May 22-June 9, 2009, Charlevoix, MI

We are back aboard KOKOMO II as of May 22, 2009.

We took almost two weeks driving from Florida, spending several days with John and Julie, Christopher, Jack, Ryan, Tommy, Gracie and Mia, in Hickory, NC.

Julie in front of her new screened in porch

Screened porch inside

Street view of the new addition and John's new office

Family room

Dining room

Julie and John have a new addition to their home consisting of a family room, dining room and screened in porch and a home office for John. The addition is complete and we all planted a few shrubs around the new foundation to match the rest of the house.

Julie's garden

Life is good. Linda, Mia and Gracie.

Linda spent lots of time in the backyard where the children used the swing set and played sports and where Julie's summer vegetable and flower garden is well underway. We enjoyed being with everyone and participating in their busy family life.

Christopher with his first car a Nissan 4 wheel drive Xterra.

Our next stop was to visit Rick and Kathy in Grosse Pointe, Michigan. We got to see Jenny and Andy and their new baby, Luke. What a cute little chunk. Everyone is busy and happy. We took a trip with Rick and Kathy to "The Henry Ford" and had a tour of the "Rouge" Ford manufacturing plant where we watched the assembly line in action where workers make Ford 150 trucks. Fabulous plant tour. Makes me want to buy a pickup!

KOKOMO II at Bergmann's ready for launch

On a hydraulic trailer, travelling city streets

KOKOMO II launched for the 2009 summer season

We arrived in Charlevoix and found KOKOMO II at Bergmann's Marine, already out of the heated barn and ready to be launched. The yard work was complete (bottom paint, new stabilizers)and we installed the propellers from Florida and the boat looks ready for another summer. She was launched at the public boat ramp, using a large hydraulic trailer, just like you might launch a much smaller boat. I was a little apprehensive but they do this all the time. Our launch went without a hitch.

Now that we are back aboard the boat full time, we have checked out the systems on the boat one by one before getting underway and found several that needed attention. As the boat is self contained, we spent a very busy week provisioning and getting things 'ship shape'.

Russ Otterbine and Chris Branch on the new Honda Goldwing Tricycle. Beautiful. Their plan is to head to Sturgis, SD this August for Bike Week.

My cousin Chris Branch, lives nearby in Boyne City, and we were able to see Chris and Russ several times while we were here. We had another great dinner at the Bay Harbor Yacht Club and planned some time together later this summer with grandchildren. They let us borrow their car again this year. The car made some distant sightseeing possible and our shopping easy. Thanks a million.

Charlevoix Marina as seen from Bridge Street.

The park above the Charlevoix Marina has a bandshell.

Play fountain at our marina gets some play even when the temperature is in the 50's.

Our marina in Charlevoix, Michigan is located right in the middle of this delightful town. The marina is brand new and has great new showers, laundry, and internet in the lounge but not broadcast to the slips. (I am writing this from the lounge). Temperatures are generally 55-65 degrees during the day (very comfortable if the sun is out) and goes down to the 40's overnight. The leaves are just coming out on the trees and spring is underway although it got down to 32 degrees last night. Summer is not here as yet. We are seeing lots of people wearing shorts with jackets. Summer is said to arrive in July. Still, the cooler weather is a nice change from Florida.

DENIS SULLIVAN as she comes into the dock at Charlevoix

We have a 'tall ship' the DENIS SULLIVAN that is berthed next to us in the marina here. We were aboard this boat last winter in Florida where it was spending time at the Florida Oceanographic Institute in Ft Pierce. The DENIS SULLIVAN is now on its way back to their home port of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Beautiful flowering apple tree.

A home from the 1890's in Charlevoix in a neighboorhood known as the Belvedere Club. This area was settled by people from Chicago who were getting away from the summer heat.

