We're at the tip of the little finger

June 7th we drove to Mackinac Island With Doug and Nancy who live in Boyne City on another beautiful lake (Charlevoix) 12 miles long. Norm and I both are so impressed with the beauty of Michigans lakes. They are all crystal clear and the little towns and villages that surround them are so clean and picturesque. The lilac festival was going on on Mackinac Island but the lilacs were not really blooming there. It will take at least another week for them to come out. We enjoyed the Butterfly house. My camera is getting a real workout!! There are no automobles on the island so every one bicycles or uses horses to get around. We took a horse drawn buggy tour and walked, maybe next time we will take our bikes. We have been touring Charlevoix and the surrounding countryside with Doug and Nancy. Charlevoix like so many of these lake resort towns, has a large summer population and a lot of beautiful real estate, both new and old. The old is magnificent, including the homes designed by architect Earl Young, made of bolders and resembling mushrooms.
Michagans state stone is the Petoskey Stone. Doug found us some on the beach in front of his house and cut them in half for us. The brown and tan stones have a hexagonal pattern through them and I was told to paint them with clear nail polish to show off the shapes and patterns. I will work on that tomorrow! WOW! Tonight we were invited to go for a boat ride with Dougs neighbor. It's a big boat and I've never gone so fast on the water. What a lovely gesture and a wonderful way to spend our last evening here.