On our first full day in Manistee, we headed into town to check it out. This is the Manistee River, on the River Walk, with one of the drawbridges in the background.
Like many towns along Lake Michigan, Manistee's heyday was during the timber rush of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Manistee River and its outlet to Lake Michigan were significant for shipping lumber from the timber mills in the area. Fortunes were made here, but when the best timber was used up, the so-called timber barons packed up and left. We heard quite a bit of that history of Manistee, with the years after the 1920s left unmentioned. Now the area relies quite heavily on tourism.
We saw a lot of these life buoys, which unlike most things, can be used as flotation devices.
Quite a bit of work went into making this river walk attractive, as you can tell from the pretty flowers.
We headed out to the public beach and found these cool sand castles.
And whaddya know, it's a lighthouse on Lake Michigan. Who knew?! :-) You'll see more of these, as we saw at least two more during our trip.
Mike was pretty cool as we made the trek to see the lighthouse up close. Oh, it was a treacherous trip, as we braved the water crashing on the side of the walk, splashing very cold water onto us.
I, on the other hand, was more expressive of the beauty of the lake and its gentle wildlife. :-)
Later that evening, after dinner, we headed down to the lake to watch the sunset. It's nice being on the western shore, as Mike and I would rather watch sunsets than get up at the crack of dawn to see a sunrise.
A perfect end to a perfect day!
On our first full day in Manistee, we headed into town to check it out. This is the Manistee River, on the River Walk, with one of the drawbridges in the background. 
Like many towns along Lake Michigan, Manistee's heyday was during the timber rush of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Manistee River and its outlet to Lake Michigan were significant for shipping lumber from the timber mills in the area. Fortunes were made here, but when the best timber was used up, the so-called timber barons packed up and left. We heard quite a bit of that history of Manistee, with the years after the 1920s left unmentioned. Now the area relies quite heavily on tourism. 
We saw a lot of these life buoys, which unlike most things, can be used as flotation devices. 
Quite a bit of work went into making this river walk attractive, as you can tell from the pretty flowers. 
We headed out to the public beach and found these cool sand castles. 
And whaddya know, it's a lighthouse on Lake Michigan. Who knew?! :-) You'll see more of these, as we saw at least two more during our trip. 
Mike was pretty cool as we made the trek to see the lighthouse up close. Oh, it was a treacherous trip, as we braved the water crashing on the side of the walk, splashing very cold water onto us. 
I, on the other hand, was more expressive of the beauty of the lake and its gentle wildlife. :-) 
Later that evening, after dinner, we headed down to the lake to watch the sunset. It's nice being on the western shore, as Mike and I would rather watch sunsets than get up at the crack of dawn to see a sunrise. 
A perfect end to a perfect day!
2 comments:
Hey -- I like the photo selections for Monday - first full day of vacation. And ... you're uber-witty: "These life buoys, unlike most things, *can* be used as a flotation device" :+)
Yep, that's me -- über-witty!
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