Day 94 & 95- Petoskey, MI

 DAY 94  July 19

We are officially in "slow down" mode. We will spend a couple more day/nights here in Petosky. Sorry, no pictures of grocery shopping or laundry. Yes, I know, we get to have all the fun!

A morning walk shot.  Barely visible in the shafts of light to the left were swarm of little bugs, they look like snow.  They are not bothersome, but it takes the low angle light to even see them.  Petoskey is part of a long walking trail on a former rail line.  Pleasant, cool mornings, no bugs, pretty views make the walk a pleasure.

I'm sure this tree has a twisted history.

This clock tower is right next to the marina. The bell tolls on the the hour, 
from 8 AM to 10 PM. Thankfully it respects quiet time. It also makes it easy to know the time when not looking at a clock.

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DAY 95  July 20

The museum is housed in the original railroad depot building and has excellent displays of the founding father and early times.

• The town had its name changed in honor of a local chief of the Odawa Nation and well respected businessman, Chief Ignatius Petoskey. 
  

  

  The museum by the marina was the old railroad station.  This looks like it was the original freight depot for Petoskey.  The trail runs along the left side of the building.

  
  

The word “Petoskey” is a native word that translates to “rays of light.” The famous Petoskey stone bears that name because the fossil in the stone resembles rays coming from the sun. The Petoskey Stone is Michigan’s state stone and can only be found in this part of the world. It is a popular trinket at souvenir shops and jewelry stores in Petoskey.

This is what the stones look like when you find them. The Petoskey and Charlevoix stones are fossilized pre-historic coral that is roughly 350 million years during the Devonian Age. These stones are distinguishable based on their unique exoskeleton structures.

The Bear River, where it finally makes it's way to the lake.

It you want to hear the sound of rushing water, 

please turn up your volume and watch this video.

The town of Petoskey was known as Bear River when the first missionary arrived in 1855. The earliest white residents were primarily missionaries and fur traders, the fur traders arriving to capture the abundance of beavers in the region. The oldest building in the region that is still standing is the St. Francis Solanus Indian Mission Church established by Father Baraga, the “Snowshoe Priest” in 1859. The church stands on West Lake Street.

We had to ask.  Thankfully, we left the draft horses over on Mackinac Island.

In case you weren't sure if you were on the bike path.

The Kite Story, Chapter Two.

As you know, we (the royal 'We') salvaged the abandoned kite in Mackinaw City.  Today, with a pleasant breeze blowing, we spotted kites flying in the park.  So, we grabbed our treasure and went over to see if there was room to fly one more.  As it turned out, "Mikey The Kite Guy" was there and when we said we had a pink one, he asked where we got it. We said, "We got it off Amazon, dammit." No, we didn't.  We told him where we found it, he almost teared up. "You've got 'Pinkie'?  That's my kite!"  Sure enough, he was the guy.  He hugged us both and was so happy to have his kite, naturally. We were happy that serendipity brought 'Pinkie' home.

He must have thanked us a dozen times! 

There were even more thanks and hugs when we told him it only had minor damage, that we had already fixed, and that we had flown her. 

Turns out that Mikey is well know in the area. 

He has been flying kites for more than 15 years. 

Check out his story here.

Pinkie, reunited with the sibs.

Tomorrow the Goose moves again. 

I wonder what the next story will be...

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