Sea-Batical in Ludington!

Ahoy Mateys! This is Stacey Burger writing a guest post from the cockpit of the Catmandu! Mom, Dad (Cindy and Tom Burger) and I arrived yesterday afternoon in Ludington, MI for a Sea-batical of our own. It was a very rainy drive from Northville, but a little rain can’t ruin a fun-filled weekend with Chris and Bill. 

We were enjoying snacks and relaxing on the boat Friday night, when we noticed swarms of people heading down the street towards the water. By the time the street filled up with parked cars, we realized we were missing something exciting. A passerby told us the Budweiser Clydesdales were down by the water!! If you don’t have an Ortonville girl close by to ask what a Clydesdale horse is, then look below for a picture.  Apparently they are large field horses that every Country girl is familiar with. Me being from the city, I had to Google it.  Aunt Chris, Mom and I headed off to see the horses while Uncle Bill and Dad held down the fort at the boat.  There was a team of horses pulling a wagon complete with a Dalmatian riding shotgun! We chased them around the parking lot a few times to get some great pictures before they rode off to make an appearance on Main Street. A local ice cream shop was passing out free pints of ice cream so we each grabbed a couple and headed back to the boat. We then enjoyed a very nice dinner outside as the sun was setting. 

On Saturday morning we awoke to find the sun shining bright! The wind was blowing away and the air was cold, but there was not a cloud in the sky. Torn between braving the wind and going out for a sail, and exploring the town of Ludington and some local wineries, we decided to try it all. We started off with a walk through downtown Ludington. It is a cute little town with lots of shops and restaurants. They were also having an Art Fair so we perused a few of the tents but did not find anything to buy. This was Uncle Bill’s 3^rd Art Fair of the trip so far and I think he is losing his appreciation for them!

After lunch we headed out to sea. We had an incredible sail on Lake Pere Marquette. Winds were at least 20 knots and the Jib was loving it! Unfortunately, the lake is only 1 mile long and the sail only lasted 15 minutes….Short and Sweet. We motored around the lake a little more and went out to Lake Michigan just long enough to battle the whitecaps and take some pictures of the Lighthouse.

Back at shore, we headed off in the car to a nearby winery.  We were happy to find a few Michigan reds that we all liked (no easy feat!).

Tomorrow morning I am heading back home and so ends my short weekend trip. It is always a pleasure to spend time on the Catmandu thanks to our gracious hosts!! We couldn’t be luckier to have Aunt Chris and Uncle Bill.