7/29 Leland, Michigan-Fishtown

It was a real nice morning as we headed to Leland, Michigan.  We rounded the northern tip of Grand Traverse Bay and headed south down the west coast of Michigan.  The topography is unexpected here.  There are very large sand dunes.  The dunes were created long ago with the receding waters that created the Great Lakes.  The small sand still blows across the lake and builds up the dunes.  The dunes are protected by vegetation that grows in the sand soil.  Here is a picture of one of the dunes we passed.

 I had said that we weren't seeing a lot of large ship traffic on the Great Lakes.  Today, we passed this large ship on our way to Leland, Michigan.

Leland, Michigan is an unusual little town.  It had a strong fishing industry until the 1970's.  Today, although much smaller, there is still commercial fishing industry here but the town has also restored many of the buildings into shops.  The area is called Fishtown and is at the mouth of the Leland River as it enters Lake Michigan.  Note that the type of boat that is on this sign is the same as the Native American boat where I met the man the other day.  He sells his fish here in Leland, too.

The commercial fishermen still come in to the mouth of the river to unload their fish.  The Leland River running to the Lake with the boats on either side is very picturesque.

We walked around town.  We did a wine tasting but really only liked the Hard Cherry Cider, so we bought a bottle.  Then we went to a distillery tasting.  The Cherry Vodka was excellent, so we bought a bottle of that, too.  The town has a very large fish weathervane at the marina.

We saw this metal horse next to one shop.

I bought a Petoskey stone, stones with coral imbedded from the ice age,  from a young teen who had set up his table.  He searches for the stone himself. 

Thanks to Pokémon Go, I was directed to this wooden flag on a wall to an inn.

I love exploring these little towns.  Tomorrow, we head to Frankfort, MI.

Lat 45 degrees 1.47 North
Long 85 degrees 45.76 West