off the beaten path

alright, today i want to share some fun pics of michigan...
today was inspired by the book "Off the beaten path--Michigan".

so i went down to saugatuk to go check out a few things that the book mentioned. first was the saugatuk chain ferry which i think is actually really cool. made in 1838, it's this little ferry that has a chain that runs from shore to shore on this river (about 50-75 yards) and the chain runs through a crank thats on the boat. one of the workers actually has to crank it and the boat gets pulled to the other side of the river. it's fast, and its only $1 each way, and i have been dying to get rid of at least some of the $9 worth of quarters that i've managed to end up with over the summer. anyway, i personally think its really cool, and it's faster than driving around and over the river. plus, just walk a couple hundered yards down the road and you're at the huge staircase and sanddune (we went there when we visited two aprils ago... and now that i think of it, i dont know how we managed to get there on our own)

i thought this was cute.. an older couple with matching orthopedics.... adorable.

so this is the staircase (which was also mentioned in "off the beaten path") but like i said this wasn't the first time i had been here. however, when we came last, i just went to the top and came down, i never checked out what was past it.

this is a neat view of saugatuk from the top of the staircase. so then i headed down the sand dune to go check out the beach. fun hill to go down... super soft and deep sand. but on the way back up, you've got to go up... not as easy.

this is from the beach side of the hill, and what i was looking at going back up. the water tower you see to the left is where the top of the hill/stairs are... where i am headed... soft deep sand all the way.


a little glance down the dune...

i thought this was a cute little dock... i think i could pass a few hours just sitting there and watching the boats go by. plus there was a live band playing on a barge across the river.

here's the ferry again. i waited till it got close to the dock so you could see the chain when it lifted out of the water.

i know it's a bit weird, but i am fascinated by cemeteries, and this one in saugatuk was really neat... and it was super old... i saw some dates in the 1800s. crazy.

this is back in holland, lake macatawa... i like this pic cause you can see the nice houses on the shore, but i just absolutely love that sail boat! so colorful.