💐 Ludington State Park ~ Day 4

Friday Day 41 of this adventure and our last day in Ludington! The heater was on most of the night. It’s a sunny cold day here! 8am and it’s 67* inside Ruby with condensation on the windows. It’s only 49* outside. Todays long underwear day and everything we own on! ❄️ Coffee, tea and a big breakfast and wrote out some postcards. All bundled up we drove into town for our Diet Cokes and more firewood at Meijer’s, followed by a hardware store, Durham’s and Walmart for long sleeve shirts but not a one to be found! It’s winter here and all the stores are selling summer items!!! 🤦🏻‍♀️😱 So we found a Goodwill store…..4 long sleeve shirts later = $20.00 score! Checked out Aldi for some charcuterie items then sat in parking lot for good cell signal again to check emails, texts, calls and to publish next post! Looking for a post office to mail our postcards, the major road was blocked off and tents were going up. Tim scored the last parallel spot behind the post office! 4:30pm We walked the Main Street seeing all the tables going up and venders down all the side streets. Ok I had to ask….they are celebrating Ludington’s 150th birthday and celebrating all weekend! He told me there would be a parade tonight with the Clydesdale horses delivering beer to businesses and down to the ferry area. We walked a few blocks down to find Ludington Brewery! We were seated then the hostess informed us that at 5pm everyone would be going outside because the Clydesdale and wagon would be starting right out front! Tim and I couldn’t walk into things any better! ✋ High Five! I mean right outside our window they set up and sure enough this brewery emptied out to the street….us too. What an amazing sight to see, up close and personal…gave us goosebumps! Love to see these magnificent horses! We were in the right place and the right time again! We enjoyed our pizza and drink then explored the celebration. One of the streets had all the local fire, rescue and ambulances on display so we talked to them for a long time. All of them are volunteers. We decided to leave early as the streets were packed! Went back and enjoyed another campfire with the neighbors. Then we started packing up for tomorrow is moving day. We traveled 25 miles today.

Ludington Bay Brewing Company – 6,200 sq. ft. brewery, capacity to brew 20 barrels a day, which comes to nearly 5,000 pints. A silo at the back of the building can hold 48,000 pounds of grain. It has a diverse menu ranging from thin crust pizza, smoked ribs, and wings to sandwiches, burgers, soups, and salads.

Ludington’s primary sesquicentennial celebration will be the “Love Ludington Weekend “ June 9-11, kicking off Friday evening with a downtown street party that also will feature live music, kids’ games, food vendors and fireworks. Other events throughout the weekend include the Ludington Lakestride Races, historic home and B&B walking tours, discount days at JCI Ludington Mini Golf, and anniversary celebrations for two other Ludington icons – House of Flavors at 75 years and the S.S. Badger at 70 years.

The Clydesdale is a Scottish breed of drought horse. It is named for its area of origin, the Clydesdale or valley of the River Clyde, much of which is within the county of Lanarkshire. The origins of the breed lie in the eighteenth century, when Flemish stallions were imported to Scotland and mated with local mares; in the nineteenth century, Shire blood was introduced. The first recorded use of the name “Clydesdale” for the breed was in 1826; the horses spread through much of Scotland and into northern England. After the breed society was formed in 1877, thousands of Clydesdales were exported to many countries of the world, particularly to Australia and New Zealand. It is now principally a carriage horse. It may be ridden or driven in parades or processions; some have been used as drum horses by the Household Cavalry, while in the United States the Anheuser-Busch brewery uses a matched team of eight for publicity.

Today, the Clydesdale stands 5’3”- 6’ tall and weighs 1800 to 2000 lbs. Some mature males are larger! The breed has a straight or slightly convex facial profile, broad forehead, and wide muzzle. It is well-muscled and strong, with an arched neck, high withers, and a sloped shoulder. Their gaits are active, with clearly lifted hooves and a general impression of power and quality. Clydesdales are energetic, with a manner described by the Clydesdale Horse Society as a “gaiety of carriage and outlook”.

Clydesdales are usually bay in colour, but a Sabina-like pattern (currently an untestable KIT mutation), black, grey & chestnut also occur. Most have white markings, including white on the face, feet, and legs, and occasional body spotting (generally on the lower belly). They also have extensive feathering on their lower legs.

Clydesdales are also used as show horses. They are shown in lead line and harness classes at county and state fairs, as well as national exhibitions. Some of the most famous members of the breed are the teams that make up the hitches of the Budweiser Clydesdales. The Budweiser Brewery first formed these teams at the end of Prohibition, and they have since become an international symbol of both the breed and the brand. The Budweiser breeding programme, with its strict standards of colour and conformation, have influenced the look of the breed in the United States to the point that many people believe that Clydesdales are always bay with white markings.