Chicago in Pictures - Pizanos, Misc., & 1st Methodist Church

Pizano's Pizza on Madison

Deep Dish Pizza with the Chach

The Skyline

The Magnificent Mile  

Shopping District                 The Chicago Tribune Tower Wall             Just Because 😍

                                          First United Methodist Church & Sky Chapel

Alter Carvings- 1st in the Sancturary Jesus overlooking Jerusalem

2nd in the Sky Chapel, Jesus overlooking Chicago

Stained glass windows in the Sky Chapel

The Chapel was donated by the Walgreen Family 

check out the modern additions to the windows (airplane and pharmacutical symbol)

Chicago in Pictures - Free Walking Tour

Originally I had most of my Chicago pictures in one post.  Unfortunately, I somehow overwrote that post and lost the hours of work that I had put into it, don't ever use the backspace button when blogging.  I'm just now back to blogging after months of not writing so I'm beyond behind.  In the interest of getting things moving again I'm sharing some pictures and adding links if you are interested in more information.  Suffice it to say that Chicago is a beautiful city, rich in history and beautiful architecture.  It's home to one of the most recognizable cityscapes in the world and is definitely worth exploring if you have a chance.
*My apologizes for the formatting of the photos, I can't seem to get them the way that I want them. 

                      

"Corn Cob" Apartment Complex                The Wrigley Building

                   

Illinois State Building                                  Real Fake Sculpture 

Monument with Standing Beast                (in front of Trump Tower:))

aka Snoopy in a Blender Sculpture                                                         

Chicago Cultural Center

Home of the world's largest Tiffany Stained Glass Dome

Reflections from Daley Plaza in the Central Loop

Picasso Sculpture in forefront

   

Site of the Eastland Disaster
Largest loss of life on a single shipwreck on the Great Lakes (844ppl)

More Chicago, seriously?

July 11-16

I know, how can there be more Chicago, we've already done so much....but there is more.

Before I go on though, I feel as if I have neglected what brought us to Chicago in the first place and that is the pets that we were caring for.  I know it may seem like we were not home all that much but each night we were home by dinner time and spent a lot of time with them walking and giving them lots of love.  We were taking care of Pepper, a two-year old pit bull and two cats - Misty and Houdini.  It took two days before Houdini came out of hiding but once he did he was as sweet as Misty and Pepper.  We took Pepper out for a walk three times each day....needless to say that this trip really kept us moving, in fact for most days our step count was beyond the daily goal.

Wilson and I are on our own now with several days left to explore.  We go at a much slower pace because there is time to finish the CityPass attractions and we want to enjoy spending time at home.
As an aside:  You may have noticed I call the places that we stay home and wondered about that.  Wilson and I both agree that wherever we are we are home...it's always been that way even when we had our own home.  I know for some that concept is foreign but for us it works.

For the next several days our adventures continue.

We went to a White Sox baseball game.  Tickets were only $7.  We didn't stay for the whole game but while there it was quite enjoyable...we did stay long enough to see the Sox score in the 4th inning which gave us the added bonus of getting a free iced coffee from Dunkin' Donuts.  With consideration of the coffee the tickets really only cost us $4 a piece which was a real bargain if you didn't figure in the costs of the $10 beers...No domestic beer is worth that much and I was sure as heck not going to spend $3 on a Diet Coke...instead I got a free cup of ice and had that.  I'm not so cheap that I didn't spend money, I just chose to spend it on nachos and flavoured popcorn (of course that's after I scoped out the best bargains, lol)

  
(I love Robinson Cano, despite his former Yankee status.... he has a nice smile and nice eyes.  He also just came back from hitting a game winning HR in the All-Star game)

We visited the Field Museum of Natural History.  When you first arrive you are greeted with the largest, most extensive, and best preserved Tyrannosaurus Rex dinosaur ever found (approximately 90% by bulk was recovered).  The T-Rex was found in the Black Hills of South Dakota and is named Sue, after the woman who first discovered it.  We also took a docent lead tour through the North American Indian area of the museum where we learned about life and traditions of various tribes.  One area that was highlighted and peaked our interest was the Cahokia Mounds which is the largest prehistoric Indian site north of Mexico.  The mounds are located in Illinois, not far from the Minnesota border....um...I think a visit is in order.

