Visit From a Friend

In August, Jim Esarte, a good friend of ours from Sacramento, flew to Michigan to spend a couple of weeks visiting with us. Jim had never been to this part of the country, and since we were here, it gave him a good reason to make the trip. We tried to cram as much activity as possible into those two weeks! We played a lot of golf and made several day trips to nearby towns and tourist destinations. We also attended one of the Elk Viewing Rides & Gourmet Dinners, as well, so Jim could get a feel for Thunder Bay Resort. When Dan and I had work obligations, Jim struck out on his own and explored surrounding areas.

One of our visits took us to Traverse City, "The Cherry Capitol of the World", and the second most popular tourist destination in the state behind Mackinaw City. After spending a couple of hours shopping in the quaint downtown area, we drove on to Petoskey to the Odawa Casino for dinner and a little gambling. On another day we drove to Mackinaw City and took the ferry to Mackinac Island where we spent the afternoon walking across the small Island, exploring and looking for the perfect fudge shop.

Another outing took us to Sault Ste Marie in Michigan, where we stopped by the Soo Locks, then crossed the international bridge into Sault Ste Marie in Ontario, Canada for a quick tour. The Soo Locks allow ships to travel between Lake Superior and the lower Great Lakes and pass an average of 10,000 ships per year in spite of the locks' being closed during the winter (January through March) when ice shuts down shipping on the Great Lakes.

The three of us played several rounds of golf here at Thunder Bay, and Dan and Jim went to two other golf courses in the area as well.

We very much enjoyed Jim's visit and are very happy that he took the time to come all the way across the country to spend time with us this summer.