Thurs 24th
We decided to take another look at the sand-dunes, as we hadn’t had time to see the really big ones last time. First we went to the other Traverse Museum, where there was a really good exhibit of “light paintings” as well as the permanent Inuit display, and some intriguing interactive stuff with light projection and sounds which we all enjoyed playing with. The Dunes were as amazing as ever.
The huge 400 ft drop to the Michigan lakeshore severely tempted Jake, but when we heard some fit young men report it had taken them 30 seconds to run down and 30 minutes to climb back up, and knowing we would be much much slower, we dissuaded Jake from trying and distracted him with little slopes instead. The views were terrific.
We went on to the little town of Glen Arbor, where we visited the Cherry Republic and sampled their wares, purchasing some to bring home and eat later or as gifts.
We then drove back to the Old Mission Peninsular, where we met the others for a meal at a lovely restaurant - except we went to the more casual eatery in the old servants’ quarters round the back! Still good food. After dinner Kathy, Paul and Chris said Goodbye to most of the party and left to visit Uncle Toots.
Fri 25th
The party was further reduced when the girls left, taking Brett and Roly with them. Rick, Kris and the others opted for a final full day on the beach, with maybe a side trip to Pirate Island with the kids. Mum and Dad, Ed and I drove to Leland, to see the historic Fishtown quarter.
Over 100 years old, the weathered shacks still worked, in some cases, as fish smoking houses. We had a good mosey round both the old town and the modern marina, where there were some very smart boats with quite an array of fishing tackle on dispay, before lunching at a riverside café.
We joined the others at dinner over the road when we got back, and spent our last evening on the beach together, before the breakup of the party the next morning.
