Continuation of camping report, Sept. 2019
Leaving Onaway State Park and moving to Fisherman’s Island:
September 4th: 
In the morning the skies were gray and there were still whitecaps on the lake from the wind. This was our moving day, so we got up and got going. We’re heading over to Fisherman’s Island on the other side of Michigan.
We stopped for gas in Alanson and I walked across the busy highway 31 to a bakery called Dutch Oven Shops. Pastries! Expensive, but worth it. My favorite thing was the huge cherry turnover that was almost the size of half a cherry pie. Tim and I split it. I give it a 10 out of10.
A short while later we passed the Oden Fish Hatchery and turned around to go back and see that. Took the hike. Very enjoyable, made for visitors. Free. I recommend it.
Arriving at Fisherman’s SP, we found our site: #70 on the southern loop. Its incline didn’t look like much, but it was enough to make it difficult to level our trailer. We repositioned the camper twice before we could set it up. That’s my only complaint. Some of the sites are too small for a trailer, but ours was spacious enough. Only a few could be considered level. A short walk down a beautiful north woods path leads to the Lake Michigan beach. When I read up about Fisherman‘s island, the explanation was that, when the level of the lakes went down, the island became a peninsula, but I’m here to tell you that the island of Fisherman‘s Island is now an island again. As you probably know, Lake Michigan is exceptionally high this year. The camp ground is a beautiful forest with large trees and many white birch, my fav.
We were visited by a young raccoon that came inquiring about a possible meal? We politely declined. He didn’t seem scared of us, though he maintained a respectful 10-foot distance. I think some campers might have unwisely entertained him.
We went into Charlevoix for dinner. We were headed towards a restaurant called Terry’s, but ended up eating at The Village Pub (because it advertised walleye) instead. We were told that Terry’s is one of the best restaurants in town, but there was a 45-minute wait to be seated there. The food at the Village Pub was good; the fish was a little over done. It was expensive, but Charlevoix is an expensive place. You have to be prepared for it.

After we returned to camp, we went down to the official SP beach to watch the sunset at about 8:15. There were no clouds in the sky so I wasn’t expecting much, but just as the last little piece of sun dipped below the horizon, I saw the green flash. I have read about the green flash but I’ve never seen it before. I wish I had been taking a movie. I could hardly believe what I was seeing and might’ve even gotten a photograph if I had been ready.
The next day we decided to take 31 S. We drove down around Torch Lake and we checked out some lots for building that were for sale because we were wondering exactly what it would cost to have a lakefront lot on Torch, the “third most beautiful lake in the world.” I called the realtor. A 1 acre lot was priced from about $400,000-$700,000, depending on how much of the lot was buildable. Our dreams are crushed. But not as crushed as the realtor’s when I didn’t follow through on the lot.
On the way back to camp we stopped at Friske’s Fruit-and-everything-else stand. I can approve of their cherry turnovers.
Back at camp Tim went for a dip in Lake Michigan, but I could only force myself in waist -deep. Too cold. We grilled brats for dinner.
That night clouds cancelled my sunset plans.
Sitting by the campfire, we heard what sounded like a large tree crashing to the ground north of us. Later that night while in my sleeping bag, I heard another tree falling. It was a little scary.
Rain rain rain rain...
Friday morning it was still raining. I took a quick shower in my bathing suit outside the camper. Tim didn’t want to overfill the gray water tank.
Still raining so we went into Charlevoix to look around. Great stuff but, of course, all high priced. We thought about dinner at Terry’s, but according to the menu posted out side the restaurant, dinner for two will cost you no less than $60-70, and we had spent our wad on the fish the night before. We decided my home-made chili at the campfire would be every bit as good.
We drove south on 31 to Bier’s Art Gallery. That was the highlight of our day. Such beautiful works of art! I totally enjoyed just looking around. We bought a small brass figure of a lion by Scott Nelles, because it was one of the few things we could afford and I wanted something from that place. Afterwards we popped back down to Friskes again so Tim could get a cherry turnover this time.
Back to camp for chili. The clouds are finally breaking up.
Our little raccoon visitor is back, quietly, unobtrusively surveying the perimeter of camp. Then he came right up to Tim who was sitting by the camp fire, but skittered away quickly as soon as Tim noticed him.
Now I am on the beach, waiting to see if there will be a sunset tonight or not. It’s one of those maybe things: mostly cloudy with a few breaks here and there. A thin rose-colored glow on the horizon suggests maybe there will be something to see. The sun peeks through the crack for a minute, and then goes to bed. It’s over. Nothing spectacular.
Saturday: time to go home.

Last night I finally learned the secret of how to be comfortable in a sleeping bag. Most nights I wake up entrapped in my sleeping bag, the thing wound around my like a python, giving me a severe case of claustrophobia. But this night I tried something different. You put the slippery side in. That way it doesn’t wrap itself around you as you change positions in the night. Hallelujah!
Before we broke camp, I climbed a steep path - and by that I mean a heart-attack inducing path - that lead to the top of the ridge behind our site. I wanted to see what was up there. Turns out there is a beautiful trail that follows the top of the ridge. I went back to camp, changed into my Keens, and got my camera, my phone, and my husband. We found a less strenuous way to get to the path behind the water pump. The trail is twisty-turny and up and down, but it’s great! I highly recommend it for hikers. I understand the trail head is by the entrance to the camp and leads to the camp beach, a distance of about 3 miles as the crow flies, but not as the path winds, according to the camp person who drove by and stopped to answer our questions.
After returning to camp, we finished packing everything up and left about 11:30. All said, Fisherman’s Island is a favorite park for me!




















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