Sunday - August 2

 Windy, cloudy and cool this morning.....this was to be a travel day but not with 5' waves on Lake Michigan.    Seeing the big waves crashing over the rocks from our viewpoint - NO thank you!    Hope and pray things calm down and we can leave tomorrow?

We went to St. Peter Claver for 10:00 Mass with Father Paul Fliss.    There are several Catholic churches in Sheboygan, but they are consolidated with other parishes.    Enjoyed this Mass with a great pianist and soloist.    We had a special anointing of the sick - 40-50 members from the congregation were anointed by Father with the Chrism oils on their forehead and hands.    Something new according to Father.

After Mass we headed out to The American Club in Kohler, WI (high-end plumbing fixtures).    The Hotel and grounds are beautiful with the Green House (enjoyed our coffees and shared a rhubarb custard Danish), the Champagne Garden, etc.    There are 4 golf courses on the property.

Then to WalMart for a few things and on home.   The sun came out but winds are a'blowin!

Mark took the car back to Enterprise and then had a windy bike ride back to Catrina.

Our dock here at Harbor Centre has lots of  charter fishing boats which come and go - 2:30-3 AM, and some that will come in late at night well after dark - quite something for these fishermen and their love of this sport.

Lots of rods

A short zoom session tonight for just 20 minutes and 7 joining as we saw most everyone yesterday at the reunion,   Doris filled us in on her island picnic at the lake (rain, etc.) yesterday and Tom checked in from his Alaskan cruise.

Saturday - August 1

 A rainy Saturday (during the night and all day)!    We left Catrina at 7:40 and headed to Cedarburg, a neat little town between Sheboygan and Milwaukee.    We had coffee and breakfast at Fiddleheads downtown.    Mark went back to the car and I walked 2 blocks to check out some shops, but not much fun with all the rain, dodging puddles amd bundled up from the cold and wind -ugleeee!

Back to the car and we drove around and found the Settlement shops which are in a very old building with several floors and but I was high and dry inside.    Some nice stores which I remember from 15 years ago shopping with Claire and Kathy.

And then we were off to Menominee Falls (1/2 hour south).    This is where we're having the Chamberlain reunion at Menominee Park.   A lousy day to be outdoors but we were under a shelter and made the best of it - we all had rain gear of some sort, long pants, hoodies, etc.   Not typical weather for August 1st.   There were 26 present and we had a bountiful selection of delicious food.    Some of us played games (Shanghai and Rummikub for me).    Hard to play many card games cause of the wind.    We appreciate our niece Hannah organizing and putting this together

The party broke up around 4:45 and folks were on their way home.    Had some sprinkles along the way and then sunshine.

We are tired tonight - big day!!!

Friday - July 31

 Cannot believe it's the last day of July and another month is gone just like that - POOF!!!   Life needs to SLOW down!!!

We had a productive morning - I did 3 loads of laundry at the marina (very nice laundromat with 3 washers and 3 dryers, plenty of space to fold clothes, 2 sinks and even an ironing board and iron) and only $1.50 a load to wash and $1.25 to dry for 55 minutes - that is a real deal!!!    Mark helped me get it all started and then left on his bike to ride the 3 miles to Enterprise to pick up our rental car for next 3 days.    He came back with a dark gray Nissan Altima with IL plates.   Helped me finish up the folding, took hanging clothes back to Catrina and then with our little wagon, we got rest of laundry to the boat.    Weather is threatening today - much cooler and rain is coming this afternoon, continuing thru tomorrow (not good for our reunion activities)😔

Next stop was coffee.....several choices (along with the chains- Starbucks, Scooters and Biggby's), we went across the Black River (Sheboygan is divided into 2 parts separated by the river).    Several shops/restaurants/coffee places, etc. along the riverwalk.   We picked "Eb Flo" - a very nice coffee shop with a big menu for breakfast/lunch all day.    We ate indoors but a big outdoor seating area with fires going.    Along with our coffees, we shared a "Croffle" (never heard of this) - it's a combination of croissant and waffle and whatever you want in/on it.   We had ham and cheese - different but really good!

A "Croffle"

We drove around downtown - it's a large area but didn't see anything worth stopping for.    Back to Catrina waiting for the rain....which took several hours to finally arrive and then very light.  

  We went to Lino Restaurante Italiano for dinner - wonderful and #1 on Trip Advisor for Sheboygan.   Rain is to continue thru tomorrow night - looking forward to being with Mark's siblings and some of the nieces and nephews in Menominee Falls but the weather sounds wet and cool!

Very good place!

Bye bye July....

Thursday - July 30

 We left Adelaide Pointe and Muskegon at 8:05 AM and enjoyed a nice smooth cruise across Muskegon Lake and then Lake Michigan.    12:45 we arrived at the Harbor Centre fuel docks in Sheboygan,WI (82.2 miles) and got to set our clocks back an hour!    We had an hour wait at the fuel docks - 4 ahead of us.    And then some issues getting into our slip - computers show one thing and 2x another boat was in the slip they assigned us but 3rd time was the charm!    We were here at Harbor Centre in 1997 and 1999 (2x) and at that time, a very nice marina; however, the years have definitely taken a toll and it has slipped into disrepair.    The 5-year plan is to totally renovate everything (they do have a nice boater's lounge).