We also visited the Shedd Aquarium, which is in the same area as the Field Museum (two separate days), not far from Grant Park.  While at the aquarium we visited the stingray pool.  People actually can touch the fish, but Wilson and I opted not to do that.  We also saw a little aquatic show featuring jumping dolphins.  We saw lots of different things including baby shark eggs, a giant clam, seahorses, and exhibits on ancient Egypt and underground creepy, crawly, life.
Interesting fact:  The female seahorse deposits up to 1,500 eggs in the male's pouch.  The males fertilize the eggs and carry them in the pouch for anywhere from 9-45 days until the babies emerge fully developed.

Lastly, we went to the fifth and final attraction in our booklet which was 360° Chicago, the viewing area atop the John Hancock building.  360° Chicago offers full views and as an added bonus they added a tilting feature wall that tilts people over the building in a glassed in enclosure.  The John Hancock building comes in at 1,128 ft (not counting antennas) and 100 stories making it the fourth tallest building in Chicago (after Willis Tower, Trump Tower, & Aon Centre), the eighth tallest building in the U.S. and the 33rd tallest building in the world.  When asked about daily visitor count we were told that they have on average about 3,000/day.  Both Wilson and I enjoyed this building better than Willis Tower mostly because there weren't the crowds and there were more views of the lake.

......lastly, what am I talking about?  I nearly forgot a whole day spent with my friend Sean.  Sean lives in Kalamazoo, MI but grew up in the Chicago suburbs.  While with Sean we also tasted another treat from Chicago, the Italian Beef Sandwich.  We went to the landmark restaurant Portillio's, which was crazy busy.

    

Together we toured the First United Methodist Church at the Chicago Temple.  Sean had thought to go to the Frank Lloyd Wright Home and Museum but was a good sport when we asked to visit the temple.  At some point I would love to tour Wright's designs as I have been fascinated by him since reading the book Devil in the White City.  If you've never read that book you really should it's very, very, interesting....set in Chicago during the 1893 World's Fair.  Ah, but I digress...it's so easy to do.  The temple is a beautiful building that caught our attention on the very first day we were in Chicago on the walking tour.  It's located near Daley Plaza, a prime piece of real estate.  It's rich in history, having been built many times in the same location.  The church elders were quite forward thinking and had the last building built to incorporate office space along with worship space.  The ground floor is where the sanctuary is and where church services are still held every week.  The second through forth floors house various other church oriented rooms.  Floors five through twenty-one are rental offices and at the very top is the "Chapel in the Sky".
Interesting temple information aka descriptions of pictures on next post:
- The charred wooden cross outside of the sanctuary on the ground floor was a cross that was burned by the KKK in an intimidation move which backfired.  Instead of intimidating the chaplain, who received the fiery message, it became a symbol against segregation and was brought to many demonstrations, including one in 1964 that included racial integration within the Methodist church
- The wooden alter on the ground floor sanctuary depicts Jesus weeping over the city of Jerusalem
- The "Chapel in the Sky" was a donation from the Walgreen family...that's in Walgreen Drugs
- The wooden alter in the chapel is a companion piece to the sanctuary alter, showing Jesus crying over Chicago instead of Jerusalem
- The stained glass windows in the chapel not only show religious symbols but also modern day symbols associated with the city of Chicago

And finally:
What about Wrigley Park you might ask...well, more about that later.

Chicago Continued....

July 9
The fun continues.  Like many other cities that have a lot of attractions, Chicago offers what they call the CityPass.  Basically you purchase a booklet that gets you in to several different attractions and also offers a variety of other discounts.  With Joe with us we bought two booklets and used discount coupons for the purchase of the third ticket whenever needed.

