Wednesday - July 8

 Warm 'n sunny to start the day with a high of 74.    I walked downtown to "Perks & Petals" - cute coffee shop that also sells plants (may have been a florist in the past)?   I got my latte and then walked to Crescent Bakery - oh my..........2 BIG weaknesses for me - coffee shops and bakeries,   Got some goodies and on back to Catrina.    Enjoyed our apple fritter and cinnamon roll.   I sorted the laundry and Mark worked on some boat stats.

The marina here does not have laundry facilities but the Frankfort Laundromat is close by, so we took our little wagon and 3 loads with us.    Got that job done and put away.

FYI......the USPS is raising the cost of 1st class stamps from .78 to .82 effective Monday, July 13, 2026.    

We had some cards and a package to mail - the post office is just across the street, so.....we stocked up on stamps (even got a bunch for Christmas!)

The Betsie Valley Trail is 22 miles long and runs right past our marina....it is nicely paved and much of it is shady.    We rode 8 miles today - nice start as it's been months since we've ridden together.    We rode around Betsie Lake, passed the Betsie River and nearby Elberta (my Mom was Alberta).    This tiny village of 329 people was called South Frankfort back in the 1800s but in 1911, changed to Elberta after the popular peach.

Here's what Mark came up with the # of times we've crossed each of the Great Lakes:

Lake Michigan - 25

Lake Erie - 12

Lake Huron  and Lake Ontario - 7 

Superior - 0

And Catrina now has 24,340 miles!

On our bike route, we came across a food truck area but kept on riding - went back later (on foot) to check it out - "Menus on Main" .    Six food trucks (5 are food and 1 beverage).   We kept on walking downtown and stopped at the Old Town Grill and Tap - we shared an order of Bang Bang shrimp and a wedge salad.    And then walked to the end of Main Street and the water.....and back to the marina where it was just starting to sprinkle.    We are to have rain overnight  thru tomorrow at 1:00.

Tuesday - July 7

 Happiness is cruising on a perfectly flat Lake Michigan and arriving in charming little Frankfort less than 5 hours later.

We left Menominee at 5:42 (my early-bird hubby had been up and was ready....), so....we cruised on Green Bay to Sturgeon Bay and went thru the 7:00 AM bridge.    Another clear, sunny day.    We cruised 80.9 miles

We are at the Frankfort Municipal Marina for 3 nights.   This is on Lake Betsie in Benzie County and after doing all our hook-ups and checking into the office, we walked to town - just a short jaunt.   Frankfort has a population of 1200 but what a popular summertime place with so many cute shops along Main Street including restaurants, coffee, ice cream, nail/hair salon, etc.    There's a bike/walking path just in front of the marina - we'll check that out sometime soon.   Several choices for lunch- we chose the Stormcloud Brewing Co and it was a big hit!    Mark had the pulled pork and I had the Michigan cherry chicken salad - both delish!   They were both served on warm Naan bread.   We decided we would be back again to this place.

Lake Michigan - smooth as glass

Betsie Lighthouse 

Mark took our leftovers back to Catrina, I did some browsing and then we both took naps - all that fresh air and yummy lunch made us sleepy. 😀

I got a manicure with Melissa late afternoon.    Posh is a busy full-service salon

We went for a walk and decided ice cream from Scoop would be our supper - Mark had Rocky Road and I had Cherries Moo-bilee - excellent!

17 years ago today my Mom passed away - Mark and I were on Daisy in Denali National Park.   We remember that day so well and making arrangements to get back to IL.    You are so missed and loved, Mom.

Sorry to hear our grand dog, Maverick (Drew and Tessa's Australian Shepherd) has pancreatitis.    Wishing him a speedy recovery.

Monday - July 6

 We were up early (well, Mark is always up early), but by 7, we were out walking - not a cloud in the sky and in the upper 70s today.    We left the dock in Sturgeon Bay at 8:10 and got thru the 2 bridges (went thru the Michigan Street bridge that has to open at 8:30).    We cruised 23.2 miles and now at the Municipal Marina in Menominee, Michigan.    Got fuel, a pump out, then to our slip (so much grass and other debris in the water).    Had lunch, hosed down Catrina and Mark got his bike off the boat to ride to a nearby marina for a power cord but no luck.

I went for a walk - the town is right by the marina, but sadly, so many empty buildings.   I did enjoy "Trends and Traditions" - a very nice gift store, but otherwise, Menominee's downtown is struggling.

