Muskegon

Explored (#99 on Wednesday, January 9, 2008). Thanks! Pretty boat. Leaving the harbor at Muskegon, Michigan. While I've seen, and photographed, most currently active lakes boats, this one had somehow escaped me until yesterday afternoon. We'd gone to Muskegon to walk the beach, and suddenly there she was, leaving the harbor. Sykes was the first American lakes boat completed after World War II, and was launched shortly after I was born. In many ways she's the prototype for a generation of lakers. And just plain gorgeous! Glad I finally found her.

Shot from the breakwater at the end of the channel at Muskegon, looking at the small beach within the larger breakwater which protects the harbor. I particularly like the peculiar clouds, which are probably more visible in the larger sizes. It was a glorious day at the beach.

Explored (#51 on Wednesday, September 19, 2007). Thanks! (No longer in the top 500.)

Best LARGE . My father walked beaches, so I grew up walking beaches. Mom would pack a lunch, we'd pile in the car and head to South Haven or St. Joe or wherever. We'd walk, sometimes for hours. Then for a long time I didn't walk beaches. Now I walk beaches again, though not as often as I'd like. This one happens to be Muskegon State Park. Explored (#50 on Wednesday, September 19, 2007). Thanks! (No longer in the top 500. Explore is mysterious.)

Muskegon, Michigan. Best LARGE . Explored (#60 on Wednesday, September 19, 2007). Thanks! (No longer in the top 500. So it goes....

Clipped from a larger photo, and perhaps a bit over-processed. These gulls were just wandering down the channel at Muskegon.

Explored (111 on Wednesday, September 19, 2007). Thanks! (No longer in the top 500. So goes Explore.) Wilfred Sykes ( again ) and an array of pleasure craft about to clear the Muskegon breakwater. Sykes will shortly be turning south, likely for one of the steel mills in northern Indiana. This photo works quite well in the larger sizes ....

Now a NOAA facility, as the sign over the door shows. Apparently this color scheme restores the original, though the materials have changed. Another photo from our Muskegon visit a couple weekends ago. A quick web search demonstrates that this century-old building's had several paint jobs.

Hoffmaster State Park, Norton Shores, Michigan.