We worked our way through the amazingly blue waters of Lake Huron as we headed south along the Michigan coast, stopping first at beautiful Rogers City.

Then we made a stop at lovely Port Austin,

where we had a fantastic dinner at The Bank. I love a restaurant with a theme!

Also impressive was the sunset that evening.

The next day we continued on to pretty Port Sanilac.

Along the way we saw charming lighthouses, impressive bridges, and hilarious posts from other Loopers who had gotten stuck back at the Big Chute when the lock broke. We listened on the radio and watched as a freighter was brought out of the harbor by a harbor captain who was then replaced by a transit captain (heading out in the smaller boat).

We reached the St Clair River and pulled into Port Huron, where we walked the waterfront and through the town, reminiscing about the last time we’d stopped through.

Crossing Lake St Clair, we reached Safe Harbor Jefferson Beach, an enormous marina where we took the dinghy across the waterway to a lively bar, because the walk around by land was too far. Steve and Emma joined us for a fun dinner one night, and the next night Kenton cooked me a special birthday dinner!

Winds blew and clouds swirled as we cruised past Detroit. We recalled the beating we’d taken last year on Lake Erie, and a sense of foreboding settled in. Sure enough, when we entered Lake Erie the waves swirled and bounced us around like a cork in a washing machine all the way to Put-In-Bay, Ohio. We translated this as the lake’s way of saying, “Welcome back!”

The forecast was more wind and higher waves, so we stayed a second day at Put-In-Bay to give the lake time to settle. We rented a golf cart to revisit fun places around the delightful island.

The lake was calmer the next day and our “Plan” was to stop by Cleveland for a night. After a 5 hour journey we approached Cleveland harbor at 1:00, only to be told that we could not enter the harbor until 5:00, due to the air show being held there. Rather than drift offshore for hours, we continued another 4 hours to Geneva-on-the-Lake. It was fun to see the little town again, and we met an amazing couple who ran a terrific restaurant there.

We headed to Erie, PA, next, where we had a great dinner at Oliver’s with Jane & Bill. (How did we forget to take a group photo?) A second day gave us the chance to explore the area, enjoy a fun band, and then prepare to cross the east end of Lake Erie so we could head up to the Erie Canal.

A cloudy morning, but calm waters greeted us as we headed across Lake Erie toward Buffalo. The forecast was looking questionable, so we did our best to stay ahead of the storm front. The wind and waves, however, kicked up just for us, and bounced us toward Buffalo for the last few hours of the trip. We know what the lake was saying to us this time, but I won’t put the translation here!

We pulled into the swirling waters of the Niagara River and the strong current pushed us up to the Mid River Marina in Tonawanda. Next, we’ll leave open waters and head through the Erie Canal!