Wednesday, September 20- 21, 2017- Trip Day 48
We moved this morning the grand distance of 60 miles to the shores of Lake Charlevoix. Boy, these French origin words are not hard to pronounce but hard to figure out how to pronounce. Charlevoix is pronounced “Sharl-eh-voy” in case you are interested- it’s pronounced the same even if your not.
Boyne City and Harbor/ Horton Bay General Store
Lake Charlevoix is located on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. In itself it is a large lake, the third largest in the state at over 17,000 acres and 52 miles of shoreline. Many sources of water inflow including the Jordan and Boyne Rivers flow and the short outflow travels through Round Lake/Pine River complex into Lake Michigan.
We made reservations at Young State Park for two nights. This park is on the south east shore of Lake Charlevoix about four miles from the town of Boyne. No more than 10 sites were available so I grabbed the one that didn’t require a 100′ long power cord yet might afford satellite reception- site 162.
Our Site- Three out of Four Loops Look Just Like This!
I fully expect the campground to be fairly full when we arrived but the my surprise approximately 30 sites out of 240 are occupied and 25 of those are not within our line of sight! Anyhow, we get set up and have no problem receiving a TV satellite signal.
We drive the short distance to the Boyne City (3700 souls). I could find little on the history of the town other than a few references to logging camps and a railroad. One thing is certain though. Two New Yorkers were the first permanent settlers. Harriet Miller told her husband John that she had a dream about living on a bear shaped lake located west of New York with a cabin on the east end of it. Determined to follow her dream she convinced John to sell their home and set out to find this strange new place. After making their way to Northport they persuaded John Saxon Dixon to take them to the east end of Pine Lake. To their astonishment they found an abandoned cabin there just as Harriet had seen in her dream.
Ironton Ferry- Our Steed’s Fee Was Three Bucks
We had a two night stay here. The first was a travel morning with a sight seeing tour into Boyne in the afternoon. Today we drove around the entire lake. I’ll qualify that by saying part of the drive included an unexpected 250 yard ferry ride. It was either pay $3 for the ferry or burn $10 worth of diesel fuel going back to a connecting road. The ferry ride was relaxing actually. We drove to the town of Charlevoix (2500 souls) which is located at the west end of Lake Charlevoix.
Downtown Charlevoix, The Harbor, Megan Enjoying The Fountain as Jil Looses Her Head
This city is the seat of Charlevoix county. It’s another one of those cookie cutter turn of the century town. You know which ones I mean. Most buildings downtown are two story, the majority of them made of brick. This town is like Boyne as it is built right on the lake shore. It’s a little more touristy however. A farmers market is going on right on a green way on the main drag and a group of motorcyclists are enjoying the downtown shops. Traffic is pretty heavy, especially since road crews have the main road torn up with detours in place.
Really Nice Homes, An Inn And A Drawbridge In Charlevoix
Another thing they have in common is their beautiful homes. Both of these towns remind us of little towns on the eastern seaboard.
We are moving on tomorrow. We plan on staying at the Wild Cherry RV Park near Suttons Bay. See you there!
Travel With Jil and Mike 