Day 3 - Exploring and Beach Day in Sheboygan

Due to some unforeseen circumstances we are forced to stay in Sheboygan until at least Monday.  In the morning we made breakfast on the boat again and did some shopping.  We had to pick up some supplies and found a local Walmart.  On the way back we decided to try out a pizza place that was mentioned to us by some permanent boaters here.  The place was called Fay's Pizza and was very good. I would defiantly recommend it.

We spent the rest of the day playing on the beach and enjoying the waves. Around noon we prepared the dinghy for the trip over to the beach. The wave height was about 2 - 3 footers, and with four people and a boat full of beach items we were bouncing and splashing around pretty good. In fact on our way back it seemed to be worse as we caught air in the dinghy a couple of times.

  Peyton immediately jumped in as we came into the beach.  After he went in the water he helped me pull the boat to shore.  Susan and I pulled it up to the beach, which means picking it up and carrying it being careful not to drag it on the sand.  After getting the boat up onto the shore we decided that we need a hard bottom dinghy verses the inflatable bottom we have, then we would not have to be so careful.  The dinghy also has a 9.9 horse older Johnson on it, so it is pretty heavy. Picking up is necessary because repeated abuse from the sand could cause leaking over time.Once at the beach the kids had a good time. Peyton and Pierce enjoyed the waves and swimming in the lake.

After the beach we decided to go to town and check out two bars in town.  The 8th Street Ale Haus was our first stop.  This place was quite nice, 30 tap beers and great service.  They also had a full service restaurant as well. We should have eaten there, but I wanted to check out the original Legend Larry's.  The wing sauce here is award winning and world famous.  The National Buffalo Wing event has awarded Legend Larry's sauces year over year.  The wing eating contest has used their sauce for the wing eating contest in Buffalo NY for a few years in a row now.  One of my friends from college has married into the family and started his own bar in Green Bay.  I have to admit I was not impressed at all with the wings here in Sheboygan. They were not meaty at all (much better wings in GB I must say).

The weather this week is not the greatest for crossing. The wind direction continues to switch and it is very windy.  We will have to figure out what to do.  If we do not go across we will be going north or south; not sure yet, but only time will tell I guess.

To Go or Not to Go

Since buying the new house and having all that comes with making your house your own. We have spent ourselves to a point of being uncomfortable with our current level of savings. This summer sneaked up on us so fast! It is only June and we have had one of the warmest summers on record. March we had 80s and June we have had many days in the 90s already. This has materialized itself into a costly summer so far as we have been driving the boat every weekend burning fuel. It has been fun too though, I can not lie.

We have considered not doing our yearly trip across the big lake due to all the money we do not have at the moment, and the fact that my job is not all that secure right now. In fact, if I were to advise anyone on what to do in my situation, it would be NOT to do what we are about to do. But, you only live once and who knows what tomorrow will bring, right?

The destination will be completely different this year. Even the starting point will be new. We are going to take the boat to Sheboygan, WI and go over to Grand Haven, MI as long as mother nature cooperates. The schedule is set for the week of July 20th-29th. If the wind and waves do not allow us to do that we may just hang out on the WI side, and visit some cities on that side. However, I do hope we can make it across, Grand Haven, MI looks very nice and would love to spend a few days there click here The big difference with this trip is it is being planed for one city. In the past we have bounced around so much in an attempt to see as much as we can.  Not this year however. There is a possibility of being forced to go north on the Michigan side to shorten the cross. If the weather is sketchy on the way back I may opt to go north first to where the lake is narrower. Only time and mother nature will tell.

 

Google map of trips

Cruising Lake Michigan. Here is the map as promised. The 2010 is in blue and 2011 is in red.  According to the GPS we did 287.5 this year.


View Lake Mi Trips in a larger map

Destination: Manistee MI

It has been decided. We are going to Manistee Michigan on our trip this year. I know prior to this we were heading north and it was dictated by our oldest, but we decided just to get back to Wisconsin on the following Friday to make it easier on all. We will drop him with his mom and step dad as they are driving around back to lower MI. Lake Michigan vacations are all about being agile and having the flexibility to change for a verity of reasons.

Manistee Michigan really looks like a nice little spot. We plan on making that our home port and do day trips to close cities. Having the dinghy with the motor is going to be very nice so we can explore the inland lake as well. I am looking forward to taking the kids on the S.S. Milwaukee tour. From what I have read it is a very nice tour and a great look back in maritime history. The plan at the end of the week is to head north to Frankfort, MI, and cross back on Friday. Jacobsen marina in Frankfort has been in our trip every year so far. It is comfortable, we really enjoy the convenience of the town and the short crossing back to WI. Although, going to Manistee from Sturgeon Bay really only adds 10 miles or so.

The final weekend on our trip, after dropping off our oldest, we plan to hook up with some friends who could not make it out with us on Lake Winnebago a few weekends ago due to a family member with cancer was not doing well. We hope the weather is nice and we can entertain them in Sturgeon Bay. Lord knows they need it after the long struggle of watching a close family member lose their battle with cancer.