Our first stop was the Art Institute of Chicago (actually, it was Starbucks across the street 😋).  The museum is incredible and I think we could have spent the whole day there.  We saw artwork by Monet, Manet, Van Gaugh, Picasso, Chagall, Warhol and much, much more.  We also saw a great deal of modern art, which is less familiar to me.  It really is fascinating!

I love seeing things that I have read about or seen elsewhere in person.  They become real and I get a true sense of being with greatness.

From the art museum we went to "Taste of Chicago", basically a food & drink festival.  I shouldn't say we went there because we walked into the venue and it was so crowded and the food & drink tickets were so expensive that we walked right back out.

We walked through Millennium Park making a stop at the iconic Cloud Gate sculpture by Anish Kapoor.  The sculpture is also called "the bean" because it basically looks like a giant silver bean.  It's quite interesting as it reflects the buildings around it.

  

Our feet were getting tired and we were all hungry so we decided to have a late lunch/early dinner. We ended up going to the bar that Joe and I had gone to the night before.  The Game Room is located on S. Michigan Ave on the second floor of the Chicago Athletic Association Hotel.  The menu is not overly extensive but does have plenty of variety.  The bar also offered a little piece of home with Citizen Cider's Unified Press Cider.  Prices were reasonable, especially when you consider we were in downtown Chicago.  Other than the cider there are two other aspects of this place that I really liked.
1) The atmosphere is totally old library/gentlemen's club (not strip club rather dark paneling, leather couches, a feeling that one should be sipping a fine brandy while smoking an even finer cigar kind of gentlemen's club).
2) The games are all free to play.  They have pool tables, bocce ball, shuffleboard, foos ball, chess and more.  During the day the games were wide open, no waiting.  Obviously the nighttime is busier so you sign up with the "game master", actually the door person, and you are put in line for the next available time slot.

Once we completed our meal we headed over to the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower.  At 1,450 ft. and 110 stories tall it is the 2nd tallest building in the U.S (One World Trade Centre being the tallest) and the 12th tallest building in the world.  Approximately 25,000 people enter the building each day.  Approximately 1.5 million tourist visit each year.  Originally when we saw the 25,000/day stat we thought they meant visitors, but in writing this and doing the math, that stat incorporates the people who work in the building.  The daily count of visitors runs a bit over 4,000/day.  The viewing area is on the 103rd floor and offers 360 degree views. It also includes a glassed in ledge that juts out from the main building that makes you appear that you are standing on air.

Being a tourist is very tiring....after a day of walking we headed home to a quiet evening of cards.

July 10
Joe goes back home today.  Originally we were going to go back into the city but the three of us had had enough and wanted to just chill.  We played more cards and went out to a late lunch before dropping Joe off at the airport.

Chicago.....It's my kind of town!

Thursday - Sunday, July 6-16, 2017

July 6 & 7 
Beginning on July 7th we had another house sitting gig in Chicago.  Our hosts have graciously allowed Joe to come out and visit us while we stay in their home...With that in mind we secured a room at the Residence Inn near O'Hare airport so that we could pick Joe up at 9am on the 7th (we left Elwood at the house sit).  What a great treat to have one of my children with me for my birthday...of course I've decided to change my birthday this year from the 7th to the 8th so that it's a full day of activities separate from meeting our house hosts and pets and while getting situated at the house.

July 8-16
Driving our hosts to the airport has become one of our things....Our host family had an early flight out of O'Hare and Wilson drove them...He would pick them up late on the 15th as well.

Joe will be here until late afternoon Monday.  One of the reasons that he is here is because he has been wanting to see the Broadway musical Hamilton.  Broadway tickets are like gold, luckily the show has begun touring.  In March Joe will be celebrating his 1/4 Century birthday and as we did with Gabriela we wanted to to give him something special to commemorate such an occasion.  Hamilton was the perfect gift for him.  The show will be coming to Boston in October but in researching it, we found that the cost was beyond what we could, in all good conscience, afford.  What we found was that he could fly to Chicago and see the show there (bonus visit for us) for basically less than just seeing the show in Boston...He and I went to the show together on Saturday evening (8/8)....a true gift for each of us.

