Before we got to the Mackinac area, we had been seeing signs for 'Pasties'. At first we thought they had spelled 'pastries' wrong, and then began to wonder if they offered pole dancing lessons as well. We finally asked someone and it turns out to be pronounced 'pass-tees' and they are kinda like a burrito - ground beef (or other), potatoes, rutabaga, etc., wrapped in a pastry crust. Miners would take them for lunch and heat them on the hot engines in the mine. We had to try one (remember the fish boil?) and it turned out to be rather bland (remember the fish boil?). So we'll stick to Tex-Mex burritos. We crossed the Mackinaw Bridge into lower Michigan and were soon seeing orchards of cherry trees. The sweet cherries were just beginning to come in and all the roadside markets had all kinds of cherry stuff; jams, jellies, cherry jams and jellies with other fruits, which we tasted enough to get tired of it. (I think I mentioned this in a previous report. ) When we arrived in Traverse City on our way back down the western side of Michigan, they were having the National Cherry Festival. We walked around the grounds, again sampling the same cherry stuff at the different booths. They also had a carnival there with Ferris wheels that had the old 'bench' type seats, which Mary Lou loves, and are hard to find nowadays, so we had to take a ride. ($4 each! Used to be 25 cents) We stopped at this little airport, intrigued by the 'terminal' building. They actually had two long grass runways marked with yellow cones. Judging from the hat, we figured this must be a Texas gal, but we didn't ask. Here's something we saw in many of the little towns along the way. Flowers planted along the curbs of the streets. We think the climate is good for flowers here. Heading south along the Lake Michigan coast, we passed the Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore. Here are the dunes. Notice the people climbing. We reached the town of Manistee (man-is-tee) and intended to visit awhile and move on further, but we saw this ship and decided to take the tour. It's called a car ferry, but they are referring to railroad cars. They were built by railroad companies to take railroad cars across the lakes instead of making a long trip around. They could hold 32 box cars (8 deep, 4 across) which were loaded and unloaded from the back. They also carried passengers. The tour guide was excellent and very interesting. The tour of the ship ended around 5pm, too late to push on, so the 'rest of the story' will continue in the next report. Stay tuned.
Chuck
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Who We Are
Chuck and Mary Lou have been traveling in their RV since 2002 and have lately been taking longer, extended trips. This is our way to share our experiences. Trip Reports
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