Frankfort – June 22
We spent the Solstice at anchor in Frankfort. We’ve enjoyed exploring the beach, the Betsie River Trail, and of course the Library. We are anchored right in front of it and have good free wifi. There is a nice dinghy dock, the Saturday farmers market (strawberries and asparagus), Family Fare Grocery Store, and a laundry a short walk across the street from the boat launch. Best of all Frankfort is very walkable and filled with people walking, biking, walking their dog – and a nice dog park nearby. We saw an elderly couple with their black and white dog yesterday afternoon. Their granddaughter was on a scooter riding back and forth on the trail next to the dog park fence and the dog was racing up and down chasing after her.
We’ve had mostly blue skies with the fluffiest gleaming white clouds and warm sunshine since arriving on Friday, June19. Mornings have been cool – in the 50’s. With the sun shining in our “solarium” it warms up quickly, so we enjoy our coffee and breakfast in comfort. Last nights sunset was spectacular and twilight lasted long into the night.
Frankfort is such a nice place to be. Everything we need is nearby and the beach/ lighthouse are exceptional. At the downtown movie theater on Tuesday’s is a free classic movie in the evening and last night was a free concert at the Arts Center. We are planning to rent a bicycle and ride the 22 mile Betsie River Trail through the Betsie River Valley. Today’s adventure is to check out the little park on the south side of the Lake in Elberta and walk out to the beach and breakwater.
I’m reading one of the books I picked up in Pentwater. Great Stories of the Great Lakes by Dwight Boyer, published in 1966. Mostly about commercial ships vanishing and wrecking. It looks at the evolution of the shipping industry and transformation of ships from wood to iron freighters. During our sail up to Frankfort we saw 3 Great Lakes Freighters in the shipping lanes. Even from a distance, they are huge! The sound from their engines is heard before we can even see them and the drone continues long after they have passed.
We hope to stay here for the duration of the light, north, and variable winds. We don’t have a plan per se but we are contemplating a trip over to Wisconsin from here to set us up nicely to travel East from the Door Peninsula area through the Straits. We’d love to stop at South Manitou – although the island is closed for a rebuild of their dock. It is still beautiful!
In summary – life is good and we are happy swinging on the hook!