July 8
Whoooo....hold the horses, I've jumped forward a bit.  We had a full day on Saturday before the show that I didn't even talk about yet.  It was filled with all sorts of activities including a Free Chicago Walking Tour.  We chose the River and North Loop tour, mostly because of the time it was offered and the fact that you get a little bit of everything...history, art, & architecture.  Several large cities offer free walking tours, the only expense is tipping the tour guide.  Based on our experience we will certainly do another if they're offered in any upcoming places we visit.

Interesting Fact:  In order to keep the drinking water clean the flow of the Chicago River was reversed.

Chicago has great food!  For the past three weeks I have been basically carb-free, which was about to end.  You can't visit the Windy City without having a deep-dish pizza.  We went to a place that was recommended to us by our tour guide, which is an off-spring of sorts of the very original deep-dish Chicago tradition...the restaurant was called Pizanos.  We walked into the E. Madison location and were greeted with a feeling of a deep sense of tradition and family right from the get-go.  On top of that we were waited on by "The Chach".  Chach, himself, is a legend in his own right.  He was voted "Best waiter in a pizzeria" in 2012.  He is an over-the-top character that in another time and place could be considered too much but at this place and this time he just added to the charm of the place.  His thing is taking pictures with his guests and having them posted online as well as collecting t-shirts.  When we get to Wilson's cousin's house we will have the shirts that we had made and we plan on sending him one....We're sure he'll never get another one like it since only 24 were printed.

After lunch we headed back home to rest for a bit before Joe and I headed out for the show.  While staying in the suburbs of Chicago we use public transportation to get around.  We are not that far from the Orange Line at Midway airport which is sort of our home base for transportation.  Over the weekend we drive and leave our car in the lot but on the weekdays Wilson and I pick up a bus from around the corner because parking in the lot closest to the station is nearly impossible because of commuters but it's also an extra expense that we don't need.

Leave Lake Hudson, MI - 8:20am - 64°, cloudy

Rte. 156S (8:36 OH welcomes us)►20W(9:25 IN welcomes us)►2W(11:30 Time Change)►20W►94W►65S►30W►43N
1:41pm IL welcomes us

Arrive – Host's Home (drop off Elwood) 2:00pm
►55S►294N►90W►
Arrive - Residence Inn @ O'Hare 2:50pm

Miles traveled - 256.9

Lake Hudson MI State Recreation Area

Tuesday – Thursday, July 4-6, 2017

Our final stop in Michigan was Lake Hudson.  We planned the last few stops all the way back when we were in Traverse City knowing that it would be difficult to find spots available over the 4th of July holiday.  Lake Hudson had spots available in part because of it's location (more inland, away from the Great Lakes) and impart because there were only pit toilets and no shower facilities.  We did have the lake though which we did not hesitate to jump into...not only for a "sense" of feeling clean but also because it was so darn hot.  

We spent quite a long time in Michigan.  It's a lovely state and in some regards it's a great combination of the two areas Wilson and I best associate with....Vermont and the Jersey Shore.  The beautiful wooded areas along with sandy beaches of the lakes make it a great place to be.  Lake Michigan is not the shore but if you couldn't be by the seashore the lakeshore along this beautiful lake would be the next best thing.  Wilson even made a comment about how he could live here, which is quite the compliment to this area.

Although Michigan has been a great stop, I was more than ready to move on.  It felt, to me, that we were in some sort of time warp and that our trip had been somehow suspended in time.  We're off to Illinois next as our next house sitting job begins on July 7th.

Leave Columbiaville, MI - 11:13am - 67°, warm & sunny

Rte. Travel back roads in the directions of South and West until connecting with 69W►23S►12W►525►34W►156S

Arrive – Lake Hudson SP 2:25pm

Miles traveled -145.2

Boondocking Columbiaville, MI (LaPeer, MI)

Saturday – Tuesday, July 1-4, 2017

I have got to say that our Boondocking experiences have been some of the best experiences of our trip thus far.  Again we needed to find a spot to stay for the weekend and again we were able to find a boondocking friend, actually a lovely couple.

