Our friends, Ed and Debbie Moore, made it in from the Keys right on time on Saturday evening. The boat was shiny and clean, but was really rocking as a 25 knot wind was blowing straight out of the north and down the entire length of Grand Traverse Bay. Although we were in a marina and protected by a breakwater it was still bouncy. The waves were crashing over the wall and rebounding through the entrance. A small boat swamped and sank earlier in the day right at the mouth of the marina.
Ed and Debbie Moore of Big Torch Key aboard the Blue Chip
Linda decided it was too rough to cook aboard (what a surprise) and wanted to go out for dinner. Her choice was Stella’s, in the basement of the old state mental hospital. We ate there a few years ago and it was quite good. On the way over the cab driver told us the kitchen was in the old morgue. He advised against having the liver. Ed and Debbie must have thought that we were patients there because the food was ordinary, the portions miniscule and the prices outrageous. Needless to say, we were all very disappointed and will not go back.
Sunday the winds had come down some, but were still blowing hard enough to make for an 
unpleasant boat ride. We decided to rent a car and to do a little land cruising. We drove up the Leelanau Peninsula through part of Michigan’s new wine country. Mike says Michigan wines are crap and wouldn’t even stop for any free tastings. We did go through the lovely little villages of Sutton Bay, Northport and Leland. All stops on our normal cruising itinerary. At Leland’s fish town we had a snack of smoked fish from the famous Carlson’s Fish House and cheese curds.
Mike insisted that Ed have one of the famous Chubby Mary drinks. It is a Bloody Mary with a whole smoked chub in it. Ed didn’t quite know what to make of it, but did get it all down.
From there we drove down the coast along the Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes through Glen Arbor, Empire and finally to Frankfort. We had dinner at the Fusion restaurant in Frankfort which has moved to a new location right on the water. The food was very good, but didn’t seem quite as exciting as last year. About half way through dinner, Mike remembered why. Last year we never ate dinners, just a wide variety of appetizers. We are going to have to go back and try it that way. We ended up land touring in a day, what would have taken us a week to do by boat.
Monday the winds had died down more and we made our escape from Traverse City. Our destination was back to Charlevoix and of course the Gray Gables restaurant. Needless to say, no one was disappointed. Tuesday the seas were lying down and we made a run back to Beaver Island. We were hoping that they would enjoy Beaver as much as we do. Of course that meant dinner at the Beaver Island Lodge. We had a great meal and a perfect sunset over Lake Michigan.
Wednesday morning at breakfast, Mike bit down on a Honey Bunches of Oats cluster and it bit back. He thought that he either chipped a tooth or lost a filling. Our visit to Beaver was short and that morning we headed back to the mainland and Petoskey. There, we met up with Floyd and Maggi on Bonnie Banks. They were just coming back from the Grand Banks Rendezvous in Sheboygan, WS. That evening we did something totally out of character and ate aboard. Our refrigerators were bursting at the seams from the leftovers and take out boxes. There was only on thing to do and that was to eat them. We had cocktails and appetizers aboard Bonnie Banks and then moved to the Blue Chip for a dinner of assorted leftovers. A grand time was had by all.
Our plan Thursday was rent a car, do some touring in this area and then drive Ed and Debbie back to the Traverse City airport Friday to catch their plane. We had told them about a wonderful restaurant in Cross Village called Legs and were going to go there for an early dinner. However, by now, Mike’s tooth was really hurting and he declared he needed to seek medical attention. He found a dentist that could see him that afternoon. To make the best of it, the ladies decided to shop in Petoskey and Ed and Floyd traded fishing lies on the dock. After Mike’s exam and x-rays the dentist said his tooth was abscessed and he would have to have a root canal done. Being from out of town and on a boat is not the best situation for medical care. Through a series of fluke incidents, Mike got an emergency appointment and finished his root canal at a local endodontist about seven that evening. So much for having an early dinner at Legs; we settled for dinner at one of favorite local places, the City Park Grill.
Friday morning we took Ed and Debbie back to Traverse City for their flight back to the Keys. Back in Petoskey we went to turn the car in and were told that we could keep it for another day if we would like for free. There were a couple of minor issues when we picked it up and they wanted to make sure we were happy. We took them up on the offer and we finally got to Legs in Cross Village for dinner.
Linda, Maggi and Floyd Lewis at dinner at the Legs Inn in Cross Village.The doctor asked Mike to stay in town over the weekend in case he had any problems with his tooth. He would also need to have a follow up to have the root canal redone and a permanent filling put in place. Although he is not having any problems now, we decided to scrap our planned trip to Lower Georgian Bay and to stay local until he can have the root canal finished. That is now scheduled for next week. He will still have to have the tooth capped, but that can wait.
We hope that you have all had great week. Our Sullivan family reunion was this weekend in North Carolina. We would like to say, “Hey y’all” to all of our aunts, uncles and cousins. Although we couldn’t attend, you were all in our hearts.
Take care, Love,
Linda, Jake and the Fat Man
