed green frog (probably not its technical name) on a kayak paddle.
We don’t know how or when he got there, but if he had eaten all the spiders we would’ve adopted him. Instead, Dana carefully relocated him to a pond island. Perhaps to reward her act of kindness, a duck hopped up on one of the kayaks and obligingly posed.
We topped it off with a pretty epic sunset while walking back across the bridge after dinner.
Yup. This part of Michigan is awesome.
Everyone must have been here to see you. Been in Charlevoix four days. Marina 40% empty and yesterday the bridge didn’t open for several hours. Quiet and pleasant.
Don’t trust the ducks up there. They look all innocent but then at night they poop all over your kayaks.