We parked by their pond...according to our host the whole area is a big water area and you only have to dig a bit to create a pond.  I don't doubt this fact as it seemed that everyone here had a pond.  We spent an enjoyable three nights with these folks which included watching the wildlife come to the pond, hanging by a campfire, and best of all playing with their visiting grandchildren.

We also went to neighboring towns and checked out their beaches.  The temperature hovered in the high 80's and 90's, so finding a beach was very important.  Again we used our Michigan State Park Pass and ended up at a state park up the lake.  At this point we are hanging out around Lake Huron.

    

We also went to the movies...another great way to get out of the heat and humidity...We chose a movie based on the time, not really knowing what it was about...well lucky for us it was a shark attack movie....not.  With my increased paranoia about various things a shark attack movie was probably not a good idea.  Luckily it didn't increase any innate fears I might have, but it wasn't really a very good movie.  The best parts for me - air conditioning and a stupid, albeit funny, photo opt ☺

Leave Cheboygan SP - 10:20am

Rte. 23N►27S►75S►54S►57E►155
Gas- Exit 244 off 75S - Valero $2.37/gal

Arrive – Columbiaville, MI 3:10pm

Miles traveled -227

Cheboygan State Park & Sault Ste. Maria (UP)

Thursday – Saturday, June 29-July 1, 2017

Our tour of Michigan would not be complete without a trip to the Upper Peninsula (UP).  We chose Cheboygan SP as our next destination because it was a relatively short drive to the UP from there.

                                                            

Our plan was to go to Sault Ste. Marie, MI to check out the Soo Locks.  Locks allow ships to move from one body of water to another by sectioning off part of a waterway in which the water level can be changed by the use of gates and sluices, which allow for the raising and lowering of the vessels between gates. The Soo Locks allow large vessels to go between Lake Michigan and Lake Superior.

    

Once we got to Sault Ste. Marie it was evident that something was going on in the town.  Apparently we arrived on Soo Locks Engineers Weekend.  There were a lot of people enjoying behind the scene looks of the Locks and various other local attractions.  After our boat ride through the Locks Wilson and I walked around town.  We went through the Cleveland Hydroelectric Plant (1/2 mile long building) where they had various displays of how the plant worked.  They also gave away hot dogs (I did not have one) and bottles of water (I did have one 😎).  We also were able to walk across the Locks and walk through the Coast Guard station, which you normally can't do.  There were also Coast Guard ships available to tour but Wilson and I were getting tired and we still had to get to Lake Superior.

We arrived at a spot on Lake Superior where Wilson was able to dip his toes into the lake.  As mentioned previously it was our goal to hit every Great Lake and Lake Superior was our last.

   

The UP is lovely but there isn't much going on up there.  Think North East Kingdom.  It's very wooded and there are long spaces between towns...some of the towns listed are so small that if you blink you miss them.  As you may remember from the beginning of our trip last year, I was a bit obsessive when it came to bears.  At the campground I did read that the majority of bears in Michigan tend to be found in the UP, which based on the geography doesn't surprise me.

Leave Traverse City SP - 10:48am - 70°, sunny

Rte. 31N►72E►612E►571N►612E►75N►27►23

Interesting Note- Traveled across the 45th Parallel in Gaylord, MI.  This is the halfway point between the North Pole and the Equator

Arrive – Cheboygan SP 2:18pm

Miles traveled -120.8

Traverse City State Park

Monday – Thursday, June 26-29, 2017

We continue our journey north, staying in Traverse City.  As previously mentioned, this is the city where the National Cherry Festival is held.  The city is preparing for it while we are here.  We could easily stay and participate but generally speaking, big crowds are not our thing.

Again, we spent our time exploring and again we came across several lighthouses.  A couple worth noting; Grand Traverse SP Lighthouse and Big Sable Point Lighthouse. 

Grand Traverse Lighthouse has a interesting little museum on it's grounds.  While here Wilson and I learned that Lake Michigan was used in WWII by the navy for training pilots landing on aircraft carriers.  They chose the lake because it was an inland body of water, which meant that there were no threats of German U-Boats interfering. I think that I also read that the lake also mimicked the sea a little bit, giving real-life experience to the pilots & deck people. Check out the  Chicago Tribune Article_May 27, 2016 for a little more information if you're interested.

