Saturday, August 7, 2021

 Day #13

A drive up to Ludington brought us to a quaint town, busy with tourist and a town park that maintained a jetty that went out a half a mile into the lake to the lighthouse.

Every 100 yards or so there was a concrete walk out onto the beach that was designated as handicap accessible.

View halfway to the light house. The water on either side of the jetty at this point was deep and dark blue. The lighthouse has a volunteer only operated gift shop and charges to walk up into the top of the lighthouse. The volunteers this day were transplants to Seattle, WA from Gastonia, NC.  They spend a week every summer volunteering at the lighthouse.

Looking back toward the beach. The water on either side of the jetty was clear, it was difficult to determine the depth.

We have noticed during our travels in Michigan, there are very few chain motels. The hotels are mostly smaller, privately owned, two story “motor courts”. Themes of the hotels are as numerous as the imagination, from simple Verna’s Place to Earl’s hotel to Legs Inn.

The size of the  townships/villages are anything between a small sign on the road to populated, busy streets of tourists everywhere.

The 2019 population for Oceana County, MI was estimated at 26,467 in 536 square miles and has one stop light.

Driving out of Lundington, along the lake, we noticed that barriers had been placed along the shoreline to keep the water out of the roads. Looking at the shoreline, it seemed that if the white barriers were removed the lake would been in the road. If vehicle wheels moved off the shoulder of the road, it would be in the lake.

The beaches are beautiful, sandy and windy. These pictures are from our drive out of Lundington, where the road ended at the State Park. Nice state parks, amenities, but are a first come-first serve, so very difficult to get a spot.

The land is wet. Some roads are flanked with wetlands on both sides. I have never seen so many cattails growing abundantly along the road sides. Driving down a hill, a wetland area would appear, some would be like the picture, while others were forested.

Another jaunt that we took was to the end of the road in Silver Lake. The road ended at the pedestrian access to the dunes – a straight up wall of sand.

A flock of turkeys with their polts foraging on the side of the road.

Supper was a local restaurant, at crossroads in the middle of nowhere! The Open Hearth advertised family style meals, but tonight was prime rib night. Who can pass up prime rib – not me. I was delicious, but not as good as Fireplace in Weaverville, NC.

I noticed several fields of this crop. I could never get a really good picture of it and never thought to ask Doug to stop for a picture. I think it is dill.

As the evening progressed, the Wisconsin storm gained momentum moving across Lake Michigan, so we packed up the chairs, tablecloths and anything else that would blow away. Spent the evening reading, writing and listening as the storm approached. The Bed began calling as the rain pelted the roof of the camper! Good night!