Wednesday, June 14th, 2023 – Day 46 – 52* & sunny 🌞 Heater turned on during the night & it was so comfortable that we stayed in bed till 10 am! We enjoyed our coffee and tea then some oatmeal topped with fresh strawberries 🍓 & pears 🍐. 11am we’re out the door for todays adventures. Drove into Empire to The Philip A. Hart Visitor Center for Sleeping Bear Dunes. There we worked on our Jr Ranger badge, looked at all the great displays & watched the movies about the park. We explored the little town of Empire, which was very, very foggy especially by the water. There were a few deer under some trees that weren’t bothered by onlookers as they got up on their hind legs reaching for leaves to eat. With the fog so thick we decided not to go to a trail out on an overlook so instead we drove into Beulah for lunch at the Cherry Hut! 🍒🥧 No pie today since we had one back at the RV, plus we had an amazing, very filling, cherry chicken salad served on a croissant 🥐 & homemade chips! On the way to the register that’s when the damage came…. I bought a case of their cherry jams for gifts back home!
The 📱 phone rang and unfortunately it was regarding a water leak outside, back at our house in Florida. With a few phone calls and very helpful neighbors, they were able to turn off the water to the softener and bypassed it so the house would still have water! 💦 Tim then ordered the head section to the water softener unit and he’ll fix that the day we get home! That calls for a strong, very carbonated Diet Coke so off to the local EZ Mart. 🥤There the cashier, who was born & raised in the area, suggested we check out the town of Frankfort. Only 8 miles away for our next adventure. We drove around this cute little town but as we approached Lake Michigan is was so foggy we couldn’t see the shoreline or the water. Tim parked in the center of town and we decided to explore it. We were on the hunt for a long sleeve shirt for Tim, postcards, shaving cream and a rock scooper! Wow… bought postcards @ $0.35 each (10) & shaving cream for $8.00! 😲 No luck in any of the cute stores for a long sleeve shirt but we did come across Storm Cloud Brewing Company! Tim enjoyed their 31 Planes IPA so much he bought a long sleeve shirt! Score! Checked out the rest of the stores and town to find our selves now at the lakeshore. We walked out to the Frankfort Breakwater Lighthouse and the fog was so thick that visibility was roughly 150 ft! So very cool. 🌫️ Headed back to campground. It’s only 54* out! 🥶 😢 Traveled 52 miles today.
Thursday, June 15th ~ Day 47 Slept in today. Rained during the night and it was very cold out 🥶 We ran the gas heater and there was condensation on the inside of the RV! Today is going to be at least a 2 shirt day and heavy jacket day! Enjoyed our coffee, tea and over easy egg sandwiches before getting ready for today’s adventures. 1:00pm it’s 51* and foggy out. 🌫️ Feels like 47* (according to weather app) and our tire temperature is 46*! Today’s first stop is back to say hi to the cashier at EZ Mart and for our daily Diet Coke’s 🥤 Drove to Pointe Betsie Lighthouse and toured the Keeper’s Quarters & the museum. What an amazing museum. One of the best so far. The Lifesaving Boat – “Betsie” is one display in the museum along with lots of other displays. We then took a private tour of the Keeper’s Quarter then up the lighthouse. Finished with a very cold, windy walk out to the waters edge and finished up about 3pm. As we drove back into Sleeping Bear Dunes we took the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive & stopped at all the overlooks and did the hikes. When we got to the dunes at Sleeping Bear overlook & Lake Michigan overlook. We hiked a few dunes and what amazing views. Went to Wooded overlook and watched people go all the way down the dune to Lake Michigan. We were able to see Sleeping Bear Dune! We did not take the hike down the sand dune to Lake Michigan….why you may ask….well we’d never make it back up! It’s 1 1/2 miles of strenuous hiking back up in sand! 🤣 We know our limits. Plus it’s cold, windy… did I mention very cold out. 🥶 Back at the truck the heater went on instantly. On the way back to the RV a doe & fawn ran across the street. 🦌 Arrived back to the campground after 5pm. Made some chicken noodle soup with a Costco rotisserie chicken & made grilled cheese sandwiches to warm us up! 🍜 🥪 Had a big campfire & visited with neighbors till it got too cold to stay outside. Traveled 61 miles today.
