On the Waterfront

This is a place that we used to spend hours and hours at--the playground with the best view ever! It is right on the water next to the pier and usually crowded with kids having a great time. A few years ago, the city finally put in this larger version with another area for smaller children to the right. My kids and I have spent many happy hours here playing and meeting friends. It is a great place to come and hang out.

Sorry I've been away--I had the flu for several days and neglected pretty much everything! But all is well now and I'm back!

Surprise!

Today I went for a bike ride down by the waterfront, and to my surprise, there were ships in the harbor! (My first thought was pirates, but I was mistaken. :) It actually turned out to be a replica of the Nina and the Pinta, 2 of the ships in Colombus' entourage. One (possibly both) of these ships was rebuilt over a period of 3 years and used in the movie "1492". It was an interesting thing today, neat to see, even if we didn't take the onboard tour, which was available. If you have a chance, the ships will be here for the rest of the weekend--head down to the waterfront to take a closer look!

Simple Seaweed

Down along the bike path, there are places you can stop and walk down to the water's edge, and here we did just that. It was very beautiful and the seaweed was waving gracefully under the water. I wish I had video to show you its beauty, but you'll have to be content with a picture and use your imagination.

Let's Go Fly a Kite!

It was a gorgeous day! And there was a breeze, the kites took off beautifully, and it was warm and sunny. ( I did forget the sunscreen, but it was worth the small sunburn to be out on today! The bottom picture is at the Open Space by the waterfront where there is plenty of room to fly kites. The top picture is a field a few miles out of town that is perfect--no kite-eating trees to be found anywhere!

Okay, I think this is it!

A gorgeous sunset on our difficulties, I believe! The sun was going down the other night and it was just beautiful. Thankfully, all of our technical difficulties have been addressed and we are back up and running once more. Welcome back! (Oh, it is finally feeling like summer around here--I wore something sleeveless yesterday!)

Spring

Spring in Petoskey is one of the most glorious times of the year! After a long winter, seeing green again is wonderful, and this year was especially so since we had snow for almost 5 months! The waterfront is green and lovely, and the water is so beautiful and blue. (Can you tell I've been starved for color? White does get rather monotonous!) It is still on the cool side, but in the 60's, and one day we even had 85 degrees! So fun! I hope you enjoy the waterfront with me!

New Business...New Ideas!

Today, I met Josh, an enterprising gentleman in Petoskey. He drives the new Petoskey Pedicab--great for the environment, and I'm sure great exercise for him! He carries passengers from the downtown, the waterfront, and the Bay View area to each of the others. It looks like so much fun! I must say "Bravo" to him as Petoskey is built on a HILL! There is no where to go without riding up a hill either on the way there or the way back. Josh, good luck with your business and I hope it goes well!

Happy Mother's Day!

As a mother, this is a special day, so I'm showing you a picture of one of the most special people. My daughter and I went around Petoskey and took pictures the other day and I caught this one without her knowing. She loves our town as much as I do and loves that there are so many things to do and see here. I hope today that you enjoy your town and your mother!

What a Difference a Season Makes!

I posted a picture of the Clocktower back on August 5th when all the trees were leafed out beautifully and the day was sunny with blue skies. This is November. Very few sunny and blue skies days, no leaves. I got lucky today with blue skies, but snow is coming soon. Hope you all have a sunny day today, no matter where you are! (And enjoy it for me, it is snowing this morning.)

Another gorgeous picture of the water as the season slides toward autumn. The leaves are starting to turn and this weekend they should be at their peak. (If you want to see some incredible shows of color, this is the weekend to see them here!! Make your plans now.) I do love this time of the year and I hope you have a great fall!

Way off in the Distance...

There is a village that it just outside Petoskey called Bay Harbor. It is a very nice area with lots of expensive and very expensive homes, (some with lot prices of $1 million), and a nice little downtown shopping area. My favorite pizza is served in a great shop there, but that's a picture for another day. It is only about 2 or 3 miles from downtown Petoskey. The large white building you see in the picture is the Inn at Bay Harbor, a nice inn with good restaurants. Check them out at: http://www.bayharbor.com

The Ole Fishin' Hole

I don't know if there are many fish here or if anyone actually catches anything, but this is a place that you can fish. (So I've heard. Never really fished myself.) This is located right below Sunset Park, which is at the top of the cliff in the middle of the shot. There is a nice deck from which you can fish and the water is rather deep with quite a bit of plant life so there are plenty of places for fish to hide. I don't ever remember seeing anyone swim here, probably because the Bay is just to the right about 300 feet with much cleaner water. Happy Angling!

Welcome to the Midway!

This week is the fair, but this Midway is here all year long! I love this area; we spend quite a bit of time down here walking, enjoying the view and relaxing. One of my favorite places in Petoskey!!

Festival on the Bay weekend

This weekend was the Festival on the Bay down by the waterfront. There were bands playing and sand artists, whose work is shown here, and lots of other activities. There was a children's area where my daughter got her nails painted! But the coolest show was the Royal Lippazan stallions that did a show at the Fairgrounds. They were gorgeous horses that are amazingly trained and work very hard to do their routines. Check out more about them here:
www.lipizzaner.com/

Decor at a low level

I just love the pattern of these metal grates that are around the trees down by the waterfront. They are beautiful, if metal grates can be considered beautiful! I thought you might enjoy them too!

A Great Place to Stroll!

This is one of my favorite places to take a stroll, particularly with a friend and ice cream. It is lovely and shady and right down on the waterfront. There is a tunnel that leads from downtown to the waterfront so people don't have to cross a very busy state highway to get there, and the echoes in the tunnel are lots of fun!

Hope you have a lovely day everyone!

Stair-ing down (or up)!

Here's a shot of the waterfall area! The 4 stories of stairs on the left go up to the flat area of Sunset Park (see July 23rd post). On the far right is the waterfall. This is our favorite picnic spot. There is sun and shade, picnic tables or places for blankets, and lots of places to play hide and seek as well! The waterfall becomes a small stream that is covered by the bridge on the bottom right, another perfect place for pictures. A gorgeous area we love to hang out in!

Have you ever seen...

... a baseball park with such a great view? This field is located on the waterfront very close to the clocktower. It has a great view for the batters and the cheering section, a nice place to play, I would imagine!

PS. The batter hit a home run!

The Coolest Clocktower

Right in the middle of the waterfront park stands a clocktower. It is tall and red and loud when it signals the hour and half hour, but it is nice to be able to have fun down there without wondering what time it is! (Also a great photo opportunity down by the water too.)

Ships Ahoy!

Welcome to the Marina! During the summer, this area is crowded with boats. The kids love to go and see the different boats here, some visiting are as large as 75 feet or more. They are beautiful. (It also happens to be close to a nice playground, so we have spent quite a bit of time here over the years!!)

The Bear River flows into the bay between the grassy place and the marina, and the current there is fairly swift. But near the marina it is calm.