After expecting to spend zero days in Beaver Island, we ended up there for several while Owen worked and we waited for the weather to settle down. Another great place to be “stuck.” At the hardware store on the island, we found fuses for our 30+-year-old boat that we haven’t been able to find elsewhere. What a relief! The island also comes equipped with a handful of restaurants, a fully-stocked grocery store (that included a bit of sticker shock), an interesting history, plenty of places to walk, and rental cars to explore its distant shores. Okay, the shores aren’t that distant, but they are not quite walkable and biking would be a stretch. While Owen worked, I was able to walk around the town area, shop for a few things, and admire the unique history of this island, which includes Mormons, the Irish, and an assassination.

The marina here was…okay. The workers and the bathrooms were nice. They have bikes that we were free to use. The laundry room was the victim of hard water, I think. The wifi was iffy on the dock but worked in the indoor sitting area by the restrooms that became Owen’s office for the week. The docks themselves were worn and in some disrepair. There was only a trickle of water at the dock. There was no pumpout available. We were also asked to move once after being there a few days, which is weird. When people reserve their slips on Michigan DNR site for this marina, they can actually pick the slip they want. Someone picked the slip we were in, so we had to move on a very windy day. There was a gentleman there to help us, which was good. Also, the last two nights, we had super noisy neighbors with an affinity for Guns n Roses and howling. This marina was newly under the management of the city, we think, and we wondered if the other marina they owned on the other side of the bay might have been a better choice. We’ll have to check it out next time.

We rented a car one day after Owen finished work. We drove to the lighthouse on the southern tip of the island. We walked around there and then on the beach. The lighthouse wasn’t that spectacular, but it has a funny story. It was built two miles away from where it was supposed to be built on federal land. It took over 100 years for that to get sorted out. The original structure was also built so shoddily that it fell down. I guess all structures can’t be the Peterborough Lift Lock!

After the lighthouse, we followed the road to the cabin of Feodor Protar. He was a man who came to the island to start a new life and eventually was known as a benevolent man who had a gift for pharmacology. He was buried nearby, and his grave was the destination of pilgrimages for many years after his death.

We had a very nice dinner at Circle M. It was a little chilly at our outdoor table, but the meal was wonderful. The entrees were both great, but the gingered carrots that were served on the side were amazing! I loved them so much! I had a “Stowaway,” which was champagne, Beefeater Gin, Fresh Lemon, and Simple Syrup. It was one of the better cocktails I’ve had lately. Owen’s dessert was a Sweet and Salty Sundae, which included ice cream, caramel, candied walnuts, and bacon. It was crazy good!

We drove over to Donegal Bay Beach to watch the sunset. We knew it would be our last sunset over water on our Loop. We ended up having to walk down the beach a little way so the sun wouldn’t set over the small island to the west of Beaver. It’s always something! The sunset turned out to be just right, and we headed back to our car. We drove to the eastern side of the island where our marina was, and we were in for another treat: the sturgeon supermoon!

We didn’t even know that was a thing. Owen turned the car toward the east, and there it was, just above the water surface. We pulled the car over at the beach and got out to take pictures. In fact, everyone seemed to stop what they were doing to take pictures of the most gorgeous moon I’ve ever seen! People were on the beach, then when we got back in our car, we saw people standing outside the two restaurants we went by, staring at it. It reminded me of the movie, Armageddon, where everyone goes outside to watch the meteor come in that Bruce Willis and Ben Affleck have to destroy. Lots of looking and pointing. Of course, photos did it NO justice. My phone camera told me that this was a sign from God to put down the dang phone and just marvel. So we did.

By then, it was time to return the car. We took it back to the rental place across from the marina, and we left the car as we were instructed: unlocked with the keys in it! That’s how they roll on Beaver Island!

The next day, it was time to leave. The weather had settled, and we were going to make the 85 mile run from Beaver Island to Washington Island. This, my friends, was pleasure boating! It was such pleasurable boating that we each took a nap (at different times, obvs), Owen watched a movie, and I think we could have played cards at the helm, if we wanted to. It was eight hours of actual pleasure boating.

The water started to get a little rough as we approached Washington Island, but it was nothing compared to what we had seen on our previous jaunts. Some of the rough water was caused by the constant ferry traffic to and from the island from the mainland.

We had intended to anchor in Detroit Harbor, a nicely tucked away bay on the south side of Washington Island. We made our way through the marked channel past the ferry terminal, took a right, and then started churning up silt that wasn’t supposed to be there. We were a little skittish and decided we didn’t want to risk getting stuck, so we went to our back up plan and called Kap’s Marina to see if they had a slip. They were able to fit us on their wall, which is too shallow for us at one end but had an Our Dash-sized spot at the other end. They were very kind and helpful getting us tied up, as the wind had picked up by then.

Kap’s is a small marina, but it would be just fine. We had power at our slip, but no water. There were clean bathrooms, and there was a restaurant on site. We went to the restaurant, The Ship’s Wheel, for a fantastic grouper fish fry, with cherry pie included! As we were finally back in Wisconsin, I eagerly ordered my old standby: a brandy old fashioned sweet with cherries. Unfortunately, the restaurant can only sell beer and wine, so I settled for a beer. I’ll have to wait until our next stop for a Wisconsin old fashioned!

The weather is expected to be crummy tomorrow, so we’ll spend a couple nights here on Washington Island. Can’t wait to check this place out!