Monday August 8: Grand Haven - South Haven

Back to Ludington:  What a pleasant surprise of a city! Another example of a beautiful waterfront. The main street in town was a short bike ride away. And it was just after lunchtime so out to lunch sounded like a good idea.

Especially since there was a second House of Flavors (the first was in Manistee) so off we went.

I'd had a taste for a coney dog - you know the kind - chili on a hot dog. Like from the dairy in Perrysville.

So in my mind was a picture. Funny how reality just never seems to mesh with my mental image of what I was ordering! It was ok but definitely not what I was thinking. But I'm not discouraged - I'll find one somewhere :-)

The waterfront had many bronze works of art relating to the sea. This is a grandfather teaching his grandson how to fish.

At right is a sculpture titled the "Spirit of Ludington. We also saw one that was done by an artist from Cleveland so that was fun.

A park in the center of town has one of the most unique fountains we've seen in a while.

The 'rain' dripped off of the umbrella - much to the delight of the child standing under the edge of the umbrella!

Very well done!

A self guided tour of the timber baron homes was available. The nice thing was you just called the number on your cell phone, input the location and the history of the house was played!

Unfortunately these were all private homes (or B & B's) and weren't open to the public for viewing.

Most were right on the main street of town. Overall a great stop!

Probably the most unusual thing we saw was the arrival of the passenger/car ferry, SS Badger.

In order to turn around and back into the pier, the captain must drop the anchor and use it as a pivot point!

Never saw that done before! The Badger is also unusual in that it is a registered historical site in two states: Michigan and Wisconsin.

For more info on the Badger, click here.



The next stop on our way south on the lake was Grand Haven - a 67 mile day so we were up early and pleased to see a very calm Lake Michigan. You never know which Lake Michigan you're going to find once out on the lake!

And the farther south we went, the calmer the water became. The 8 hour travel went quickly - with an arrival time of around 3 pm.

I guess we should have know since it was Sunday and a gorgeous sunny day but we couldn't believe the number of boats in the channel leading to Grand Haven! It was just crazy - maybe even more than being around Ft. Lauderdale!!

Again a very nice waterfront - complete with a viewing stand used for various activities - including the Musical Fountain which plays nightly throughout the summer.

The fountain was across the river and easily seen and heard from the flybridge.

We ran into 5 other Looper boats also docked here in Grand Haven but we were the only ones headed on. South Haven was the next stop - about 45 miles or so. The plan was to move on to Michigan City the next day so we started out after breakfast in and arrived to South Haven a bit after noon. That gave us time to check this place out as it was not a stop for us last time around.

Lots of folks enjoying the sun and water. It was quite warm - mid to high 80's. Being on the water, it was quite pleasant!

At first we thought this was a pirate ship but it wasn't. Seems like every port in Florida has one!

It was actually a replica sloop that is used by the Maritime Museum to provide an opportunity for rides out onto the lake.


And of course no visit is complete without a trip to the currently working lighthouse!



Along with interesting plaques along the bike/walk path.

The areas are so well kept.


Time to move on again.

One last longer leg of 58 miles tomorrow to Michigan City, Indiana. Stay for an extra day then off to Chicago for Thursday and Friday nights!