The town of Charlevoix is special. There are plenty of restaurants, shops, a movie theater, a grocery store and a drugstore all within walking distance of our marina. This town has a year round population of 3,000 and a summer population of up to 30,000. Some tourists now with lots of tourists expected later in the summer.

Earl Young 'Boulder House' from 1920's.

Another Earl Young 'Mushroom House' with the wall out in front.

Earl Young built fireplace at the Stafford Restaurant in Charlevoix features a 'Boulder' that weighs nine tons. Earl Young found this boulder and saved it for many years by burying it until he found the perfect spot. Great use of this beautiful boulder.

Earl Young designed and built house on Round Lake.

Another Earl Young house on Round Lake.

We drove around and saw some more of the homes that the builder, Earl Young, built in the 1920's. A subdivision, 'the Boulders', has some of his homes that were built with large boulders that are still wonderful to enjoy from the street. He designed and built the 'mushroom houses' we were photographing on our visit last fall. Drove by those again. Remarkable.

Michigan loves the automibile and we see several 'funny cars'. This one is sponsored by our breakfast restaurant.

Our plan is to move to our next location with good weather. Wind blowing today so staying in port for now. This is a very nice place to be for a while awaiting the good weather.

Chris and Russ have offerred us the use of their car while the are in Canada fishing. So....we have decided to stay several more days in Charlevoix. We are enjoying our proximity to Charlevoix with it's stores and restaurants close by and find that it is really a wonderful town to spend some time. The weather has been cool but pleasant and everything on the boat is ship shape.
Temperatures are in the 30's overnight and mid 50s during the day. Our view of the water from the boat in the marina is spectacular as we are on an outside slip with a full view of Round Lake. This beats travelling for now. We are content to stay awaile in Charlevoix. And we have a car to go sightseeing.

This is a place called 'Castle Farms', origionally a model farm belonging to the President of Sears Roebuck Company and used to showcase all the items available in the Sears catelogue. The property fell into disrepair and was restored recently at a cost of ten million dollars and is now an active spot for local weddings. There were ten weddings at 'Castle Farms' last weekend.

Owen checks out an oversize board with very large chess pieces.

Linda in front of the outdoor model train layout.

This is the Irontown Ferry which we take to shorten our drive from Charlevoix to Boyne City if we go south around the lake.

Charlevoix has several very nice public buildings including the hospital, library and City Hall.

Charlevoix Hospital with a view of Lake Michigan.

Owen had a short visit to the hospital emergency room on Friday as he was having difficulty swollowing. Dr Wendt performed an EGD and everything was back to normal by early afternoon. Eat slower and chew completely were the instructions so we would not have to have this proceedure done again. Owen says he knows to do that and will be more diligent in the future. Great to have the hospital facility here close by and available. Staff very friendly and helpful. Staff says they have one of these a week.

Library with a large 'butterfly' sculpture in front.

We made a day trip to Petosky and had breakfast at an old hotel (1890's) now called the Staffords Bay View Inn. This was once the center of social activity of the Bay View Association, a Methodist Church Camp, that evolved into a summer community. The Bay View Association is still active and sponsors Chautauqua programs all summer in the community hall.

Staffords Bay View Inn.

Staffords garden overlooking Little Traverse Bay of Lake Michigan.

Croquet is available in the garden with croquet wickets from the 1890's.

Double wicket and stake.

Free Art Museum in Petosky with good photography exhibit and extrordinary 1900's oil paintings.

Interesting store in Petosky, The Quiet Moose, has a great garden display including this trellis framing a water view.

This crew travels on it's stomach. This is Grey Gables, our favorite restaurant in Charelvoix.

There are several good reataurants in Charlevoix. Stafford's Weathervane, Terry's and Grey Gables were all very good. We are eating on the boat whenever the weather is too rainy to head out to dinner. We are well provisioned and Linda has internet access to the cooking channel for recipe's and inspiration.

We enjoy the small town hardware store that sells live baby chicks.

Another KOKOMO sails into Charlevoix from Chicago.