The Adventures of Gypsy-Jackie

Yesterday was anther travel day.  Ugh!  Torrential rains, then the traffic around Chicago was crawling, and then 7+ hours in the car. Ugh!! I'm checked into my new Airbnb hosted by an interesting women, Amy.  We started talked and it was like we'd known each other forever.  Her home is amazing and so well decorated...probably the nicest I've stayed at so far.  Her other bedroom is rented to a 4th year medical student, Katherine, who is traveling around doing...well whatever it is 4th year medical students do.  She's going to be here 2 weeks.  Apparently Amy gets a lot of long term stays - some up to a month.  Here's a quick pic of the plantings on the side of her garage with a framed mirror hanging above which I thought was so cool. I had been traveling 5 hours and then spending 5 nights exploring.  But after spending 2 nights on Mackinac Island I traveled 5 hours to spend 2 nights in Grand Haven and then I traveled 5 hours to spend ...

I started my day with a 3 mile walk along the Grand River boardwalk to the Grand Haven beach and lighthouse.  It was another gorgeous day and lots of people out enjoying the very nice boardwalk area.  What a gorgeous home!   Then downtown for some window shopping and enjoying the sculptures.                                                                                     Wonder if she said yes? The Baker's Wife bakery for peach tea and the best pretzel I've ever eaten!  I've found so many interesting local bakeries alon...

Not much to report about yesterday....so, this is just a "I'm still alive" post.  😀 I caught the 9:00 ferry to the main land and avoided a pending storm.  Getting my bags to the ferry would not have been any fun in the rain! As soon as I stepped off the ferry, there was a shuttle to take me back to my car.  I had parked in the free parking area and the shuttle driver took me right to my car.  Why pay to park with that kind of service! I drove for about five hours to Grand Rapids, Michigan.  I've checked into my new Airbnb with a very charming host, Yvonne.  I feel more like her guest than a paying customer.  She's given me a list of things to see today...and then we're meeting her friend, "Crazy" Betty for a free concert tonight.  Ought to be a fun day.

I started the day with the carriage ride tour.  It's kind of a hop on hop off thing that takes you around the village, past The Grand Hotel, into the interior of the Island, to Fort Mackinac, and my final stop was back at The Grand.  I learned a lot about the Island along the way.  There are over 60 varieties of lilacs on the Island.  Each June there is a Lilac Festival on the Island ( link )  The Grand Hotel Originally had 180 rooms Was built in under 90 days to get a bonus that was offered by the owner - but he reneged and didn't pay! Porch is 660 feet long and the ceiling is painted "Grand blue" to deter birds from nesting There are now 385 rooms that are all decorated differently.   The lake freezes over in February and March and people snow mobile to the main land.  A one hour carriage ride through the woods. Stopped at Skull Cave which wasn't much to see because it had been blown up at one point to stop teen...