Prior to leaving Charlevoix harbor, we took Salty on a short loop through Lake Charlevoix, the larger lake past the Round Lake where the marina was located. We had about 30 minutes to kill as we waited for the Pine River bascule bridge to open before we could head out to Lake Michigan. Lake Charlevoix, as Round Lake, was surrounded by large mansions with docks on the water. Clearly a lovely place to spend the summer!
The forecast was for 1 foot seas, but clearly once we left the protection of Charlevoix, we saw that there were 1-2 foot swells topped by 1-3 foot waves - manageable but a bit bumpy and caused us to make travel at reduced speed. The swells became a bit more pronounced on the Grand Traverse Bay (with Traverse City at the bottom) as the wind was coming from the south at 10-15 knots. Passing the Grand Traverse Bay we made it to the Lelanau Peninsula were the swells and waves eased up. We made it to Leland Township Harbor, built behind a large protective breakwater right on the lake.
The Carp River and the Lake Lelanau are inaccessible as there is a dam just inside the Carp River inlet, which is surrounded by the delightful Fishtown area. The Fishtown buildings are weatherbeaten and quaint and were almost at risk of destruction and development had not the townspeople of Leland bought it and turned it into a tourist attraction about 5 years ago. With a few exceptions, you have tourist and clothing shops. However, there is a magnificent smoked fish shop, Carlson's Fisheries, that sells the most amazing tasting smoked fish and some restaurant and food stores. At Carlson's, buy more fish than you expect to eat, because you will!
It seems that Michigan surprises you at every turn and this town was so totally unexpected and different from what we had seen so far. The town has embraced its fishing heritage firmly and everyone we met was proudly eager to introduce us to and tell us about all the great places to visit on the Lelanau Peninsula. One of Leland's claims to fame is the Cove Restaurant's Chubby Mary - a smoked chub (a carp minnow) in a horseradish flavored vodka bloody mary. You eat the fish with the drink and it is marvelous! While eating my chub, we saw the nightly appearance of the German-built 1960's era Amphicar, which made its way up to the dam (just below the restaurant) and turned back out to the harbor.
The magic of Lake Michigan is the color of the lake and the skies - and each evening we were subject to a magnificent sunset in the marina.
