Across the lake we go....

August 19 – Bill was already up when I woke up at 7:30 as I don’t think he slept very well

Inside the ferry

during the night. We went through our morning ritual and finalized any packed items we needed to take for our journey across Lake Michigan. Molly could tell something was up when she saw the bags it was a little standoffish and did not really want to have anything to do with us this morning. We had a light breakfast of cereal so there wouldn’t be much in the way of dishes and clean up before we left.

We stopped at the office to give Jean the keys to the RV and just approximate times to give Molly her scoop of food and fill her water bowl. Then it was off to the Muskegon ferry terminal which took about 20  minutes.  We showed our ID to pick up our tickets. It was only a short wait when the ferry arrived and unloaded cars as well as passengers.

The ferry can hold up to 200 passengers it was not nearly full. We took economy seating which gave us a choice of airline type seats that lean back or a quad of four chairs around a nice table. We opted for the table and chairs so we could stack our stuff. Once we settled in we went up on top of the ferry to get some departing pictures of the light houses in Muskegon.

Up on the top deck

Once the boat got underway it goes through a channel to the lake and there begins to be a little bit of movement well as the wind picks up. It’s a 2 1/2 hour trip depending on the winds.

About an hour in we decided it was time for a snack and Bill got us a grape and  cheese tray that was very fresh and pretty tasty.  You can’t bring on any food or drinks so the grapes helped with my thirst. There are no water fountains and they do not have tap water in a cup.   The ride is a little shaky but I put my travel patch on before we left the RV.

Enterprise Rental had cars at both terminals so it didn’t take long  to pick up our Nissan

Racine Root River Lighthouse

Rouge.  Then the fun of navigating began!  We had no trouble getting out of the terminal and spent an hour trying to get to the Muskegon Lighthouse that are just north of the terminal.  I could see the lighthouses from the ferry.  After we tired of the frustration and traffic we decided to head south to Racine, WI.

In Racine there are 3 lighthouses and they were hard to find also.  The first two we could view from a tiny parking area near the marina and the last one Bill dropped me off as close as a car could get and I walked the rest of the way. 

Racine Breakwater Lighthouse

We had lunch at Toad Hall.  It’s designed to be an English pub and the inside looks exactly like one.  Lunch was good! I had a sandwich similar to pork belly and Bill had a monster grilled cheese.

On our way back through downtown Milwaukee,  we decided to give it another try to find the way to the lighthouses at the marina.  With the huge festival going on there was no parking and we just kept heading towards the water and luckily there was parking right out by the lighthouses.  I guess it was too far out for those attending the festival but

Milwaukee Pier LH

since we had no interest in it, it was a great spot to view the lighthouses.

There was one more to see in Milwaukee and oddly enough it’s inland.  It’s North Point and is sits on a knoll and back when it was built there were no trees blocking the view from/to the water.  It

North Point LH

was a beautiful lighthouse, but as our luck goes, it was closed by the time we got there.

We headed north of the city to the town of Grafton where we stayed at the Comfort Inn.  Once we got checked in and unloaded the car, we checked on places for dinner.  Atlas BBQ looked good so that’s where we ended up.  We both had brisket and it was very good.  On the way home we stopped for a small DQ that we shared for dessert.

It was time to settle in for the night and watch a bit of Sharknado and our regular show, Chesapeake Shore.