July 11-13 Sister Bay to Fayette

July 11, 12, 13  Thurs, Fri, Sat  Sister Bay to Fayette

The morning in Sister Bay is greeted with the crashing of the water over the break wall.  The wind is from the north and creating waves that slam into the rocks, splash up and flood the pier with water.  We watch people dodge the crashing waves as they walk off the pier.  We too time the waves to stay as dry as possible.  The sun shines but the cool temperatures and the splashing water keeps us on the boat in the morning.  Later in the day we walk up the bluff to visit Deb and her daughter-in-law Laura and children.  In the evening we return to the Sommer condo for dinner as Wally and Grant arrive.  The men sit on the patio and talk and laugh and enjoy each other's company.  This is Toms favorite part of the visit.

On Friday the water has calmed and by 0900 we are out of the slip and headed to Fayette.  We are meeting up with our traveling partners, John and Pam as they are back to their boat ready to travel too.  The seas are a 1 foot chop on the stern and the traveling along the coast is familiar.  As we get farther north past Washington island, we are out in open water and the wind too picks up some but we keep moving north to our favorite ghost town and state park.  As we arrive in Fayette we have happy memories of previous visits.  This is an iron ore smelting town and factory and when the production stopped, the people just moved away leaving vacant building, houses and a smelting plant.  It is now a state park with a campground, history tours and a popular fishing spot.  We like this place cause it is peaceful, rustic, interesting and the boat docks are very comfortable and secure in Snail Shell Harbor.  Short Vacation pulls in after us and we enjoy wandering around the grounds with them, catching up on news and of course sharing ice cream.  In the evening, we teach them Mexican Train dominoes.  Feels like we have traveled together before.

The following morning, since this is the first visit to Fayette for Pam and John, we all took the history tour of the town and the iron smelting production.  We then got the bikes down and rode through the campground to a restaurant, out is in the middle of nowhere - Sherry's Port bar.  They are known for their fish so we enjoyed whitefish sandwiches - very tasty.  After the ride back and a short nap, we met with the other boats on the docks for docktails - a whole new concept for most of them as they are not Loopers and are unfamiliar with the evening event.  We enjoyed talking with 5 other cruising boats, sail boaters from Michigan, cruisers from Virginia and Wisconsin.  The conversation was lively and very enjoyable as we all shared experiences.  In the evening 

Tom helped John install his inverter and that completed our days' activities.

Waves crashing in Sister Bay. Tough walk to the bathrooms

Iron smelter in Fayette, 2 furnaces are big towers

Some of the preserved building of Fayette. The white building
was the general mercantile store and the other building is the
dance hall (where I performed), butcher shop, and doctor

A picture what Fayette looked like back in the day when it was
operational

The bottom of one of the smelting furnaces

Molten iron ore was cast into bars called pigs. Each bar
weighed 113 lbs.

Colletta is standing in one of the charcoal ovens. Charcoal was
used to melt the iron ore

Inside the charcoal oven

Tom giving a great performance of Shakespeare at the playhouse
"Alas, poor Yorick, I knew him well"
 

View from the bluff over looking Fayette Snail Shell Harbor

A pretty girl by a saddle tree

Sherry's Port Bar, in the middle of nowhere but worth the ride

Building next to Sherry's. A handy mans delight. They left the
important stuff. Notice the toilet

St. Peter's Fisherman's Cemetery on our ride to Sherry's