We weighed anchor on a sunny 50 degree morning. So we put on our sweatshirts and drove from below as we left Frankfort.
Going through Frankfort’s channel and breakwater we encountered a few intrepid fisherman and further along as we cleared the breakwater there must have been over a hundred fishing boats. Almost like playing bumper cars, but with boats. Had to negotiate a path between them as the fishing boats were all trolling fishing lines behind them. We were still seeing fishermen 4 miles south of Frankfort. These guys sure take their fishing tournaments seriously!
The shoreline that we pass heading south are still sand dunes bluffs some as tall as 200 feet.
As we travel, we pass the small town of Arcadia and Portage Lake, each situated on an inland lake which is connected to Lake Michigan by a dredged channel. Interesting to note that the dredged channels were originally small rivers connecting the inland lakes to Lake Michigan.
As we passed the dunes surrounding Portage Lake we could see the lighthouse marking the entrance to Manistee- our destination today. (The name Manistee is Ojibwa for river with islands at its mouth.)
History of Manistee
The town was first settled by one family in 1841, who built a saw mill and made a living off lumber and farming. By 1849, more settlers arrived and by 1885 the town boasted 40 saw mills. At that time Manistee had city provided water, sewer, fire protection, street lights and parks. Pretty fancy for a city of that era. At that time Manistee claimed to have more millionaires per capita than any other city in the US. Today the city is known for its paper packaging production, metal works, salt harvesting, fruit production, fishing and tourism.
As we entered the channel into Manistee, we past it's beaches, dunes and lakefront park. Laterin the channel we passed homes up on the southern bluff, and further in marinas catering to the charter business, We tied up at the Municipal Marina and settled in.
Soon after we headed to town for lunch at a local pub, then continued walking down River Street, the old downtown which has been preserved as it was in 1880-1910. The town has done a wonderful job of preserving the past.
We stopped in a few art and antique stores and the continued walking to Lake Manistee, where we passed an old train station under preservation and an old iron foundry.
On Manistee Lake we could see industrial areas which we later identified as plants producing paper products, metal fabrication and salt harvesting. Steamers used to carry Manistee’s products, as well as people, to Chicago and Milwaukee. Later freighters took up the load. These shots are of pictures of the freighters that plied these waters.
We returned to the boat by walking through a older residential neighborhood with homes and churches dating back to 1880-1896, when the town of Manistee was in its heyday
and then continued walking back to the boat along the Riverwalk.
Having walked quite a bit, we rested our tired feet, so we could tackle the rest of the Riverwalk later today.
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