Clear Blue Lakes

When we were at Fall Creek Falls, a friend of Donald and Anna's who had lived in Michigan for 3 years had recommended that we visit Torch Lake.  They talked about how deep and blue and beautiful it is.  The best way to experience Torch Lake is by boat but boat rentals were more expensive than we were willing to pay.  I'm sure it would be a lot of fun if you had a group of people to rent a pontoon for a day (and cheaper too).  But with it just being Chuck and me, we really didn't want to spend the money to rent a pontoon boat just for the two of us.

Most of the access to Torch Lake is private which seems unusual because it is Michigan's 2nd largest inland lake.  I found a public beach and boat access in Kawedin which is just a few miles north of Elk Rapids and so we drove there.

We walked out on the boat dock and it is absolutely amazing how clear, blue and beautiful it is.

Definitely a place that makes you want to just jump right in...like these folks did!

After we left Torch Lake, we stopped at a couple of fruit stands.  We bought some yellow-colored plums (which we had never seen before) and some peaches.

They also had some mini-scones and mini cherry turnovers and we bought two of each.  Sometimes all you need is just a taste and these tasted delicious!

We drove to downtown Elk Rapids where the main street had been closed down for an arts and crafts show.

It was not the most crowded arts and crafts show we had been to but it may have been because everyone was at the beach!  I did buy a pretty silver bracelet with a Petoskey stone on it.  Next, we drove to the city park, parked our car, and began biking along the beach and through the town.

The town of Elk Rapids is on the coast of the eastern Grand Traverse Bay which empties into Lake Michigan.  The beach was filled with people enjoying the beautiful day.

The water of Grand Traverse Bay (Lake Michigan) is beautiful and clear too.

We rode a small trail along the beach and across a small inlet.  The water is so clear that there were people swimming here too.

We passed by this unusual tree with orange berries growing on it.  We saw one yesterday but could not get close enough for a good picture.

The marina was filled with a lot of very big boats.  I told Chuck that the marina should have been empty on a day as pretty as this.  Everyone should have been out on their boats!

After leaving the marina, we began riding through the residential streets of Elk Rapids.

There were a lot of old beautiful homes.  I think many of them are used as summer homes.

There were some old churches in the neighborhood also.

We found out from talking to a summer resident of the neighborhood that the same storms that hit Sleeping Bear Dunes came through Elk Rapids.  We saw a lot of tree damage and roof damage.  This big weeping willow tree lost a lot of its biggest branches.

We rode through most of the residential streets of Elk Rapids which was about 4 miles.  We loaded the bikes back on the car and headed back to the motorhome for lunch.  After lunch, we decided we should at least take one swim in Lake Michigan.  We drove back to Elk Rapids, parked the car and I was the first one to wade out into that clear blue water.  It was a little cold at first but after swimming around a bit, it felt pretty good.

I only swam neck deep, but Chuck waded out and then plunged in head first.

So nice!  No sharks, no jellyfish, no stingrays, no salt.  Just clear, blue water.  It's easy to understand why so many people come to the beaches of the Great Lakes to enjoy their summer days!