We headed to Manitowoc around 10:30. We figured on it taking about an hour and we needed to be there to board by 1. So we figured we’d have a few minutes to look around and perhaps find a few postcards. We got there a little before 11. So we had some time to kill and we are realizing that postcards are becoming a bit harder to come by these days. Sad. We were going to relax on the beach. It was rather chilly,drizzly and cloudy so we were just going to stay in the car.
But then Hyrum said he needed to go to the bathroom so we drove into town. We stopped at the public library. Can I just say “Thank heaven for public libraries!” If only they had a redbox type borrowing system. It would be crazy making for librarians but wonderful for roadtripping families. We settled in to kill some time at the library. Each finding our bliss.
It was a great library!
Then we headed over to the harbor to get ready to board. The boys were amazed at the size of the boat.
I don’t think they had any concept of how big it was going to be. We packed up everything we thought we’d need for the next four hours then parked our car and started to board. It was crazy to see all those cars in the belly of the boat. They can fit 180 cars. I’ve heard of semi drivers taking the car ferry if they needed to log some sleeping time. Amazing!
On the ship it has more of a cruise line feel.
Not your luxury cruise line to be sure but wonderful for our purposes. As soon as we got on board we found our stateroom. We paid a little extra for that so I’d have a place to feed Elijah, where we could lay down and relax and were we could put all of our things. (and put people in time out…not naming any names) It had a skeleton key for the door. Where do you see that anymore?
I thought it was funny that they still had a Gideons bible in the car ferry state room, where you will spend a maximum of 4 hours.
We took all together way to many pictures of the boys looking out at the lake while we were still in port, it was much prettier out in the water.
Hyrum was showing us that he saw a seagull skimming his wing on the water. :)
It was exciting when we heard the blast of the ships horn signaling that we were on our way. We went to wave to the shore and the people who came to watch us pull away.
Hyrum kept screaming “Goodbye land, Hello the SEA!!” By the time we were leaving the sky was clearing and the sun was coming out. It was going to be a beautiful trip across Lake Michigan.
Then we went to check out the rest of the ship. They had a kids room where they had some minimal toys
They also had an arcade room and a movie room where they showed “The Lorax”. The boys watched for a while and then they were done and wanted to go and play. They had done enough sitting thank you very much.
They wanted to see what there was to see
Hyrum kept saying that he was seeing planets! :) In reality he couldn't see anything at all.
It is amazing how pretty the water is on Lake Michigan. I’d always just thought it was dark blue, because looking out across it that’s what color you see. But when you’re out ON the lake, at least as north as we were, it is a beautiful aquamarine.
It was funny to walk down the halls of the ship because you’d unexpectedly be thrown against one or the other wall with the rolling of the waves. It was great when you were laying down on the beds in the stateroom though. It just felt like you were being rocked to sleep with the lake breezes tossing your hair around. Heaven.
Elijah loved the state room too. I think he enjoyed traveling out of a carseat every bit as much as the other boys did.
Hyrum and Noah wanted nothing to do with the Lorax but before long they’d seen what there was to see and were more content to sit and watch a bit. They were playing Nick Jr in the “Kids Port” and they were all about that.
I kept seeing these around.
I couldn’t figure out what it was until I was sitting in the "kids port" and I started to feel warm and woosy. Then I understood. But when I got some fresh air I was fine, that’s when we saw the shore.
Four hours passed MUCH faster than it did on the road. All too soon there was Michigan in the distance. We waved to everyone in Ludington who came to see the car ferry pull into port.
We got off the boat and headed to where they unload the cars, found ours and were on our way again. The next half hour was an effort in keeping Noah awake. He was so tired.
But also as we drove through Ludington we saw the bed and breakfast were we stayed on our honeymoon and Scotty's the one nice restaurant we got dressed up for and went out to on our honeymoon. (I have a receipt that details everything we ate there. The ranch dressing is to die for there as I remember.) Ahh the memories. We even waved the car ferry in while on our honeymoon.
We met my parents, sister and her family at A&W for dinner then headed to the beach house. Oh. My. Goodness. That’s all I can say.
The boys immediately headed for the beach with swimsuits and lifejackets on.
They had a blast playing with their cousins.
It’s going to be a great week.
1 comments:
Pam said...
The boat looks like fun. We will have to put that on our bucket list. Can we borrow the kids to go with us? :)