We awoke to grey and windy skies. We had docked at the Ship and Shore Boatel – a sunny, bright place with a 50’s Palm Springs vibe in Saugatuck, MI. It’s a small town of under 1000 people and was originally a lumber town. It is now is a summer tourist destination and weekend getaway for residents of Chicago, Grand Rapids and Detroit areas. In 2010, Saugatuck came in fourth in Budget Travel magazine's ten coolest towns in America.
Jody and I went for a nice jog while John and Rick did some office work. Afterwards, I hopped in the shower and was closing the folding glass door as I was chatting with John and suddenly I was holding the entire door in my hands. With my herculean strength, I had ripped the entire shower door off! But really it was like it magically just detached from the hinge. So John had to figure out where we were going to stow it (it is heavy and cumbersome) while underway. He and Rick wrestled it into the tiger pit (the alias for the engine room having watched Swiss Family Robinson several times as a child) where it remains for now.
Then we all walked in to town for lunch and a tour of the art galleries. The town is said to have been “a noted art colony and tourist destination in the Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century”, but that distinction doesn’t seem to have held. While we weren’t impressed by the quality of ‘art’, we had an enjoyable walk through the town.
We were hoping to take the ‘chain ferry’ (a charming little ferry boat that shuttles people across the river powered by a guy cranking a chain that runs around a big pulley and is attached at both sides at the bottom of the river) across the river to climb a very long wooden stair case to the top of the dunes and walk down the other side onto the state park beach, but it wasn’t operating due to the wind so we decided to get the tender out and have a cocktail cruise around the bay.
The tender is quite a little boat with four being max capacity. Jody and Rick were perched tightly in front while John and I were squished close to the motor. Nevertheless, we headed out confidently anyway. By that time there was just a light breeze and a bit of sunshine so all was pleasant as we cruised slowly around the bay. However, when we turned for home, we realized there was a blustery headwind and the waves were churning and Rick and Jody bravely protected us from the cold waters of the Kalamazoo River and enjoyed a chilly Splash Mountain experience until we got into more sheltered waters. To warm up we opted to get warm in the Jacuzzi at the Ship & Shore, then it was Cindy’s taxi service to Douglas for dinner at Ordinary People with our entertaining waiter and Mark Parkinson look alike and a seat-side torched marshmallow s'more for desert.
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