Friday, June 29, 2018

Meet Me In Manistee! -- June 29, 2018

One full week in Michigan!  So far it's been great.  Seems like we've been here for a month!  Great scenery, great weather, quiet....what more could anyone ask for? 

On Monday, Bo and I went into Manistee (8 miles).  We had two primary objectives...ice and Bo needed to go to a vet.  He was scratching at his ear and shaking his head all over the place.  Nikko had this same thing...you can't ignore it.  Sometimes it's mites, but more often just some kind of bacteria.  The first vet I called was rather aloof -- well, the receptionist, that is.  She was just "no, no, no".  "No, we're not taking new patients...no, we just can't fit him in even once.....no, not even if it was an emergency could we see any pet."  And, on top of that, she didn't even recommend anyone else.  All I got was "good luck".  I was not impressed, to say the least.  There was only one other vet listed.  We had to go into town anyway, so I just stopped in unannounced...this was 9:45am.  The office/waiting area, etc. was really the nicest I have ever seen.  I explained our dilemma and the very nice receptionist said, "Of course we can get him in...how about 10:00am TODAY?"  I thought I was hearing things!  Anyway, we were in and out pretty quickly, even with Bo snarling, bearing teeth, and overall not being very happy. In only about 36 hrs he was 85% better. Now, no sign of discomfort at all. If you ever need a vet in Manistee, MI call Parkdale Animal Hospital!  

Ok...that over with, we decided to check out the Lake Michigan 1st Street beach and downtown Manistee since we were already in town.  Manistee is a town of about 6,800 people.  It is the county seat of Manistee County.  The interesting name "Manistee" is from an Ojibwe word first applied to the principal river of the county.  The derivation is not certain, but it may be from ministigweyaa, "river with islands at its mouth".  Other sources claim that it was an Ojibwe term meaning "spirit of the woods".  I'll go with the latter since we are enjoying our site in the woods so much!  

First, the 1st Street Beach.  


Virtually no one was there on this perfect day.  The sand is "sugar sand"....white and fine like sugar.  There are pavilions and grills for picnics and adjacent to the beach is a dog run, and a little playground for kids.  However, the highlight of this area is the lighthouse which juts out into the water.  



 

Since it has been a long time since I have been to the ocean, this was certainly that same feeling.  It's all quite "New England-ish" here.  It reminded me of the coastal areas of Connecticut when I lived there (which for the most part was really along Long Island Sound, not so much the Atlantic Ocean). There's another beach in Manistee, the 5th Avenue Beach, that we will probably check out next week before we leave this site.  Is this weekend the holiday weekend or next weekend??  Every day is the same in the forest.  Pretty sure there won't be any fireworks out here!

Into the historic downtown we went.  Bo actually walked along the sidewalk with me....he's not all that socialized so we tried to avoid coming right up on people.  Luckily, it was pretty quiet.   These photos are self-explanatory. "Historic" downtown is basically one main street...like so many small towns. It's great that they have kept the old buildings maintained and haven't replaced them with something "modern"...unlike my home base town.  Hate that!  It used to be so quaint.  Anyway, you can see that, for the most part, Manistee has stayed with tradition.  (Except this corner renovation....not sure what they were thinking with that....).  There are little boutiques and such...along with, unfortunately, empty storefronts...again, like so many small towns.  But, all in all, a very charming little lakeshore town.








The street is lined with these pretty lamp posts and planters...


The Manistee River runs right through Manistee.  
 

I came across the small Veteran's Memorial Park which is right along the river so we stopped there and I got a few photos.  If you can't live in a lake shore property, this would be a nice water front area to live...I think these condos run about $135,000+/-.  The real estate values here are anywhere from $30K - $1.6M...from a forest stationary mobile home to a lake front property.  Something for everyone!





So, that's the overview of Manistee, Michigan.  It's a great little town on the shore of a great big lake.  I could live here....well....in the summer, that is!  

We took a fun road trip yesterday.  Once I go through the 150+ photos, I'll get a new post up. Be forewarned...even after sorting through them all, it will be a post with a lot of photos! 

It's going to be pretty warm the next several days...but, I remind myself, not as warm as farther south!  Glad I made the 8-hour drive up here....for many reasons!

Bye for now from Manistee!  Hope you enjoyed the tour.
Have a super weekend....whether or not it's the "holiday weekend"!


4 comments:

  1. Great pictures! We will be about 45 minutes south of this the weekend of July 6, 7 & 8 for a race at Mears, MI! Small world!

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  2. You will love it! I might be a bit more south by then...still researching sites. Will let you know if I'm near there!

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  3. Great post! I thought you'd like Lake Michigan! It does feel like the ocean/beach area. Enjoy!

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  4. You couldn’t have timed your trip north more perfect. Hot and humid midsection.

    P.S. no need to forewarn on pics. More the merrier.

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