Blue Skies, Sandy Beaches

 May 12, 2021

It is  hard to leave the warmth of our little motel room, but we know that breakfast at Varney's cafe is only 1.7 miles up the road.   

Lake Michigan has more lighthouses than any other great lake.

Varney's is located in the town of Harbor Beach and was started by a husband and wife team who found themselves unemployed in 2010.  In 2011, they came further north on the thumb peninsula than they had ever been and found a good location for a diner.  "We're near the campground, the marina and the Coast Guard (station). We couldn't ask for a better location." Jessica says.

  Their main seller is breakfast and they go through 100 dozen eggs a week in the summer.  They make a profit in the summer and just try to survive the rest of the year.  

This morning there are two other customers in the cafe plus a cook and a waitress.  It feels safe even though eating in restaurants still feels odd to me.  But, I am hungry and I know that the day is going to be another one of pedaling into the north wind.  It takes a lot of calories to stay warm in these conditions.

This should carry us through the day.

the Pointe aux Barques lighthouse stands against the very blue sky

We turn off Lakeshore Road to Lighthouse Road and the stately lighthouse comes into view.  There are two areas on the great lakes with 80 or more shipwrecks concentrated in their waters.  One is Pointe aux Barques; the other is Thunder Bay in Alpena.  The Pointe aux Barques claims 105 known shipwrecks.  The largest is the 600 foot Daniel J. Morrell which sank in a storm in November, 1966.  From the crew of 29 only one man survived.  He went home to live to an old age at his home in Ashtabula, Ohio.  He took with him the piece of wood to which he clung in the cold waters before being rescued by the Coast Guard.   

The lighthouse had many keepers over the years prior to automation.  The most interesting story is that of Peter and Catharine Shook.  In April, 1848, they traveled 90 miles on Lake Huron with their 8 children to their new home in the lighthouse.  Thick forest enclosed a 3 acre clearing on which stood a tiny house with its attached 28' light tower.  The family of 10 crowded in the tiny home and kept the light burning through many storms.  After just ONE year on the job, Peter Shook drowned leaving Catherine to operate the lighthouse.  She was appointed one of the first few female lightkeepers.

The wind dies down in the afternoon and the riding is easier.  The sun is warming the day to about 58 degrees.  We stop for groceries in Port Austin.  The town has a really long causeway out into the lake and we walk out to get a view of another lighthouse.  

Port Austin Lighthouse

This campsite is one of the nicest we have ever had.  Crescent Beach is lovely and sandy.

We are staying at this state park for two nights and taking a rest day tomorrow.  There is a river that goes into the lake where Tom wants to fish.  

It is certainly a stunningly beautiful lakeside resting spot.  I am not sure if it is officially a "dark sky" area but when I step out of the tent in the middle of the night there are millions of stars and I can see path of the milky way.