May The Fourth Be With You

We lucked in to a great stop for a few days on the American Holiday weekend. 

Ludington, MI is a beach community filled with cottages, condos and houses. The beach is just around the corner from the harbour – in Ludington State Park. The population is around 8,000 during the winter but more during the summer as many families come here to met family and friends. Many are drawn here because of the salmon fishing. The marina even has a fish cleaning station that was busy all weekend. Four stainless steel cleaning tables with water and a drain

There was an art fair on Saturday and Sunday, a parade on Monday. People put out their chairs and tarps the day before the parade to hold their spots. And as one of the locals said, “Nobody ever messes with them.”

The parade was about 2 hours long. Leading off was a group of veterans or active service members. Everyone in the crowd stands and claps as they walk by. Next was a cancer survive in remission – again sighs from the crowd. Then every emergency vehicle in the county it looked like, gymnastics clubs, tow trucking, politicians, tractors, a school band and the grand finally was the clown band. 

Like many of the large towns there is no longer a grocery store downtown near the marina but rather most service are out in the burbs. So no provision run today which is fine as we have enough choice on board for a few days. I did catch up on laundry though, pinning the quick drying articles to the flybridge railings. We have been in some marinas where you are not supposed to festoon your boat with swim towels and the like. But I just go ahead as they are rarely there long enough to offend anyone’s sensibilities. 

And of course, there were fireworks. Dogs were medicated, in their thunder shirts and down below with the a/c running. We enjoyed the fireworks though!