Let me finish Sept 2 first. The Musical Fountain presentation featured Jimmy Buffet songs. They played Cheeseburger in Paradise, Fins, Margaritaville, Volcano, and three others. Was a nice tribute to him.
Later a fellow boater offered to help us move the boat to a more favorable position on the wall since many boats left the wall leaving space after the Musical Fountain presentation. With two more helping hands it was easy to “walk the boat” up the wall and get the boat retied. Enjoyed meeting and talking with these two kind boaters.
Now on to September 3
Woke to even windier weather. Glad we can hunker down. Spent the morning making grocery lists and checking the weather. Later we moved the boat into the Municipal Marina as I needed to do laundry.
The waters are crowded with boaters today.. It is as crowded here as it was on holidays in Ft Lauderdale where I grew up. All the marinas are full. It seems that everyone who lives around Grand Rapids keeps their boat in this area and they were all out in force today. As one Michigander says, “It’s Labor Day, and we all know that snow and much colder weather could be here soon. Have to take advantage of what’s left of summer.”
We walked along the boardwalk and enjoyed more sculptures and some history of the Coast Guard in this area. The Coast Guard has an administrative offices here in Grand Haven and also the town is home to the Coast Guard Cutters in south Lake Michigan.
The waves were bigger and the wind stronger than yesterday, so we had surfers and kite surfers taking advantage of the wind and waves.
Also the beach was just as crowded as yesterday. Everyone is out enjoying the warm weather- 76 degrees.
On our way back to the boat, we spoiled our supper by getting a cheesecake slice dipped in chocolate. Guess we will be eating dinner much later.
Day 106. September 4. Labor Day.
Enjoyed a lazy morning with finishing up laundry and pondering the windy weather and trying to guess when it will abate. Walked along the river front that was crowded with people at the many picnic tables and benches. To add to those,many people brought their own chairs to enjoy this beautiful sunny weather. The parade of boats was nonstop today!
Decided to indulge in Grand Haven’s tradition of Pronto Pups for lunch. We stood in line with about 30 others to await our turn to order the best corn dogs ever according to locals. The entire menu is corn dogs on a stick with ketchup and/or mustard for $1.75 each and drinks for .50 or $1.00. Can’t beat those prices.
As we left there were 40 people behind us. Popular place. Shared a bench with locals who made sure we knew all the sites to see in Grand Haven.
As we were leaving a large tug pushing a gravel or sand freighter came down the channel and Grand River. It’s bow was huge compared to freighters in our area, the bigger to break the waves on the lake.
On our way back to the boat, we mailed some letters and Bill couldn’t pass up a No shirt, No shoes No worries T-shirt. We walked different streets back to the boat and enjoyed seeing the large old homes of the saw mill owners and a repurposed piano factory, all dating to late 1890's.
As we returned to the boat, Gus the Gull had taken up residence on our pile.
Will indulge in ice cream as a treat later this afternoon, after Bill finishes his chores.
Here are some drone shots of the Grand River and Grand Haven and the marina.
the view to the west and Lake Michigan.
