Sleeping Bear Dunes & Fishtown

 It is the 2013 Annual Porsche Parade in Traverse City.  We wondered why we kept seeing them all over the place!  Apparently the owner of Porsche came over for to the PP to talk to the owners of the 400 cars.

Well that's one mystery solved.

Today we scampered to the truck and went touring.  Our first stop was the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. 

There's a story behind the name, something about a mama bear and her 2 cubs swimming across Lake Michigan to escape a fire in WI.  The mama bear kept her cubs going and then lost them in the fog/smoke.  She made it to the shore and called to her cubs for days.  And stayed there on the lakeshore broken hearted.
Or something to that effect.

So this is where you can climb the dune.  I didn't think it looked too bad, so I started up.  I had worn a pair of Birkenstocks which I took off for the jaunt.
Well I went about 1/3 rd of the way and my feet were on fire.  The sand was hot, hot, hot!  So I turned around and headed back with burning feet.

I certainly didn't expect the sand to be HOT!  So I wasn't prepared and had to forgo the dune climb.



We meandered back to the truck, where I put the soles of my feet in front of the air conditioner vent for awhile.

As we drove on down the road, we came across the Coast Guard station which housed a maritime museum.  A couple of Lifesaving Service boats....with oars.  Good thing drowning is not an emergency.

Early Lifesaving Service boat.

One of the best things about this stop, were the restrooms.  The boats were interesting, but the lakeshore was even more so.  There were stones all over the place!  I've never seen anything like it.

Lots of sizes and colors, all smooth and rounded and lots of them.  A sandy, stony beach.  Wouldn't be too comfortable on a beach blanket...

Cooling my feet in Lake Michigan

 Nice view of a dune from the lakeshore.  I picked up a few or more of the stones, trying to get a variety and traipsed back to the truck.  I needed them to add to my collection of rocks from other National Parks...

Back in the trusty truck, we headed north on M 22 to Boone Docks in Glen Arbor on Glen Lake of course.

We opted to eat outside, and got there just in time to beat the crowds that came when they saw our truck there.

I got the Provolone Pesto Burger, on a tomato ciabatta, which I cut in half and took half home...
It was delish.

Couldn't wait.

We continued on M-22 to the town of Leland, otherwise known as 'Fishtown'.  It's a quaint small town that used to rely on fishing and now is a touristy fishing town.

After buying a few souvenirs, we strolled on down to the harbor.  Where there were the remnants of the old fishing village.  Historic Fishtown.

 
There is a ferry that runs out to 2 little islands that used to be home to the Coast Guard.  Don't think it was running while we were there, but we didn't have time anyway.

Historic Fishtown

Docked Ferry

I saw some interesting jewelry made with Petosky Stone and Blue Stone.  Too pricey for me as they were designed and hand made.  That was the end of our Leland tour.  So we headed back to Traverse Bay where I finished off the first book, lent to me by my good friend Leta.  :-)