Up to Northport Point...................

Monday was a lovely day, sunny and clear. It was also bitter cold. Gerry was not working and so we went for a drive so I could get some pictures. We went up through Suttons Bay but instead of going up the Lake side we went through Cherry Bend and out that way because there are old barns out there. I wanted some pictures of old barns. I will do another post on that subject. So this day was for Northport. Once we drive through Suttons Bay, Omena is the next little town before heading North.


That's the main street. Its so sweet, an old post office and art gallery, the rest of the village is hidden back from the road but is very small. The turn away from the coast road goes through cherry orchards and fields, past the Indian Reservation and Casino. A very popular destination here. When we first came to Michigan in 1971 there was an ongoing fight between the Indian people and local fishermen. The Indians used Gill Nets and sold their fish for a living. It was a very poor village. With the coming of the Casino, everything changed for them. Good for them. That was my first introduction to local bias and prejudice. The Indians were within their rights as they had a treaty allowing them to use Gill Nets. However it is also the local fishermen who buy licences that keep the lakes stocked. A no win situation.
Before we got that far we stopped to admire this pretty girl


She came right over to me to be petted. I got a very sloppy kiss

Anyway, we took a spin around Northport and it has changed a lot. The old shops on the docks are gone now. They were fun because they were so weather worn and run down and full of knick knacks. I miss that. Mum and Dad shopped there for take home souvenirs. The Old Depot looks like it may now be a gallery, must explore come summer. Nothing opens here until after Memorial Day

After Northport there is nothing until we get to the Lighthouse. There was more snow up there, it gets very windy up at the tip.


Gerry immediately got back in the car haha...........I walked down to the beach.


I tried to take a picture of the horizon where you can see the cement plant out in Petoskey. My eyes were running and so with no sight in one eye and the other full of tears from the cold. I decided not to pick my way around the point.The ice on the beach was pretty.

I walked up to the lighthouse intending to go down to the beach on the other side of the point but I could not see well enough but the walk down from there was under trees and there was snow. So, I just went back to the car

That tree, I always laugh.....we went up there one year with Alexandra and she just had to sit on the branches in that tree. I went to take a picture and saw the sign haha, trust Alex.
These were pretty last summer

On the way back I had to take a picture of this old house. Maybe next time we will explore but by this time the sky was no longer blue and getting colder. I always wonder about their stories.

This farm used to house workers, immigrants who worked in the cherry farms around here.


That was a different time. It was good to see them every year, they were nice hard working people. Now the Cherry Orchards are taken over by Vineyards and Hop farms. Some Cherry farms remain. Now they are automated. Cherry Shakers take the place of people. So sad and with the government now, as it is with immigrants and Mexican workers, I am afraid those days are gone. They worked in the strawberry fields then the Cherries and then Peaches, Apricots, Apples and Pears. So spent entire Summers and Fall here in Northern Michigan. I miss them.