Day on the Cruise: 132
From: Frankfort Municipal Marina, Frankfort, MI
To: Frankfort Municipal Marina, Frankfort, MI
Statute Miles: 0.0 SM
Time: 0.0 Hrs
Cumulative Miles: 3,073.7 SM
On Board: Susan, Chuck, Maggie, Trooper, Peanut
We stayed in Frankfort, MI today because of high winds and waves in Lake Michigan. The winds came across Betsie Lake where we are docked, and hit us from the stern all day. We retied the boat and added another bow line to lesson the "to and fro" movement of the boat, but it was still very rocking and rolling. Susan was more than ready to get off the boat to go to dinner.
We found Frankfort to be a very charming town. With just the one main street heading East and West along the shore of Betsie Lake, there are still plenty of restaurants and shops to explore. The West end of Main Street terminates into a beach on Lake Michigan.
Dinner was at an excellent place called Dinghy's. It is small, but has a lot of atmosphere. It is decorated as a maritime bar and restaurant. The food was very good, and we will surely go back. They feature Barbeque, and Susan had ribs. I had pulled pork nachos.
After dinner we walked down a few blocks to the beach on Lake Michigan. The high waves were pounding the break walls that form the outer harbor before you go into Betsie Lake. It was easy to see tonight how important the break walls are to these harbors along both coasts of Michigan.
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| Looking South along Lake Michigan |
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| Rough Seas on lake Michigan |
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| Looking North along the Beach |
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| Looking North along the Beach |
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| The harbor entrance from Lake Michigan |
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| Sand Dunes to the North of the Beach |
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| Light house at harbor entrance |
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| Waves from Lake Michigan crashing against the break wall |
We were treated to a beautiful sunset over the far side of Lake Michigan. It was too far to see the Wisconsin shoreline which is about 65-70 miles West, but the sun surely did set over Wisconsin!
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| DAY IS DONE!!!! |
The town of Frankfort has really done a good job with the beach area. North of the harbor break walls is a huge beige sand beach that, except for the color of the sand, rivals some beaches on the Atlantic Ocean. The waves from Lake Michigan were very big this evening and there were a lot of swimmers, paddle boarders, and kite surfers in the water. There is a concrete sidewalk along the beach, and the Town has placed benches along the sidewalk for old farts like us to use to sit and watch the water. Just beyond the beach area, the big sand dunes come right down to the water.
We sat on a bench along the sidewalk and watched the sunset. Here is where our senses played tricks on us. The picture is this for those of you who are familiar with beaches along the Gulf or Atlantic Coasts: beach sand; wind blowing in your face; waves crashing on the beach; the sound of waves crashing on the beach; the sun gently setting on the horizon; the colors of the sunset both on the horizon and among the clouds in the sky. Ah, but what is missing we ask? Please pass the salt! We were missing the smell and the sticky feel of the salt air. To both of us, this missing ingredient was so integral to what we know as a true beach experience, that our senses just would not trigger the fact that we were at the beach! Are we truly creatures of habit?
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| Wind in your face! |
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| Waves Crashing! |
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| The setting on the Horizon! |
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| The colors of the sunset! |
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| The colors of the sunset |
Where is the salt air?????
Tomorrow we are staying in Frankfort. Winds and waves are too high to be out on the Lake. You know it is bad when they cancel the last day of their fishing tournament which they actually did at the Marina this morning. More rocking and rolling for tomorrow.
Thanks for Reading!
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