I stopped at their very upscale boater's lounge which Ed had told us about - WOW....beautiful and huge.   We really liked Quarter Deck's lounge in Sturgeon Bay but this is over-the-top!

The weather sounds better tomorrow rather than Wednesday so we're planning to head to Frankfort, MI. We're on central time (even though we're in Michigan) till tomorrow and then back to the eastern time zone.

Our nephew Steve picked us up and away we went to his home.    Steve and Lori live in Marinette, WI (across the Menominee River which separates Michigan and Wisconsin).   So good to see Steve and Lori and their neat older home + dogs - Dexter and Betsy.    Stteve made old fashions and we had a nice visit.    Then to The Landing which is near the marina.    Had a great meal and then back to Catrina and gave them the tour.   We sat on Catrina's bridge - such a beautiful evening. We love these one-on-one visits with nieces/nephews.   Said our good byes and hope we'll be together at the family Christmas (along with 100+ others)!   😂

Lori and Steve

So sad to hear this morning that our dear, long-time friend, Paul passed away.    We have so many happy memories of Paul and Margie (she passed away in 2015).    They have 5 girls and just a great family.    Even after Margie passed, Paul sent me a birthday card every year - he was one special guy and sure lived a good long life till 90.

Sunday - July 5

 Nice sunny day an we were off to an early start with Ed and Fran picking us up at 6:35 and off to Luxemburg, WI (16 miles Southwest).    Today was the annual "Dairy Breakfast" held on the 1st Sunday in July at a different dairy farm each year in Door County.    Ed and Fran have been going to this for many years and they will serve 4-5,000 people.    What a huge event which takes a lot of people to put together (FFA and 4-H groups + alumni and many parents.)   They serve breakfast from 6-11:30.

This year the event was held at the Lazy J Dairy Farm and along with a hearty breakfast (all-you-can-eat pancakes, scrambled eggs w/ham and cheese curds, they have a petting zoo, many tractors (oldies and current), they had Door County ice cream (nothing like eating ice cream at 8 AM on a Sunday morning), many trinkets for the kiddies, recipes, and tours of the barns seeing the milking set-up and the cows (various breeds).  They had several wagons pulled by tractors to shuttle folks from the big parking lot (field) to the tents.   It was a beautiful morning to be on the farm and we thoroughly enjoyed it all.  

They dropped us back at the marina, we changed clothes and onto 10:00 Mass at St. Joseph's - beautiful Mass with Father Matthew (young priest), great choir ((patriotic tunes), and best of all, this large church was packed!!!

St. Joseph's

We ran a few errands + picked up some iced coffees at 5J Coffee (5th and Jefferson).   What a funky place - we could go inside the house or order outside - the yard was full of wicker, metal, and every kind of furniture + picnic tables, etc.    Never saw anything like it.    The bathroom had a tub full of fake bubbles and flamingos, and so much other stuff!   On home for naps and just chilled this Sunday afternoon till we left for WalMart and then to Ed and Fran's.  

  We sat outside on their deck (beautiful private woodsy backyard) and later had salad, pizza and Door County cherry pie a la mode!   YUMMY!!!

More visiting and then good bye hugs and Ed took us back to the marina.    What a fun 5 days this has been with these dear long-time friends!    We sure thank them for their hospitality and showing us a very good time!

Ed and Fran

Tomorrow we are moving onto Menominee, Michigan for 2 days.

Saturday - July 4

 HAPPY  250th   BIRTHDAY  

 AMERICA 

Mark went to Lawlss (strange spelling) for coffees.   It's in an old bank building.   Doing our part to support the coffee shops in Door County. 😀  Had a light breakfast with our coffee and then went for a nice long walk thru the Purves Lagoon - lovely homes (some on the water).   It is a very nice 4th and we are blessed with 75 degrees compared to the heat in so much of the country!

Listened to patriotic music and just a relaxing day on Catrina + 1 more walk.

We met Fran and Ed at the Yacht Club for their BBQ picnic - brats, burgers, hot dogs and all the fixins' - Very good and a fun time!

Happy 4th from Door County

Ed, Fran, Pat, Mark

We all came back to Catrina and sat on the bridge - beautiful evening.   Our neighbor came over with an assortment of mini cheesecakes.   Nice treat. Sturgeon Bay had very good fireworks - it's been a really fun day/evening celebrating our nation's birthday!

Some sweet memories from earlier holidays...

Maeve - 2018

Blair - 2021