                                        

Big Sable Point Lighthouse was also nice.  It is located at the Ludington SP and is accessed by a trail that included several information boards along the way.  Inside the lighthouse is a small museum with a short informational film about life at the lighthouse.  The location of the lighthouse was situated on treacherous section of Lake Michigan, in 1855 alone there were 12 shipwrecks in the area.  Wilson and I took a chance and walked along the beach back to the state park beach area where our truck was parked.  Luckily for us the beach was walkable the whole way :)

                                                      

Leave Frankfort, MI - 11:58am - 54°, cloudy with a chance of rain

Rte. We began on back roads because Wilson didn't want to travel back the same way we arrived---it's hard to believe that a man of math wouldn't want to take the more direct route :) ►606E►31N

Gas- Traverse City Shell (using our new card which gives us 5¢ off a gallon- $2.33/gal

Arrive – Traverse City SP 1:30pm

Miles traveled -42.1

Charles Mears State Park

Monday – Friday, June 19-23, 2017

We continue our tour of Michigan with our stay at the Charles Mears State Park in Pentwater, MI, located right on Lake Michigan.  The park is nice but crowded.  It’s an interesting place because it seems like it’s a park where people come back year after year and build relationships with others that do the same.  While here we took drives to other parks nearby and took a couple of hikes.  

The state parks in MI have a day-use fee on top of the camping fee.  The non-resident daily rate is $9 and an annual pass is $32.  Well, given the amount of days we plan on spending in Michigan State Parks it's a no brainer....we bought the annual pass.  Moving forward we will visit many parks (some which will just be for the day, others overnight) along our journey making the pass very cost effective...

Leave Saint Joseph, MI - 11:05am - 69°

Rte. 63N►31N/196N►31N (exit 154)

Arrive – Charles Mears SP 1:35pm

Miles traveled -121

Boondocking in Frankfort, MI

Friday – Monday, June 23-26, 2017

We had another great Boondocking experience in Frankfort, MI.  Our host is a sign printer who also prints t-shirts.  I had a design for a tee that I wasn't able to get printed before leaving VT and so I asked if he could print me off some shirts...Luckily for us he was able to print them and we had them sent to Wilson's cousin in IL, where we were going to be in a few weeks.  We had a nice camp fire with our host and his family...I even took a walk the following morning with his mother which was really nice.

  

--------A note of warning...do not drink the water from the Mineral Springs, it tastes awful

While here Wilson and I found out that a lot of cherries are produced in Michigan, in fact...Traverse City hosts the National Cherry Festival, which would be happening the following week.  Frankfort is a very active tourist town. I got the sense that it's a place where families come back year after year.  

We were very active while in the area.  

We went to the Frankfort 48 Film Festival.  The short films were all created within a 48 hour time period incorporating the following criteria; the phrase, "There's no place like home", a bicycle, and a lighthouse. You can check out the top three films by clicking on the link above.

We also went to Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.  Sleeping Bear was named the "Most Beautiful Place in America" by ABC's Good Morning America having received 100,000 votes. We've seen a lot of beautiful places it would be hard for me to pick which one was the most beautiful...the beauty in each is so unique.  One of the biggest attraction in the park is the Dune Climb.  I can't remember how high the dune is that we climbed but there are dunes that are 450' above Lake Michigan according to the website.  Believe me when I say they are very steep, which I hope you will be able to see from my pictures. The first dune is by far the steepest.  Wilson and I traveled over about four dunes, until we had the visual of Lake Michigan.  I must admit I was proud of myself for going as far as I did because it's not easy hiking in sand, it's very tiring on the legs.

- An interesting side note: The dunes area was originally privately owned but the federal government took it over as a national resource area. The mother of our boondocking friend used to be the former owners personal assistant...

