104 Leland, MI

The dock master suggested an early departure from Beaver Island to get the best wind direction, so we left around 7:30am for our 7 hour ride to Leland. The first pic is a parting shot of Beaver Island which was given its name by the French traders who hunted the beaver pelts in the 1600's. Would have liked to have stayed there longer, but foul weather is coming, so we needed to take advantage of calm seas. The next shot is the lighthouse sans the house - it was torn down years ago. Notice how calm Lake Michigan is. Most of our boating today was done on water that was as smooth as glass. The winds were calm and refreshing - not freezing. We thought the coast of the Leelanau area was rocky like Canada but when got closer, we realized the "rock" was actually eroded terrain exposing sand that ran down to the water. The town of Leland is built on the site of one of the oldest and largest Ottawa villages on the Leelanau Peninsula. The narrow river that runs through here flows into Lake Michigan and was a traditional ladder Indian fishing ground. The settlement was called Mishi-me-go-bing meaning "the place where canoes run up into the river to land, because they have no harbor". Seems like the Native Americans were a little more succinct with their wording than us. The white man came in the 1830's and developed assorted industries including fishing. There are all these old fishing shacks along the river which are now cute stores and restaurants. Explored it a little after we docked then had delicious white fish chowder. Bought some smoked fish and spread at Carlson's, whose store has been here for 5 generations. The area has quite a few wineries. Stopped at one for some tastings. Loved the blackberry cider. We may be stuck here for a couple days because of a front moving in. The dock master says it's "going to get very sloppy on the lake". At least this is an interesting and enjoyable place to get stuck in.