Sunday, July 15, 2012

The Beautiful and the Odd in Michigan

We returned last night from a trip to Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids, two days in Charlevoix, and a day in transit with stops in Manistee, Ludington, and Pentwater.
We splurged on an overnight stay at  Hexagon House B & B in Pentwater last night. Wish we had been able to stay longer.
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We were served breakfast of melon, sausages, and yummy sticky bun French toast while sitting on the porch which is surrounded by heavenly hydrangeas.
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In Charlevoix, we stayed at the Edgewater Inn overlooking Round Lake. From our deck we could watch the boat traffic from Lake Charlevoix enter Round Lake, then head down the channel of Pine River to Lake Michigan. Our second morning we woke to find a passenger ship had docked during the night. As you can see from the photos, there is a reason the bridge has to come up every half hour to let certain boats thru.
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Charlevoix, Petoskey, and Harbor Springs are all picturesque towns on the Lake Michigan coast. Earl Young, an architect, designed whimsical “mushroom houses” or “fairy houses” as people call them. These are in two clusters in Charlevoix, including one right next to our condo hotel. They look a bit odd next to the conventional buildings.
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We took a two-hour ride on a catamaran, but mostly enjoyed relaxing by the water.
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Our first day of the trip we stopped at Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids. The conservatory with its desert rooms and separate tropical forest was interesting. It is, however, the monumental sculpture pieces that stand out.
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We were a little disappointed that the usual Michigan summer produce of blueberries, sweet cherries, and peaches were either not available or scanty. The weird early warm spring followed by the freezes in April destroyed or damaged most of the crops. We did buy a frozen unbaked cherry pie at Crane's in Fennville to bring home and bake someday when our weather moderates. The tart pie cherries seemed to be not as badly affected. A most enjoyable trip enjoying man’s and God’s creations.

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