We went for a walk in the afternoon and found BLAST for some ice cream (banana split for Mark and Heath bar crunch flurry for me).     Back to Catrina walking along the riverwalk.

Graham's first boat ride today

Tuesday-Wednesday - July 28-29

 Tuesday - Cloudy and cool.    We walked to The Coffee Factory; back to Catrina and Allie and Owen picked us up at 10:30 and we were off for a big day!!!

First stop was Ryke's Bakery which has been here since 1937 - they also have locations in Grand Haven and Holland.    What a wonderful selection (CT friend Linda had brought us some thin butter cookies which were delicious)!!!    Allie and I stocked up on muffins, apple fritter, cookies, etc.    Oink!

Then downtown Muskegon to see the tiny businesses "Western Market" - unfortunately, they are not open till Thursday-Sunday, but we could at least see these cute little shops and the beautiful flowers.     Drove around Lakeside and the beautiful Muskegon beach which is wide and long.    

Lots of tiny shops (Western Market) downtown Muskegon

Here come the twins

Beautiful flowers in these watering troughs

Pat, Allie and gorgeous "snowballs"

Lunch was a big hit at BoDocks - great food with Lucy, our very attentive waitress.

Allie and Owen at BoDocks

Back on the road to Grand Haven.    The 100th anniversary of the US Coast Guard is happening all week long here - we knew it would be busy and took a bit to find a parking spot (Allie is a very good chauffeur).   It was very windy and 76.   Large carnival was set up for the kiddos (not for us).    The guys found a good spot to sit, visit, people watch, etc.    Allie and I browsed the shops on Washington Avenue.

A treat for Mark at Patricia's Chocolate

The plan was to stay until 10 when the water fountain show would begin (since 1962 a big-time tradition here) so we had hours to go....stays light up here much longer.    We went to "Tip-a-Few", recommended by Pat and Ron.    Sat outside and had drinks - so pleasant and watching all the people and goings on as we were across the street from the carnival food vendors.    Outside they just have drinks and a food truck, so Mark put our name in for an inside table - 50 minute wait.    Outside seating is large, but small inside - quite the place and we all had Mexican (per Pat's recommendation)!    All very good.    Walked to the car to get Mark's seat with a back as we would be sitting on concrete steps.   

Bundled up before the show

Our view for the fountain show - all lit up at night changing colors, but pics didn't turn out very good.

We found a bench along the water - a concert was going on with 80s music, so as soon as that was over, we were able to go in for the water show which lasted about 25 minutes - wish they had played some patriotic music....but still a good show.   Mark and I saw it many years ago, 1st time for Allie and Owen.    And then back home - what a long but fun day.....crawled into bed at 11:30 and enjoyed a good nights sleep!

 Wednesday - Owen and Allie picked us up at 9:30 and off to The Coffee Factory - we wanted to show them this funky place - we enjoyed our coffees and breakfast.   Then to the Laketon cemetery in North Muskegon where Owen has family buried.    He is big into family ancestry and they frequently visit cemeteries in their travels.    Mark found Owen's great uncle's gravesite, so success !

Allie and I dropped the guys off at the US393 (LST - Landing Ship Tank).    It did 30 trips across the English Channel hauling troops and tanks for D-Day.  It is 328' by 50' and there are only 2 of these ships remaining out of 1,052 that were constructed during WWII  - the other one is in Evansville, IN which Owen has toured.                          

 US393

       

They toured that while we gals shopped at Harding's for groceries. Took groceries back to Catrina and then picked up the guys, but they still had lots to see, so waited about 20 minutes.   They thoroughly enjoyed it all.

Off to lunch at Fatty Lumpkin's - Ron had told us about this place and it was a winner - very good sandwiches in a funky old building in a residential building.    They brought us back to Catrina and went to their hotel....naps for all coming up.

Fatty Lumpkin's

Allie and Owen came over around 5 for drinks and snacks.    We had planned to have dinner at Teddy Spaghetti's, but they were having a special buffet dinner tonight and very busy.    At 5, there was a 45-minute wait, so we stayed here at the marina and ate at the Muskegon Brewing Co.

The American Patriot (Great Lakes cruise) came into Muskegon this afternoon

One final pic of our very fun 3 days together

Mark, Pat, Allie, Owen

Allie and I went for a walk and watched the beautiful sunset on this perfectly clear night.

Lovely sunset

Bye bye to Adelaide Pointe Marina - been a very enjoyable stay here in Muskegon

Sad to say good bye to our dear friends, but they're coming to Port Clinton the end of August.    So many laughs and just tons of fun!    Tomorrow they are off to Frankenmuth to meet friends - can't wait to hear what they think of Bronner's Christmas shop!

We leave tomorrow to cross the lake....