We had to wait one more day for our repair but got underway on the 10th. We had a much better day than our first one on Lake Michigan although it was still bumpy and we moved with care around the boat if we needed anything.
Our destination was Charleviox, a picturesque town that is very popular with the tourists, many of whom love to watch the boats parade through town.
Our destination was Charleviox, a picturesque town that is very popular with the tourists, many of whom love to watch the boats parade through town.
We arrived at Lake Charlevoix to find 5 Looper boats in marinas on both sides of us and we were anchored in the middle. We were with David and Kim on Overtime in New York and for a couple of days in Georgian Bay so it was special to spend 3 days with them while we waited for the winds to quiet down and they waited
for a new water heater. We celebrated our arrival with docktails or should I say beachtails as all met on the beach between the two marinas.
We spent the better part of Friday at Castle Farms.
The castle has such an interesting history. It was built nearly one hundred years ago by the acting president of Sears & Roebuck Co. as a dairy farm and was used as backdrop for
many of their catalog pictures. It was a very successful farm with award winning cattle and pigs, and was used to test and demonstrate many of the farm-related items carried in the Sears catalog.
Pictures of the original castle
Loeb Farms delivery truck
Sadly, the president died after only 9 years and the farm fell into ruin for 37 years. The next owner tried to create an art gallery on the property and did a lot of restoration
but could not make it work financially so he sold it to a tax attorney who created a rock and roll venue. This was home to many large concerts for over 30 years with hit groups like Tina Turner, Doobie Brothers, the Oak
Ridge Boys, The Beach Boys and many others. The locals weren't too fond of the noise but the castle was somewhat maintained.
In 1999 the tax attorney died and the property went to auction for back taxes! I hope he did a better job for his clients than he did for himself. Linda Mueller bought the property and restored it for the community that she loves so well. She spent many wonderful times here when she was younger and now provides a gorgeous venue for weddings, parties, picnics, and tourists! The castle is full of various collections from around the world and memorabilia from the past. The grounds are Linda's on-going artistic show piece with gardens, trains, and whimsical art.
She loves to garden and is often found playing in the dirt!
Her ABC garden has a plant for every letter of the alphabet
The Butterfly garden
The trout pond where we fed the "trout" - more like we fed the ducks! The trout did get a few morsels.
Among other talents, Linda is a gifted quilter
Every castle needs a dragon
George the Dragonslayer is a survivor of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans and still wears a few dents. They make sure he keeps his back to the dragon (so doesn't know there's a dragon on the property ;)
Sid the sea serpent reigns over the trout pond.
The building itself is a work of art. The turrets are built with spiraled wood. Linda has tried to keep everything to original designs even though there were many times she thought
she bit off more than she could chew.
This used to be one of the milking barns - now a gorgeous reception hall
One of the silos with the original glazed tiles to cut down on mildew - it makes a beautiful stairway!
This was a hay loft?
More hay loft - the walls are all original.
The blacksmith shop is now a small museum with memorabilia from World War I (when the castle was first built), Sears and Robuck ads with the real items pictured in the ads, and other collections.
An ad from 1918 for a butter churn sitting on the actual churn!
I think a carom board identical to this is still in my folk's basement!
As well as this Parcheesi board!
Uniforms from the war worn by local towns folk.
It was a magical day, we had a late picnic by the lake before heading up the coast to explore the city of Petoskey. This is where we had to go to have Bob's head stapled but didn't have time to explore. It is a very wealthy, pretty town with some old shops that have been well preserved.
Grandpa Shorters 1876
JW Shorter & Sons Mercantile 1881
This was found in one of the many T-shirt shops. We thought our sons would appreciate it.
We walked down to the waterfront, met some other Loopers and watched a kite boarder!
Anchored in Lake Charlevious, MI 7/10-7/11
Anchored in Lake Charlevious, MI 7/10-7/11
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