Day 19

Sunday, August 2, 2009

0800 Wake up. Get coffee. The breakfast room is crowded.

0945 Leaving the hotel for the day. Brr! It's chilly out here this morning!

0952 Stop to by shipwreck tour tickets for later.

1015 Miners Castle Overlook. And then we decide to hike the mile trail down to the beach. Apparently when Ron sees a trail, he wants to hike it. We made it all the way to the beach, played in the sand, and almost stayed dry. Then we walked all the way back up to the top. We stopped at the gift shop and the ranger there recognized Vacation Mouse. Said she remembered reading "When you give a mouse a cookie" when she was a kid.

1155 Back at the car. Our favorite parts:
Bella - the beach
Felisa - finding the frog
Ryan - hiking
Ron - taking pictures on the beach
Sheila - the scenery

Ryan was looking for a notebook in the gift shop. Apparently he forgot to pack one and needs one to write down all of his ideas. That kid thinks a lot!

12:10 p.m. Back at the hotel. Leftover pizza and PB & J biscuit sandwiches made out of breakfast food we grabbed this morning.

12:38 p.m. On our way to the Glass Bottom Boat Shipwrecks Boat Tour. I have a sunburn already from the morning outside, even though most of it was spent in the shade. Sheesh.

What lies at the bottom of Lake Superior and quivers?
A nervous wreck!

Ha ha! We saw three shipwrecks on our tour as well as a lighthouse, some of the colored sandstone similar to that found in the Pictured Rocks, and some bald eagles.

Our favorite parts of the tour:
Ron - scenic views
Ryan - being outside on the boat deck
Felisa - watching the waves and the wake of the boat
Bella - the water
Sheila - the shipwrecks

3:20 p.m. Stop at Muldoon's Pasty for a taste of a local favorite food.

Then back to the hotel for a quick contact lens rescue then to the bookstore/coffee shop. Once fortified, we head back over to Munising Falls to try again. An easy short walk but with more stairs. Nice waterfall. There is a sign there for a trail to Miners Castle (where we were this morning) - 7 miles! No thanks.

5:15 p.m. Sand Point. Hmm... looks sunny here. This is the beach we saw from the boat, voted in the top 10 by The Weather Channel. The sand is nice, not rocky. The water is cold but very clear. And I really think this water is warmer than the ocean water at the big beach in New Jersey. We walked along the sand and even found our own shipwreck! Then Ron and I sat on a log and watched the kids play in the water. Amazingly enough, they kept their clothes dry!

Our favorite parts of the beach:
Bella - being a Water Spirit
Felisa - walking on the beach
Ryan - the shipwreck
Ron - sitting on the beach
Sheila - the shipwreck and the clear water

6:00 p.m. Leaving the beach. It's too early now but I think this beach would be an excellent place to see the sunset.

6:10 p.m. Arrive at the Dogpatch for dinner. The kids are joking about what sort of dog dishes they might serve here- Chubby Cheeseburgers, Furry Heart French Fries, Skies Salad, Corny Casserole... (those are all names of Felisa's stuffed dog crew). Once again the service is questionable. The food is decent but nothing to write home about. Ron ate the fresh fish buffet but freshwater fish is too fishy more me.

8:15 p.m. Swim time again. The pool was the same but thankfully this time the hot tub was HOT!

After swimming, Ghostbusters in on. We watched it at the beginning of our trip while staying in Kentucky.

Bed time!