Day 10 of 30 / Mackinac Island to Petoskey

Sunday, July 21, 2024: Wow! A cruise ship is in the harbor! It looks so majestic! I decided that I must get a sweatshirt before leaving the island. I was worried the shops would be full of the people from the ship but I was wrong. Thankfully we made our way quickly into and out of the shops with the perfect sweatshirt for me. Whew! :-) 

I'm excited for our next destination and I'm also sad to leave. The clip-clop of the horses sounds extraordinary. We watched the Boy Scouts raise the flag and listened to the bugler play Reveille one last time as we made our way back to the boat and prepared to leave. At 10:40 a.m., we pulled out of our boat slip.

Less than 20 minutes later, we were passing beneath the Mackinac Bridge. It was awesome! At 1:00 p.m., we arrived in Bayfront Park, Petoskey. There was a yacht being serviced at the gas dock. We were next in line so we waited in the harbor for our turn. As we tied up at the gas dock, I felt like we pulled into a chaotic place. Music was blaring from another yacht and there was a lot of activity happening. After fueling up and getting a pump-out, we made our way into our assigned slip. I started to feel at ease as I realized the loud boaters were leaving and most likely were winding down from a weekend of fun.

As we walked up the dock, making our way into town, we saw an identical boat to ours; Sweet Emily! Larry talked to the owner briefly and I think his boat is two years older than ours and he has gray colored canvas rather than teal. This is the first time we've ever seen our twin! :-)

Petoskey has quite a large downtown area. We walked around for hours before meeting up with Justin, Jill, and Camden for dinner. They were in the area because they dropped Shelby off at camp. Timing worked out perfectly for an impromptu dinner together. We were so happy to see them and Camden was so excited to see Grandpa Larry. I love it when Justin gets conflicted and doesn't know who to shush; his dad or his son. :-) We sat on the outdoor patio so our noise level was more acceptable.

We walked back to the boat again (not a short walk) and relaxed for a while. I couldn't keep my eyes off the boat next to us. They have a covered flybridge and the guy was grilling dinner up there. I was in awe because I haven't seen anyone do this before and it smelled absolutely delicious! It wasn't long before Larry suggested we walk to the beach to watch the sun set. I nearly cried because I was so tired!!! This is the first time I have ever responded, "...but I don't want to!!" when asked to watch a sunset. After a little bit of persuading, I was putting on my shoes and we were walking up the dock again. This time, there was a musician performing in the park so we sat down and listened for a while before continuing our journey.

Larry was right and the sunset was stunning. I was so glad we didn't miss it!

What a sight to wake up to! A cruise ship docked in the harbor!

Leaving our boat slip at 10:40 a.m.

Cruise ship docked in Mackinac Island State Harbor.

Leaving Mackinac Island State Harbor.

Mackinac Bridge.

Mackinac Bridge.

Mackinac Bridge.

Mackinac Bridge.

Mackinac Bridge.

Going under the Mackinac Bridge at 10:56 a.m.

Mackinac Bridge.

Mackinac Bridge.

​Approaching Petoskey Public Marina at 12:53 p.m.

​Arriving Petoskey Public Marina.

Arriving Petoskey Public Marina.

Larry, bringing the dinghy from the gas dock to our boat slip.

This is the first time we've seen a twin to our boat. This one has gray canvas; Sweet Emily. 

This is the boat next to us. The guy was grilling on the upper deck a moment ago. 

We found a bench in the shade and relaxed for awhile while listening to this musician.