Photos in and around Suttons Bay

New this time are 'words by Becky'. She volunteered to help me get more postings by adding the descriptions -- hence the difference in 'style' you will see.

Came across these unique wild flowers along the path to the cherry orchard.

Water lilies, to inspire any nature artists among us.

Now, all is needed is a frog.

Cherries, kissed by the morning dew. Can't you just taste them.

Lavender fields forever. A popular eatery in Northport.

He loves me he loves me not.

Show off!

Summer rain shower freshens everything.

Sail boats galore.

Shades of blue, for me and you.

Northport dockside view.

Here's the church, here's the steeple.

Around Suttons Bay

We were off to 'the city' today (Traverse type) to do a little shopping and have the truck serviced.

Along the way we stopped to pick some raspberries. We picked about a quart and as we were paying for them I noticed this hollyhock. It is a real beauty don't you think?

This is what they look like up close.

Before we went I had to capture the 'fruits' of Becky's labor yesterday. Since we can have all the cherries we want just by picking them she could not resist trying her hand at cherry preserves. This was her first venture into home canning and the results were outstanding!


First you start with a bunch of cherries - note there are two varieties shown. In reality, these are both a variety of 'sweet' cherries and the preserves are made from 'tart' cherries but Becky had these spread out to dry and I couldn't resist a photo.

These are the 'tart' cherries. They are slightly smaller, more perfectly round and, to me, a brighter red. Much easier to tell the difference by taste!!!!

After using the 'pitter' (see photo above) and mashing, adding sugar and pectin and then cooking, you get these.

And up close and personal with a jar of Becky's finest.

We also stopped along the shores of Lake Michigan to capture photos of some of the sailing vessels that ply the waters here.

More 45th Parallel

We moved west along the 45th parallel into wine country. The region is also known for its cherries - it is home to the National Cherry Festival held every year over the 4th of July. We plan to enjoy both!


Here is a branch of the 'dark' sweet cherries. There also have some sweet cherries that are more red. Photos of them later.

Here are some of the'tart' cherry trees on the farm where we are staying - Wild Cherry RV Resort. One of the little benefits of staying here is you can pick all the cherries you want.

We chose to travel about 15 miles to the town of Cedar for our 4th of July parade. The town is a Polish town and has a marvelous meat market. The parade reminded us of our 4th of July in Creede, CO. Great little parade of all locals.

Note the Knights of Columbus leading the parade. A sign of the dominance of Catholics in the town. I guess I never thought of Poles being mostly Catholic and perhaps it is unique to this area.

A couple of shots of the resort and our spot here. The large log building is open at all times and is available for the guests to use. It has a large screen TV, a library of books, fireplace and tables for potlucks, games, etc.

The small building in the foreground is the Resort Office. Definitely the smallest office we have encountered!

This is also the view out our rear window.

This shot was taken 'in the valley' and our rig is one of those on top of the hill.

We made a run over to the west side of our little peninsula (about 15 miles) to the town of Leeland. Their small park caught our eye with this large tree as a feature. Note the border at the bottom of the tree.









This closeup shows the 'tiles' which make up the border. They are available for purchase as a memorial or whatever. Quite a few still available on the back side of the tree.

Leeland sits on the river that is the outlet of Lake Leeland into Lake Michigan. They do not have a lock and the lake is at a higher elevation than Lake Michigan so they have a 'fall' instead. The old Fishtown (see above photo) lies along this waterway. It is currently used by private fishing boats and fishing Charters.







You can see the falls and the old buildings of Fishtown.







A better view of the falls and one of the very beautiful sailboats anchored along the walkway of the town.





This is a new bird for us. Our bird book identifies is as a Limpkin, distinguished by the red on its head. Our book also gives its location as only Florida. Oh well, books can be wrong I guess.

Off To Michigan

For any of you keeping track, yes I skipped Florida. Much too busy enjoying the grandkids (and our Florida kids) to post. I will try to catch up with some photos but for now it just seems easier to go right on to Michigan - especially since I'm already late getting these posted.

We are located on a golf course in Hillman, Michigan so I must include some shots of the course. It is a very wooded (and difficult) course as you will see from the photos.

In addition to lots of trees to cause trouble, the course has plenty of water (and rocks) to cause trouble.



One of the resorts 'claim to fame' is their elk viewing ride and dinner. In the winter the ride is on a horse drawn sleigh but with no snow in the summer we had to settle with horse drawn carriages. Still a good ride.



This is the restaurant and club house.





Our Billboard. It is visible from the highway for about a mile away!




In the nearby village of Hillman this old mill has been converted into a museum and shop. It was a working mill at one time as it is located right on Thunder Bay river.






Here is the summer ride to elk viewing.



Note the elk are in velvet (and pretty shaggy). This was rapidly changing when we first arrived.




Here the horses are waiting on the passengers to finish taking photos of the elk and 'remount'.


This the so called 'Cabin' where the dinners are served. Everything is cooked here in the cabin on wood fires right in front of the guests! It is quite an experience.

Another hole on the course.

The resort is also known for its quilt retreats where a reknown quilt 'expert' teaches a group a new technique (and quilt pattern of original design). Becky decided this was too good an opportunity to pass up so joined the first class held.


Here Becky receives personal instruction on the new process. I'll post photos of the quilt when she has time to finish it.


Here are some of the quilts on display. No, these were NOT completed in the class.




Finally a couple of shots of the cart path on the golf course. It is like traveling through a forest in places.