Great Loop & Cruising Adventure Blog

Two miles to the west of Killarney lies Covered Portage Cove, a kunkholers dream. The narrow entrance, that has large boulders protruding from the water makes for an nerve racking entrance for ones first visit but made easier if the cruising guide advice is followed.

Once inside it’s common practice to anchor med-moor style, this giving the greatest amount of room for other boaters as this area can get pretty busy at times. Lisa and I landed our dinghy so we could take advantage of the trails by climbing the rock bluffs up to the their summit. We did not see any bear but there was plenty of the blueberries they love so much. The sight from the top, although a hiking challenge, was well worth the effort, especially being able to see down at all the boats comfortably moored in the completely protected cove.

Killarney, what a great name but more importantly what a wonderful boaters paradise. Killarney sits at the northwest corner of Georgian Bay and the northeast section of the North Channel in Ontario Canada.

We’ve been to Killarney a couple of times but to me I think it’s a place we could never tire of. Big enough for basic supplies but remote enough to one feel like there a long long way from home. On our last trip through Killarney we stayed at the dock at Killarney Mountain Lodge. The nice thing about the Lodge is that they have a pool, restaurant, bar and laundry facilities all on sight. No trip to Killarney would be complete without a trip to the Little Red School Bus for their fish and chips and this time was no exception. If you’ve never visited before be sure not to miss the fish and chips!

One of our all time favorite things to experience in Charlevoix, our homeport, is Venetian Festival. It occurs during the peak of the summer and is a small hometown festival like none other.

With the newly constructed marina, park and harbor this is a fabulous venue for all the fun activities the city of Charlevoix organizes every year. Every night of the festival there is a line up of some amazings bands. On Saturday there is a parade through town featuring the Venetian Queen and her court who were selected the night before. Both Friday and Saturday nights there are amazing fireworks like none we have ever seen before. Before the fireworks on Saturday night there is a lighted boat parade around Round Lake and the harbor.

This year our friends Jean and Gary, on First Sight, decided everyone had to dress up to go along with the Hawaiian theme of their decorated boat.

This is Rob and Kerri’s boat (above), Kerried Away. They are big fans of our blog and we are always amazed that they keep up with all our postings.

Skyler and Sarah (above) joined us for the festivities and a night on the boat.

Jan, on Open Wide (above), pausing during her decorating frenzy to pose for the blog.

Ain’t that the truth. We had a fun two weeks visiting with parents, siblings, sons and lovely Sarah, nieces and friends. We even met our new grand niece, Audrey.

We savored the hugs and the time we had to share. Longing for our family and friends is the downside to the traveling that we do.

We stopped in Sidney on our way to and back from Michigan to visit with Jim’s parents, Don and Diane and sister, Cindy and her husband, Steve.

Our friends Lynne and Mike Borer invited us to stay with them while we were in Traverse City for appointments. It was fun catching up with them and meet their new grandson, Patrick.

We stayed several nights with Lisa’s mother, Barby in Kewadin and her brother’s Jem and Ken and his wife Malinda joined us for a BBQ with our sons, Skyler and Bart.

We haven’t seen Lori or her son Michael in a long time. Lunch was fun and included a walk along the Boardman River.

Our niece, Amanda and her husband Brian introduced us to their first child, our grand niece, as we headed through Fenton on our way back to Maryland.

Our friend Mary emailed us to ask if “Date Night” was finally over.

Sorry to keep everybody hanging with the Date Night post, but we left Solomon Island for a two week road trip back home (Michigan/Ohio) to see family and friends.

Now that we are back we are starting to plan our next trip to explore more of the Chesapeake Bay area. Next Sunday or Monday, weather permitting, we will head out across the bay to St. Michaels and Oxford for a few days.

So, check back soon because we will be updating the blog posts today and tomorrow.

We met some new friends at the Lincoln Park Zoo.

After anchoring out Wednesday night behind Navy Pier we lifted the anchor only to find a gigantic wad of seaweed on it. Once we got the seaweed off we traveled the short distance to DuSable Marina, three blocks from Michigan Avenue, for an expected three nights dockage. We’ve enjoyed walking around Grant and Millennium Parks as well as up and down Michigan Avenue, a couple of days it was under the protection of our umbrella due to the heavy rain.

On Thursday we had a hot and sunny day. We walked all over downtown and then to a Farmer’s market before we headed back to the marina.

Friday, we had the pleasure of finally meeting the editor and art director of Lakeland Boating, Matthew and Amy. We have been doing some writing and photography for Lakeland Boating and have gotten to know them both only from email up to now so it was nice to put some friendly faces with the names. After a nice visit and tour of the boat they took us to a upscale Latin restaurant for lunch.

Friday night our friend Halby joined us for Happy Hour. Halby is from Charlevoix , our homeport. Now he lives and works in Chicago. We were glad that it worked out for us to get together and catch up on our lives.

On Saturday, we decided to celebrate our anniversary early (sixteen years) while in Chicago by going to Rosebuds, a nice Italian restaurant on Rush Street. We were soaking wet by the time we got there but the break from the rain and the food made it a great time. Later we went to Zanie’s Comedy Club for some hilarious laughs.

All this and more in only three days. Then, because of rain generated from the aftermath of hurricane Ike we’ve had to sit tight for two extra days. The rivers are at or over flood stages and the locks are closed delaying our entrance into the Chicago River and ultimately the river system. Chicago is a great place to be held up for a couple of days but we hope we’re able to push on soon.