SOUTH HAVEN to ST. JOSEPH'S / Saturday, August 27 to Sunday August 28 (Days 219-220)

Admiral's Log:     1:30 pm, 8/27/16
                         Air Temp:   70     Water Temp:   68
                        Winds:   9 mph
                        Speed:   9.7 knots

We had a fishing charter scheduled for 6:30 to 11:30 this morning. It started to rain pretty much as soon as we left. But we caught 8 fish pretty quick. According to our charter captain, Katy caught the largest Lake Trout or Laker they call it, so far this season. It was 24 pounds! The captain told us he had entered a tournament that day. But when it started to lightning, tournament officials told everyone the tournament time was cut in half and all boats had to be back inside the pier at 9 am. Since it was a nasty day and we had already caught so many we agreed to cut the trip short. We still had to wait until after the weigh-in at noon to leave. But our guide did win the tournament with the most weight and the largest trout. That's why the late start. But guess it was a good thing. The sun came out and we had a pretty nice day on the water after all.

Katy's 24# Lake Trout

My silver salmon

Daniel's Trout

Mike's Silver Salmon

We arrived at St. Joseph's at 3:45. The marina manager took the kids to a grocery store to find a cooler and dry ice so they could take the fish back home on the plane. He was such a nice guy. He later drove us to town for dinner at Clementine's. It was ok, we later found out from friends they would have recommended several other places. There are no cabs or Uber, so we walked through town, had some ice cream and walked about a mile and a half back to the boat. 

St. Joseph's Pier Light

Sunday, Daniel fixed blueberry pancakes with fresh blueberries I had gotten at the Farmer's Market. I did not realize Michigan was well know for blueberries, but also cherries, corn and peaches. We were kind of in a quandary as how to get the kids back to Grand Rapids airport. Then I remembered Leah. She is a friend of a friend in Tampa that rented our house the first 3 months of our trip! I remembered she lived in St. Joseph's. I called to see if she would loan us her car and of course she was happy to. That was such a help! The airport was about 1.5 hours away. When we got back to town we made a quick trip to the grocery and I found a print of the St. Joseph's Lighthouse for my collection! 

I took advantage of the free laundry and got sheets and towels washed. We called a Looper couple we had met that finished the Loop in St. Joseph's just a month ago, to come have a drink and visit. Merv and Connie of Sadie Too came and brought Sadie, their dog for a treat as well. Sadie became pretty well known on the Loop. She is a very sweet dog and everyone, including Mike gave her treats, (we bought to feed the Looper dogs).  It was good seeing them. They also spend time on the Gulf Coast in the winter, so they are going to look us up when they get down, hopefully it will be after we get back home.

Sadie is a Bernese Mtn. Dog, softest fur and such a sweetie!

Mike and Connie

Me and Merv

We had chicken salad sandwiches for dinner and watched a little football.

Before we leave Michigan I must tell you a couple of interesting tidbits about Michigan geography. I did not realize that Michigan is basically a peninsula. People from the Upper Peninsula or the UP, which includes Mackinac Island and above, are called Yuppers. And if you look at Michigan it is shaped like a mitten, the left mitten. Have you ever had anyone from Michigan show you were they live by holding up their left hand and pointing to a spot on their hand?  So Mackinac would be the tip of your middle finger, St. Joseph's would be about where you wrist begins and Detroit is the base of the thumb. Kinda cool huh?