Petosky and Charlevoix, MI

Thursday, August 18, 2016

We decided today we would go to Petosky and Charlevoix on  mainland Michigan.  We've been told by several people that these are pretty towns to visit.

Crossing south from the MI upper peninsula on the Mackinaw Bridge on another beautiful day!
 

As we arrived into Petosky, I saw this park and stopped.  It had magnificent views.  We are looking at the Little Traverse Bay part of Lake Michigan here. Below you can see the gazebo even had magnifiers for you to look through.

 

These stairs went down to another beautiful area.
 

Near the bottom of the stairs was the stream and small waterfall. 
 

The stream was lined with pretty flowers and vegetation.  This park was just next to the road.  Beautiful!!!
 

These are the stairs looking from the bottom. Gorgeous park! Time to go on down the road.

This is the Petosky marina.  The Bear River runs into the bay here.  See below.

We moved up the street a little and found the Bear River Recreation Area.  We took a hike along the river.

Love these little flowers.  Tic does a GREAT job taking pictures.
 

This is Bear River next to the trail we are following.

There were several plants with berries.  These were the most interesting to me because there were red, yellow and black all in the same group.
 

 Another look at Bear River.  

Along our hike, this little black squirrel was trying to hide but Tic got him anyway.

 Bear River varied in size along the trail we took, but was always flowing quickly.  When we finished our hike, we headed to Charlevoix.

This was our first view of Lake Michigan from a viewpoint in Charlevoix.  If you look closely you can see rocks under the water.  The water is crystal clear everywhere we have been.
 

Just down the road was a little city park on a hill with a nice lookout. Look at those huge houses.  They sure have outstanding views to say the least.  We sat on a bench here and had our picnic lunch.  WOW!

Further into Charlevoix we found a beach area.  At the end of the pier was another lighthouse.  Lighthouses seem to be prolific on the coasts of Lake Michigan.
 

On the opposite of the beach area we saw this.  In research, we learned it was a nuclear power plant that was closed around 1997.
 

From the beach we could see this large catamaran.  As it got closer we learned you could pay for outings on it.
 

We also saw this large double masted sailing ship.  At this point it has already lowered the front sail and is lowering the middle sail.
 

Both the catamaran and the double masted sailboat came in this canal to pass to an inlet bay.  The name on this ship said Inland Seas Education Association.  See schoolship.org for more info.  Very interesting!
 

In order for the tall boats to get to the inland lake the drawbridge must be raised. They schedule the opening of the drawbridge, on the hour and half hour.
 

We walked to the marina and found this little city park in Charlevoix.  Above is a water fountain that the kids were playing in.  Below was a pond full of large trout.

Here is a small piece of the marina in Charlevoix.
 

This amphitheater is part of this same city park.  There was a free concert there last night.  Darn we missed it.  This is a beautiful town!
 

As we were driving around town we saw this unique house.  We did not see any hobbits though.
 

As we were heading for Main Street in Charlevoix, we saw this mural on the side of a building.  Time to start heading back to St. Ignace.
 

As we passed to Petosky, we saw some more beautiful and unique houses.  See both above and below.

This one is on a hill near the lake.  Notice the outdoor viewing tower and the intricate woodwork around the porch and house trim.

On our drive home, we took the scenic drive called the Tunnel of Trees.  This short video shows how beautiful it was for miles and miles.