Day 316 Petoskey

Diann with Little Traverse Bay in background








Waterfall in Petaskey City Park, near downtown Petoskey









City Park adjacent to City Marina









Tom can't help it, He is just not right.








Waterfall on bike path in Petoskey









Downtown Petoskey








Viet Nam Memorial for Northern Michigan, Petoskey City Park - Very nicely done.








Where is my coffee???







Breakfast at American Spoon.









Petoskey City Marina







View of Lake Michigan from the bike path








We have to keep the lbs off somehow








Rapids we passed on the bike path









Awesome bike path







Our plans were to stay at Petoskey for 2-days but this was changed to 4-days when we learned there were no slips available until Monday 7-26 in Charlevoix, our next planned stop. There are lots of planned activities on any given week-end in Michigan creating sold out marinas. This week-end is the Chicago to Mackinac Island Sailboat Race. Anchorages are few and far between in Michigan, so often a slip in a marina is the only alternative.

For a city of 6080, (2000 census) Petoskey offers many services you would find in a much larger city. You have a choice of 25 non-chain restaurants within walking distance of the marina. Out of the 10 hair salons within walking distance, I was able to get my hair done at Vogue. Heather cut and colored my hair and for anyone following, she works until 6:00 pm on Saturdays. Tom was able to find a barber shop on Sat morning that worked out well. The downtown area is very unique with sidewalk cafes’, one of a kind stores and not a chain store to be found. Well one or two “Chico’s” and Papagallo. The bay area is lined with dozens of really well maintained homes and Bed & Breakfast Inns.
There is an awesome bike path that goes all the way to Charlevoix to the west and part way to Harbor Springs to the northeast. The smooth asphalt path that travels along the shore of the lake/bay, is well maintained with benches and rest areas along the way with an absolutely spectacular view of “Little Traverse Bay”.

If your request for a Michigan Municipal marina slip is more than 24 hours away, most of the City Marinas must be booked through Michigan’s 800 number. There is an $8.00 service fee for each reservation and you prepay by credit card. The advantage of using this service is having a confirmed reservation and the marina staff hands you all your area info when you come into your slip. You are already checked in so you don’t have to go to the office. Besides the service fee, one disadvantage is a $10.00 cancellation fee if you have to make a change due to weather. It doesn’t seem quite right since you are not actually cancelling but just changing to a later date. There are other cancellation policies as well, so check it out on line. If your request is with-in the same day of arrival, you can only book direct with the respective marina, but you take your chances of slip availability.

We have really enjoyed our visit to Petoskey. It is beautiful, has a lot to offer and we have met wonderful people. There have been 5-6 loopers in and out of here the last couple of days.