Sept 5
The Muskegon Municipal Marina was a good place to weather the gales that pushed through. It’s an older but well-kept marina and a good bit further back from the breakwater but it wound up offering excellent protection. We could tell the wind was blowing looking up at the surrounding trees or out onto the white caps on the lake, but in the marina the boat barely even rocked. The other benefit was that the marina is the closest one to the actual downtown area but still a bit of a walk. The town has a real mixture of vibes.
A handful of original buildings remain
At various times it’s been an industrial manufacturing stronghold but over time it’s seen some pretty significant ups and downs. It took a hard hit back in the 60’s and still seems to be recovering with several big industrial buildings looking forlorn and empty. The downtown had much of its older buildings torn down back when urban renewal was in vogue. Yet there’s a definite upside as some new shops, restaurants, breweries, museums, etc. are taking hold along with some new condo’s and even old industrial buildings being converted to apartments and lofts. And they have some great parks and trails.
Civil War monument in Hackley Park
There’s an amazing park and
monument to Union civil war hero’s a block off downtown. This park is a full city block with statues
of Lincoln, Grant, Sherman and Farragut (“Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead”)
anchoring the corners and a huge monument in the center. This was all built and
paid for by one of the millionaire lumber barons of the day named Charles Hackley.
Hackley House Museum
Hs impressive house still stands as a
museum as does the public library building he funded.
Hackley Public Library
At the end of the 1800's when lumber was depleted and he had made his millions he was instrumental in luring manufacturers to Muskegon - personally offering them financial incentives and establishing the basic Chamber of Commerce model for development. Still, we were glad to have a weather window open to get back on the move. The extended forecast was predicting three good travel days, so we headed out on Thursday at 7AM on a cool 47 degree morning to flat seas, sunshine and our sight set on South Haven some 60+ miles south.
Leaving Muskegon Inlet - not as many boaters as on Labor Day!
Entering the breakwater at South Haven. Lighthouse on right side.
After getting settled at South Haven marina, we did our
normal check of weather for the next day and was surprised to see that Lakeshore
Beach Hazards and a Small Craft Advisory was posted for Friday due to strong winds
and building seas. South Haven is a
nice little town. Founded in mid-1800’s as
part of the lumbering industry but not much happened after that disappeared in
the late 1800’s. Like many towns, it
became a tourist destination and still is today. A nicely preserved downtown area, good
restaurants and bars, and even a nice collection of assorted shops. Wonderful waterfront park area with a walkway
ending at the old historic lighthouse on
the end of the south breakwater. Friday the 6th was just sort
of a cool, overcast, windy, damp day so didn’t do as much exploring as normal other than checking out the rough seas that developed. Quite impressive for a "lake".
Video of the inlet here:
Journey for Sept 5
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