Frankfort, Michigan ~ established in 1850 Elevation 633 ft, with a population of 1,252. The city sits upon the shore of Lake Michigan.
Stormcloud Brewing Company opened in June of 2013 in the harbor town of Frankfort, Michigan. Tucked between the soaring sand dunes and stormy shores of northern Lake Michigan, Stormcloud specializes in brewing Belgian inspired ales.
Along the dynamic shorelines of Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, fragments of shipwrecks continually wash up, are covered, and uncovered by sand. Few of them can be directly linked to actual vessels. However, they are significant remnants of maritime history, and the park collects information on these fragments in order to track their movements and condition. These and other submerged cultural resources are protected by State Law and are included in the Manitou Passage State Underwater Preserve.
The Sleeping Bear Point Life-Saving Station (now the Maritime Museum) was built in 1901 to house the crew and equipment which would be called upon to save the lives of passengers and crew of ships in distress in the Manitou Passage. The U.S. Life-Saving Service was merged with the Revenue Cutter Service in 1915 to create the U.S. Coast Guard. This station was similar to the stations on North and South Manitou Islands and was typical of the 60 stations along the Great Lakes and many more on the Atlantic coast. The North Manitou Island station began operation in 1887 and closed in the 1930s, while the South Manitou Island station was built in 1901 and closed in 1958. There was another station at Point Betsie, just north of Frankfort, which began operations in 1876.
The Sleeping Bear Point station had two means of rescue. They could send out surfboats that could carry 8-10 passengers in addition to their crews, or they could use a beach apparatus that could launch a projectile from the shore that would take a light line over the ship which could then bring a rescue device to the ship from shore.
Two basic designs were used for the rescue boats. One was a relatively light (1000 pounds) 23 foot monomoy boat that could be launched from the boathouse by rail or hauled on horsedrawn cart down the beach if a wreck were a long way from the station. It had a shallow draft, centerboard, and sail. The other design was a 26 foot Beebe-McLellan surfboat launched from the rails that extend from the boathouse to the water. Air tanks under the deck, in the bow, and along the sides made it buoyant. It also had a centerboard and mast, and was self-bailing.
Frankfort North Breakwater Lighthouse – The original Frankfort North Breakwater lighthouse, an enclosed timber-framed pyramid beacon, was built in 1873 at the end of this long wooden pier with an elevated catwalk which led to the shore; the light was first lit on October 15, 1873. A fog signal was added in 1893. It is a square steel pyramidal tower with White with Black markings, Parapet and Lantern. The lighthouse stands 67 ft tall. The light is placed atop a 25-foot tall square steel base. The cast iron lantern room, surrounded by a gallery, originally contained a fifth order Fresnel lens that was upgraded to a fourth order Fresnel lens. Other structures associated with the light include a radio beacon & a US Coast Guard station. Light range is 16 nautical miles.
The Point Betsie Light has been in operation for 150 years. Constructed in 1848, height of 39 ft. White tower/red roof. Construction began in 1854, but it was not completed until 1858, and began service in the shipping season of 1859. The lighthouse cost $5,000 to build. In 1875, a life saving station was built for $3,000. The light was originally equipped with a 4th order Fresnel Lens with bullseye, which was upgraded to a 3rd order (with bullseye) in 1880. The latter was visible for 23.9 nautical miles; because of the high placement of the tower. Attached is the lighthouse keepers house and there’s also one of the earliest Life Saving Stations. In addition to the lighthouse, the site presently includes a fog signal building and an oil house. Point Betsie is said to be one of America’s most photographed lighthouses, and the most-visited attraction in area.
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