Woke up to a fogged in harbor, so we relaxed and enjoyed the coffee/ lattes that Don had kindly brought from town while we waited for it to clear. The sun came out and we cruised glassy waters to Charlevoix, MI. Coming into the harbor we had to cruise through a short, narrow, man-made canal that connects Lake Michigan to Lake Charlevoix which was originally a land-locked lake. At the end of the canal is a low bridge. We waited for car and pedestrian traffic to be stopped by the bridge tender, then the center of the bridge split open, both sides slowly rising to the sky, providing us a grand entrance into the harbor. Voted by Forbes Magazine as ‘one of America’s prettiest places’, and second only to Lake Tahoe in USA Today’s readers poll for best American lakes, Charlevoix does not disappoint. It’s the cleanest (flop down on the dock for yoga and come away clean!), crispest, yachting-est (yet still friendly) place we’ve come across yet.
We had lunch at Stafford’s Weathervane, enjoying a fun meal on the deck overlooking the canal with Jeremy, our uber talented waiter. One example of his many waiting skills: Don asked “Could you get me some cocktail sauce? Jeremy responded “We don’t have any, but I can whip some up real quick!” He went on to say he’d make it table side so we could watch. I realize it doesn’t sound so impressive, but it was just one thing after another like that and he was fun too.
Then Debbie and I walked around town while Don and John went to guess where? The local hardware store of course! That evening, a beautiful yacht docked next to us: ‘Pilgrim’, an impeccably maintained 75 foot sleek black 1940’s’ cruiser with a lustrous mahogany salon and brass accents, trim and portholes. It had been used in WWII as a patrol boat, cleverly disguised as a family cruiser boat, keeping an eye out for enemy submarines on the eastern seaboard. Captain Don says it’s a masterpiece – never seen anything like it in his life.
Captain Sobrato says you couldn’t make a more difficult craft to maintain if you tried.
Later we walked to dinner at Grey Gables. We had Jeremy, best waiter on the trip at lunch, then at Grey Gables we had Lance. After our first brief Lance encounter, Debbie and I decided we had to be super nice to him as he need a self esteem boost. This was not easy as every time we asked him a complicated question such as “What kind of beer do you have?” a deer in the headlights look came over his face and he had to give it some serious thought. It was a long, slow, dinner, but thankfully, we were having fun as the food and company were very good.
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