Boat Repair Week - spent in South Haven

We were informed that it would take a week to repair our boat.  The marina hauled out the boat and loaned us an old, red van to drive to South Haven (about 2&1/2 hours), which we really appreciated.
Offered the lift operator a beer if he would drop the boat and damage it enough that we could get a new one.  He couldn't be bought.

So the weekend before, we spent some time getting acquainted with the town of Manistee.  We toured 2 boats.  This one is the Acacia, a Coast Guard cutter used for placing and replacing buoys in the Great Lakes as they move or become dislodged throughout the year.  It was retired in the 90's and is open for tours now.

The 2nd boat was a huge steamer that hauled railroad cars across Lake Michigan in the 1920's - 1950's to Milwaukee.
Car (railroad) ferries were used to avoid the railroad congestion in Chicago.  Now there is a 6 track bypass around Chicago for trains to avoid the Chicago rail yards.  

While they were working on our boat we spent the week enjoying South Haven and getting some things "in order" for our return to living on the land.  We now have WiFi and Dish TV here and have our health insurance in place - time consuming projects.  And we opened a checking account at the local bank.  Here's a peek at the South Haven life...

South Haven is a town of about 6000 people on Lake Michigan. That number more than doubles in the summer and grows to 20,000 or more on some weekends.  It is featured regularly in various magazines as one of the top 10 summer vacation spots in the country. 
 A day at the beach....
Just 4 blocks from the house.  One of the finest beaches in the whole country.

Farmers Market - Yummm....

Here's Don' favorite "hangout"....
Black River Books is owned by some good friends and is just around the corner from our house.  The coffee is always on, plus they have some nice easy chairs and all the books one could ever want.  It's become a gathering place for a couple of us old guys.

 
So now our boat is fixed, back in the water and we will take off, when the wind and waves permit.

We hope to be in South Haven by Saturday - Yay........