Day 76 - Fri 12 Aug 2016
Docked - Manistee, MI

[photo: some of the interesting and attractive architecture downtown]

Boy, did we sleep well and long last night. I wasn’t up until 0730, but it felt good for a change. It was a good morning to have home fries with onions and veggie omelets. Following that, while I took care of some administrative matters, Diane got busy cleaning. Then the unthinkable happened – she asked me to turn on the A/C! That must be the first time she had wanted it on when I didn’t feel the need. There is hope for me yet.

After we both enjoyed the lower humidity in the boat, it was time to see about using the marina bicycles to ride to what we thought was the nearest decent grocery store. I knew it was generally uphill and our little one-speed bikes would not make it. Well, the ladies’ bike had a flat, and the two men’s bikes were very large-framed. In fact, the smaller of the two was still too big for me to ride comfortably. The seat was also so small, narrow, and hard that it had to be designed for eunuchs (or those that want to be).

I offered to ride up alone, so I donned the backpack, taking the list, my wallet, and (unknowingly) the boat key with me. I found out later that Diane had remembered generally where we hid the spare key, but still had to spend a bit of time searching. The ride was only 1.5 miles, but was indeed all uphill, and even using the lowest gear on the 24-speed bike, parts were a struggle.

My shirt was a soggy mass of perspiration when I arrived but at least the store was nicely air conditioned. The backpack was quite heavy with two large glass bottles in addition to the groceries, but the ride back was all downhill. When I delivered the goods to the boat, Diane got my shower gear ready and that felt wonderful. I will mention, again, that Manistee Municipal Marina has very nice facilities.

After a bit of rest, we got ready to walk the downtown area. I really enjoyed how much of the old architecture survived and how they had preserved or restored a lot of it. The stores were not very upscale and touristy, which we liked, as well. The place was packed and many stores (mostly women’s clothing – surprise) had sidewalk sales. Diane bought two pairs of stretch warm-up pants for $6. She was happy to have more everyday boat attire.

We wanted to find a hardware store to buy a storage container of a certain size. They didn’t have anything we could use, but on the way back we passed Miller’s Produce and after seeing the hand-lettered signs advertising their wares, we had to go in. Well, they certainly had just a tiny selection compared to the big grocery store, but what they had was far better looking and much cheaper. We indulged ourselves and got some incredibly fresh green beans, baked on the premises bread and carrot cake, and some other good stuff.

It wound up being several hours of walking and shopping, but it was all good exercise and enjoyable. Back at the boat it was time for a few games of Mah Jongg and then a nap before supper. We finished the pasta with meat/veggie sauce and read for a bit. Afterwards, we strolled the Riverwalk and talked to some other boaters for a while before returning just before sunset.

It was a great visit here in Manistee, and we look forward to another one in Ludington tomorrow.