LUDINGTON to GRAND HAVEN / Thursday, August 18 to Sunday, August 21 (Days 210-213)

Admiral's Log:     7:15 am, 8/18/16
                         Air Temp:   60     Water Temp:   72
                        Winds:  calm
                        Speed:   9 knots

We got an early start because the winds and seas were suppose to increase. So we had to change our original destination from anchoring in White Lake to a Marina in Grand Haven, where we were getting our props changed out. We hate to miss some of these places but it is just part of the journey. Safety first. We saw 30+ fishing boats all around us.  

Little Sable Point Lighthouse

White Lake Lighthouse  (hard to see tucked up in the trees)

Muskegon Pier Light

Other part of Muskegon Pier Light

Grand Haven Pier Light

Grand Haven Pier Lighthouse

We said good bye to Over Ice for a few days. They had to find a marina to leave their boat so they could fly home to attend the funeral of a good friend.

 We arrived at North Shore Marina at 2pm. We dug out the spare props then
we caught up with some of the old Looper friends; Morningstar, Phase II and Chica and had dinner at the Grand; an old movie theater turned into a restaurant. 

Friday, the boat was hauled out to replace the props. As Mel on Morningstar put it, we shaved off some rocks in the Georgian Bay. The left side (port) looked pretty rough. It was curled and nicked. The right one (starboard) was in pretty good shape, but we have to replace both. Hopefully these new props will make it home in one piece. Remember...it's a boat!

It is not suppose to be curled on the end!

A better picture of the curl!

We then rented a car and took a road trip to Chicago. It was a 3 hour drive. We checked into the Wit, a Double Tree hotel. It was in a great location, near  shopping and restaurants. 

We ate at a really good Indian Nepalese restaurant. 

Weird statues in this park walking back from dinner.

Saturday, we took advantage of the hotel amenities and both had relaxing massages. Then we had a delicious lunch at the Frontera Grill a Rick Bayliss Mexican restaurant. We got in our 10,000 steps looking for Olukai flip flops for Mike. Can't believe we never found any! We heard the Air Show going on overhead. But it was too crazy crowded to even try and get to the water to see it. We had seen it the last time we were here a couple of years ago, and pretty much saw the same thing when we were in Annapolis in May.

Frontera Grill, great Mexican food by Rick Bayliss

We went back to the room and took a nap then we had an Italian dinner at Merlo on Maple, near Rush Street.  We had been there a few years ago but could not remember the name. We finally figured it out, and it was as good as we remembered. A little pricey, but great service, atmosphere and delicious food in a re-modled brownstone.

Sunday, Bill Fisher, a friend from Tampa, surprised us when he let us know he happened to be in Chicago too, so we met for breakfast at our hotel. Bill and Kate cruised with us in July. They are planning on doing the Loop in a few years.

Mike and I got back to our Marina around 2 and made a quick stop at West Marine (Tiffany's) and checked out the cute town of Grand Haven. We had BLTs for dinner and I worked on the Blog.