Day 93-95; August 24 – 26: Been on the loop for 3 months! We anchored for 2 nights in Oyster Bay of Lake Charlevoix instead of staying in the marina, but we did dinghy into town for the day on 8/25. Chatted with Jeff and Lisa on Boomerang and met Ruth and Tim on Margin, who will cross their wake in the next couple days. Charlevoix is another lovely waterfront town with a great marina adjacent to a very large park complete with benches, picnic tables and a bandshell for outdoor concerts. For the boaters there are very nice facilities including showers and laundry. It was refreshing to see how the waterfront had been set aside for the public with the street and shops sit well back from the water. Downtown was also very vibrant with restaurants, shops and galleries. Each alley has a name as well as tables to sit and lawn games for entertainment.
We found a nice waterfront place for lunch then walked the quarter mile or so to see the mushroom houses designed and built by Earl Young in the early 1900’s. Young didn’t use blueprints. As an artist, he created homes that fit the site, rather than forcing the landscape to accommodate the design. Charlevoix considers them to be architectural treasures, quite a few are for vacation rentals.
Over his 50 year career, Young would build 26 residential houses and 4 commercial properties. His structures are made mostly of stone, using limestone, fieldstone, and boulders that he found throughout Northern Michigan. Each of these houses is uniquely different and was designed to blend in with its surrounding landscape. Earl Young’s houses feature his signature design of wide, wavy eaves, exposed rafter tails; cedar-shake roofs; and a horizontal emphasis in design. These buildings are creatively known as Gnome Homes, Mushroom Houses, or Hobbit Houses.
We found Lake Charlevoix to be super relaxing so spent an afternoon with a book on the bow, a half day cleaning the boat from all the little gnats and spiders, and enjoyed watching other boats come and go out of the cove including one twice the size of Legacy! We decided to head into the marina for our 3rd night and find a local restaurant for dinner. Seemed like a better idea than a cold ride back from dinner on the dinghy, since the temps at 12:30 in the afternoon were only in the mid 60’s and the forecasted low of overnight was 48. Once we were settled in the marina, the sun came out and warmed things up… actually hit 70 degrees so we were off on a bike ride to check out the area. Found the beautiful homes along the water along with several private clubs and weddings. Dinner tonight is at a restaurant designed by Earl Young (Weathervane)…. Want to see what the inside looks like.
Tomorrow we head to Traverse City, about a 4 hour run south into Grand Traverse Bay. The waters and shores of Michigan are absolutely beautiful and temperatures very mild – upper 60’s/low 70’s. We certainly see why people vacation here – a great escape from the heat of places like Chicago and Dallas, but winter beware…. Brrrrrr!
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