South Haven, Michigan

   This is Shelly from Chenial in a cute section of the downtown 
                                    Area near a winery. 
                                        Great travel day!






                                       Sunset at the pier.
              Our trip to the grocery store, waiting for the bus.
      After the wineries, we went here to listen to a jazz concert. 
      Nice, grassy area behind the clock with an outdoor stage.




South Haven, Michigan was another lovely town! We arrived September 14 and stayed 2 nights; could have stayed longer! A quaint downtown area, full of shops, restaurants, pubs and a couple of wineries! The marina was great - good price, nice showers, a boaters lounge and free, brewed coffee every morning!  Such a nice change from our typical instant coffee we usually have!

We had a lovely cruise to South Haven - calm, flat water with big, fluffy clouds in the sky. The water here on Lake Michigan is gorgeous. It’s Caribbean blue. We’re just minus dolphins, manatees, sea turtles, etc..  but that also includes minus of sharks, stingrays, jellyfish, etc.

Shortly after we pulled into Port, Looper boats just started coming in one by one. Some we already knew and some we hadn’t met yet. Chuck and Shelly Reagan on Chenille, Chris and Donna Clark on Runaway, Gerry and Jen on Vamanos, Mike and Jackie on Side Trip - we already knew these loopers from previous places. But we met Mayli and her husband, Boris on Saga, (a family of 4 doing the loop) Eric and Alison on Eriel, (sailboat), Darin and Beth on Piglet (a Cutwater from Oriental) and Tony and Jane on Clean Cut (Tony is a retired surgeon - get the name now?). As soon as everyone got in and settled, we headed downtown for celebratory drinks and dinner with Runaway, Vamanos and Side Trip. Lots of laughs and looper discussions. Docktails were scheduled at 4:30pm at the captains lodge, so we all headed back to the marina.  

The next day, Jeff and I, took the free bus to a Meijer Grocery. Yes - free!  We purchased a few supplies and returned to the boat. I had to do the obligatory chore of defrosting the freezer.  At least the freezer is small and doesn’t take long.  After the freezer was defrosted and groceries unloaded, we headed into town.  I took off with Shelly to the wineries and Jeff headed to a  pub.  We ended up meeting up with Tony and Jane on Clean Cut and Mayli and Boris on Saga for more wine tasting and then off the heat the jazz band.  Good times were had by all!

After the jazz band, Jeff and I decided to go to the Elks Lodge for dinner. It was pretty full at the bar so we sat at a table. The waitress came and asked where we were from and wanted to see our membership card. Jeff showed her his card, however, it was expired. He explained our situation of doing the Great Loop and she went to consult with her manager. Unfortunately, she returned and apologized but said we would have to leave. We were shocked really - we’ve never experienced this at an Elks Lodge. Usually, they’re very welcoming. Oh well, we went for pizza not too many doors down. 


               

Comments

  1. AlmarinesurveyorsJuly 15, 2024 at 6:15 AM

    Thanks for sharing informative stuff with us! Almarinesurveyors

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AnonymousJuly 23, 2024 at 1:19 PM

      You are welcome - we loved traveling the Great Loop. There were so many beautiful and interesting places.

      Delete

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