Lake Michigan

Joan and I spent her birthday walking the beach and wandering around town. As you can see, the water was a little choppy.

The sun sets over Lake Michigan, near Leland, Michigan. The Manitous are on the horizon in this photo. Joan and I had hiked down the beach from Jolli Lodge. This picture was taken with a "free" Vivitar point'n'shoot camera on Labor Day weekend in 2002. Jolli was one of my parents' favorite places. Mom and Dad started spending summer weeks in Leland in the eighties, and after Dad passed away Mom made a practice of spending summer's last week there. We "kids" would join her for the final weekend. A fine resort, beautiful on the lake's shore.

This is the delightful lighthouse at Seul Choix, near Gulliver, at the north end of Lake Michigan. I'm not sure why the place has a French name, but that name reflects that this is the only place between Mackinac and the Garden Peninsula where it's feasible to locate a lighthouse. Most of the intervening waterfront is swamp, or blowing sand, or sheltered. So here we are. Seul Choix marks the harbor for Port Inland, where Inland Steel's boats load limestone for the mills at the far end of the Lake. Except for the channel to the loading facility, this harbor's surprisingly shallow. Think I took this photo in 1993.... Camera: Chinon Genesis III

This-- Jolli-Lodge , near Leland--was, we think, Mom's favorite place. She and Dad vacationed there regularly, and after Dad passed away she continued to take refuge at Jolli in late summer. She'd invite the rest of us up for Labor Day, and we'd join her for a peaceful and relaxing weekend. We really need to resurrect that tradition. Jolli-Lodge has several buildings, including cabins and a sprawling waterfront lodge, in a park-like and family-friendly setting. The resort faces Lake Michigan--down 25 or 40 steps from where I took this picture--and the Manitou Islands; to the south are the high dunes of Pyramid Point. The view is simply incredible. Photo taken on Labor Day weekend in 1993. Camera: Chinon Genesis III

For Joan's birthday last year we spent the weekend in and around Traverse City. Checked into our hotel in the afternoon, then headed out Old Mission Point to see the lighthouse. This was Joan's first visit ever, and my first in a dozen or so years. Pretty little lighthouse; now a private residence in the middle of a public park. On our way back down the peninsula, we ate at The Boathouse on Bowers Harbor, where we watched the sun set over the bay and the hills. Far too expensive for regular dining, but truly wonderful meals. Addition 10/1/05: Again to TC for Joan's birthday this year, and another wonderful meal at The Boathouse. Highly recommended, but quite expensive.

This photo shows the old Grand Traverse Light--it's peeking through the trees on the left--and the ugly steel construction which made it obsolete in 1972. Leelanau State Park includes these lights and a nearby campground; several miles away the park has a small wilderness area we can also recommend. There's a good museum in the lighthouse, and there's often a variety of birds in the trees.

Still another picture of Fayette's Opera House and the Company Store, with the limestone cliff that defines Snail Shell Harbor visible in the background. This picture dates from the early eighties; perhaps 1981, but I think a couple years later. "Opera House." Hmmm. It would be better styled a community hall, near as I can tell; the town government (such as it was) lived in this building, as did one or more businesses. The second floor's a meeting room, where (among other things) visiting entertainers put on their shows. I call it the Opera House because the state park did when I started visiting the town; I'm not sure whether the residents shared the conceit. Camera: Minolta Zoom 110 SLR

We're back in Fayette. Here (again) are the company store (on the left), the opera house/town hall (on the right)--and the hotel! When Fayette was an active town--mostly in the 1870s and 1880s--these buildings constituted the bulk of the Fayette "business district." The skilled tradesmen lived out on the peninsula (to the right), while general labor lived near the blast furnace (to the left). Everyone shopped at the store, and met for entertainment and governmental functions at town hall. The hotel--called the Shelton House--was both a boarding house and a host for visitors. For over a century, now, Fayette's been a tourist destination--a ghost town--and these buildings have survived largely because of formal and informal preservation efforts. A beautiful and attractive place which happens to be a significant historical artifact. The reason there's no background for this photo is that the buildings are on a relatively skinny spit of land. The photo was shot in June of 1981 from near the superintendent's home.

South Haven, Michigan, on September 26, 2003.

Momma & Poppa Goose herd their flock in the shadow of the mighty Mackinac Bridge--I've annoyed them, and they're about to leave. Photo taken June 22, 2003. This photo was the next shot after one I published last spring, and demonstrates what a change in framing can accomplish. Though the pictures were shot from the same location and share many details, they tell different tales, and require different captions.

We took the Pony out for a ride yesterday. Visited Grand Haven--where we photographed the lighthouse and walked the beach--and South Haven--where we photographed the lighthouse and supped at Clementine's (good food; great building). For a resort town in November, SH was a surprisingly busy place. Anyway, here's m' new car at the beach in Grand Haven. Lake Michigan's just barely visible in the background, and you can almost make out the lights marking the harbor entrance through the trees. Technically we're in Grand Haven State Park, which was closed for the season except right by the harbor entrance. Most of yesterday's photos were taken with the good camera, and we'll have to get them developed before we can share. Neat car. Fun day. This was originally a blog post dated 11/13/2004 on a dabbler's journal .

The local ducks hold their morning coffee klatch while a couple sandpipers look on. That's Old Mission Point in the background and the east arm of Traverse Bay in between. Photo taken in late September, 2004, at Pointes North Inn in Traverse City. Camera: Nikon N90s Scanned from a negative. Grainy; probably mostly because it was a fast film.

A gull floats over the water at Grand Haven's pier lights on November 13, 2004. Shot from Grand Haven State Park. Scanned from a negative.

Spent my birthday weekend in Traverse City. We've never gone away for my birthday, so that was a treat. Of course, February's weather is a risk. The weekend's first two days had excellent weather, as this shot shows. Monday and Tuesday were a little less friendly. Better detail in the larger view. This is the dock behind Holiday Inn West Bay, where we roomed Saturday night before moving to Pointes North for the rest of our stay. Sunday morning found this excellent light, and this bird posed for my camera.

Joan, looking at all the ice....

This is the Marina at Suttons Bay, Michigan. It's cold, and the boats have taken shelter. But still a remarkably pretty place.