                              

looking up the big dune

looking down from the big dune

We drove around quite a bit this day, exploring the different areas.  While in this part of Michigan there is an abudance of lighthouses.  Each lighthouse has it's own history and there are a variety of designs.  The pictures below are the Bestie Lighthouse, Frankfort Lighthouse, and the yellow scum that I slipped on while walking out to the Frankfort Lighthouse (Wilson is pointing to where my butt made an imprint 😁)....I don't mind saying that I was a little frightened as I was falling because I could have gone over the walkway and there were a lot of large rocks that I would have fallen on, which is why I include it here.

    

Leave Charles Mears SP - 11:07am - 65°

Rte. 31N►31N/10E►31N (exit 154)

Arrive – Frankfort, MI 12:41pm

Miles traveled -72.1

Boondocking in St. Joseph, MI

Saturday - Monday, June 17-19

Thus far we have found that we are able to book campgrounds for midweek days but the weekends they tend to fill up.  This is where the whole boondocking comes in handy as we have been able to take advantage of the warm welcome of fellow RVers.

After leaving Maumee Bay we headed to St. Joseph, MI to the home of fellow boondockers.  Our hosts were so welcoming, including us in a bonfire later that night....well it ended up raining so no campfire, but that was fine...We set up camp in our host's driveway, next to their camper.  Their home is outside of St. Joseph and situated on 10 acres (I think that was it).  Here we saw turkeys almost every day.

It was a short ride to St. Joseph.  We never know what to expect as far as the type of areas that we choose to stay.  This stop was a pleasant surprise as St. Joseph is a summer resort town on the shores of Lake Michigan.  There are many similarities to Stone Harbour, NJ, where we used to go for our vacations.

The beach area was incredible and free.  The shores are very, very, sandy like the NJ coastal areas. The county manages the beach area which has a rich history of boardwalk games, rides, and such...Although the rides and such of the past are no longer there, there are still lots of things available for the enjoyment of the beach people (beach people, they sound like aliens when I say that).  There is a huge fountain/water spray for kids to run through, many volleyball nets, chairs near the bathhouses to sit, a playground, and so much more....A really lovely beach.

Along the park area near the beach there are other places designated to sit as well as historical markers along the walkway.  Parking also was free...amazing in a resort town.

Wilson and I really enjoyed our stay with our hosts.  Although we didn't see a lot of them, the times that we did we really enjoyed.

The Michigan Lighthouse Guide states there are 129 lighthouses in Michigan.  I've seen a few different numbers but suffice it to say there are a lot of lighthouses and Wilson and I have seen many of them in our travels.  The one below is off of the St. Joseph public beach.  At this point in time, we're on the shores of beautiful Lake Michigan which is incredibly clean...just beautiful!

  

Leave Maumee Bay SP, OH 9:15am - sunny 78°
Rte. (Pat) 2W►gas outside of park - Shell $2.09/gal ►280N►75S►475W►23W►94W - Welcome to MI (25.4 mi - 10:06am) ►11:15 change drivers (90mi) ►196N
Arrive - Boondockers - St. Joseph, MI 1:35pm
Miles traveled - 212

Maumee Bay State Park, Near Toledo, OH

Thursday - Saturday, June 15-17, 2017

Our goal has become to visit each of the Great Lakes.  We covered Lake Ontario on our way to Niagra Falls, along with Lake Erie.

We also wanted to camp near the lakes whenever possible.  We left Pymatuning and headed to Maumee State Park which is located outside of Toledo, OH right on Lake Erie.  The park, to date, is one of my favorites in our travels.  The sites are spacious and comfortable and there are a lot of walking paths that take you not only near the lake but also through areas where wildlife abounds.  We saw may bunnies and deer and they were so much fun to watch.  We also met some nice people here as well....

   

Leave Pymatuning, OH 9:43am - cloudy, humid 78°
Rte. (Wilson drives)322W►11S►87W►271S►480W►80W►57N►2W
Gas - Exit164 - Speedway $2.06/gal (with card) - Change drivers (100mi)
Arrive Maumee Bay State Park - 2:10pm
Miles Traveled - 177.7