Saugatuck, Michigan

Days on cruise:   148

Distance traveled:  30.4 miles

Travel time: 3 hours, 31 mins

Total trip odometer:  3,122 statute miles

Despite the late night with friends in Grand Haven yesterday, we were up early this morning, partly because of the charter fishing boat “highway” that begins on the river at 4:30 a.m. and travels right past our bedroom window while tied to the downtown Wall. The weather was perfect for a travel day:  wind 5-10 knots, with waves 1 foot or less, so we slipped our lines at 7:30 a.m. and headed south.

Late morning we arrived at the harbor entrance off Lake Michigan and motored a couple miles up the Kalamazoo River to the lake adjacent to the town of Saugatuck. This tiny town only covers 1.5 square miles with about 1,000 year-round residents, but it’s a hoppin’ place, drawing weekend visitors from Chicago, Detroit and Grand Rapids. There are more galleries, restaurants, winery tasting rooms, restaurants and boutiques than in most towns many times its’ size.

We arrived to find Looper friends on Time and Tide (the Canadians), Wild Goose (from Florida), Teasa (the Brazilians) and Flying Free (more Canadians we met yesterday in Grand Haven) were also anchored in the same cove in which we plan to spend some time. Guess what that means for Happy Hour tonight?

We dropped the dinghy after lunch and motored to the town dinghy dock for a quick walk-around tour of the town. We’ll spend more time there tomorrow, at a slower pace.

At 5:30 nine of us converged on Wild Goose for Happy Hour:  eight adult Loopers and one 14-year-old, Erik, traveling with his parents on Flying Free. Conversation and wine both flowed freely, and a good time was had by all! Thank you, Anne and Jim, for hosting another great evening.