70 in 70 - and #s 48 & 49 on the road back to Boulder

We couldn't pass up a chance to try at least a couple of new things for our 70/70 list during our three-day drive back to Boulder from Petoskey - and thus discovered Kitch-iti-kipi (#48) and the Field of Dreams (#49).

Kitch-iti-kipi ("big cold spring" in Ojibwe) is in Michigan's Upper Peninsula and is the state's largest freshwater spring measuring 200 feet across and 40 feet deep with more the 10,000 gallons a minute pulsing through fissures in the underlying limestone. This water stays at a constant 45 degrees F despite the UP's ferocious winter weather!  Visitors get to hop aboard a raft and crank a wheel that pulls the raft across the water with views of ancient trees and huge trout within the crystal clear waters. A remarkable experience for us and Taz who got his first boat ride!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reflections in crystal clear water

 

Not quite sure about this boat thing - but still
a Good Dog Taz!

 

 

Field of Dreams - the actual ball field and farm house from the movie "Field of Dreams"

The property used for the movie was owned by Dan Lansing in Dyersville, Iowa. After filming wrapped, Lansing maintained the site as a tourist attraction. (It has since been purchased by Go the Distance Baseball.)  Kendall and I were a bit taken aback by the reality of today's Field of Dreams. Expecting a serene, rural baseball field tucked away in cornfields, we instead found a bustling tourist attraction (tho' indeed tucked among cornfields) with hundreds of people of all shapes, sizes and ages, most sporting baseball t-shirts and baseball gear. Although the size of the crowd was a tad off-putting, I must confess I was touched by the site of young girls with baseball gloves in hand dashing to the field contrasting with elderly gents, well-worn gloves in hand, shuffling their way to the same Field of Dreams. It was apparent that most visitors would agree with what Kevin Costner said when he led the MLB teams out for the first game on the adjacent pro-baseball field: "Is this heaven? Yes it is." 

 

 

Field of Dreams in foreground; professional field in background

Yes there is corn!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

70 in 70 - Now up to #47: Bear River Valley Heritage Center

 Since 2010-ish, there has been quite a project at the Bear River Valley Heritage Center: train enthusiasts have been building model railroads with settings depicting Petoskey as it was in 1913, as well as a section of Bay View that faced the tracks with models of cottages that are still standing today just as they did then, and a model of what a lumbering operation might have looked like in the hills near Harbor Springs.

My high school buddy Connie Doherty had told us about the Center but I had not been able to find it in my runs through that neighborhood. However, one lucky day in July, Kendall and I were walking to a restaurant for lunch and our route took us right by the Center. We poked our heads in the door, curious about the model railroads that Connie had mentioned, and the train master (and President of the Historic Railroads of Northern Michigan), sucked us right in. So glad he did! The models are amazing and, bonus!, one of the volunteers working on the tracks while we were there was a Petoskey High School class of ’70 classmate!  

  

Model of the railroad as it went through Pennsylvania Park in downtown Petoskey. Many of the buildings that line the park are still there as is the Perry Hotel – the large furthest north light colored building (which, by the way, is where my mom's 90^th birthday party was held in 2010).  Today, a statue of Hemingway stands where  the tracks cross the road to the depot in the model. Hemingway would take the train up to Petoskey when he came north to stay at his family’s property at Walloon Lake.

The model of the cottages in Bay View that faced the tracks (and Bay). The depot in the model looks a lot like the depot that is the Little Traverse History Museum at the Petoskey Waterfront today.

The model depicting a lumbering operation in the hills above town.

All Aboard!

70 in 70 - Catching up yep yep still doing it! #46: Little Traverse Bay Ferry

 

Taking a ride on the Little Traverse Bay Ferry found a place high on our list as soon as we heard about it. We merely had to wait for a day when the lake was calm, the tourist count was low, and our schedule meshed with the ferry schedule. The day after the Fourth of July was the day!  We took the “Port Hopper” route, leaving Petoskey...

cruising west to Bay Harbor where we got an on-water view of the opulence of Bay Haborites...

Could that be a gold-leaf roof (on the left)?

 

 

 

Every home with a landscaped patio and
a swim area built within their docks

How many engines does one boat need?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Aptly named: Bad Habit

...then crossed the bay – into an unexpected fog bank – popping out of the fog as we settled into Harbor Springs. 

In the middle of the Bay

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rounding Harbor Point into Harbor Springs

Clear sailing in the Harbor Springs harbor

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Upon leaving Harbor Springs we were back in the fog,

now so dense we didn’t even realize we had arrived back at the Petoskey docks until the blast of the ship’s horn announced our arrival. 

A fun outing – fog and all – it sure made me smile!