Ending our time at Sleeping Bear Dunes

July and August

Miscellaneous images from our time here

Door hinge on the General Store in Glen Haven

Matthew answering questions in the blacksmith shop 

Stan (overalls) is a master blacksmith who, at the age of 83, drives out from Pennsylvania to give us a class. Liz, far left, was Cheryl's blacksmithing mentor

The next day the smoke was too bad from the Canadian fires to not be indoors with ac, so we met in the volunteer space - Tom C, Stan, Ranger Casey, Miles, Matthew, me, and Sandy

The Old Mission area of Traverse City

Original Mission church

Stopped for ice cream at Moomers

Matthew graduated to full-on blacksmith!

We worked the Port Oneida Days fair at the Port Oneida historic agricultural area of Sleeping Bear Dunes.

"Portable" blacksmithing set up

The Thoreson house, (above photo) is where Bach wrote this

Liz holding the dinner bell Kerry and Tom made, and I assisted

Dairy farm at Dechow house

My new bike!

A hightpoint of our time here was a short visit from Cameron and his girlfriend Johanna. Of course we had to take them all over

It's impossible to photo how steep this dune is - it is 450 feet tall with a ~32 degree angle

That boat is at the base of the dune

Cam and Jo doing the Dune Climb

Hiked to Pyramid Point

Empire Bluffs hike

Got out to the Mission Point Lighthouse

Old Mission General Store - get your groceries, deli sandwich, and anything else you can think of

Includes a room to eat your items, hang out, or play games. There was a rousing card game happening while we were there

Memories of a General Store from my childhood - I was fascinated that you could grab a pickle like this 

Passing ore boat

Strong winds, small craft advisory, lovely waves. 

Am artist I am not! But it was fun to participate in the Paint with a Ranger event at the Maritime Museum

My favorite boat in the Cannery/Boat Museum - Coast Guard TRS rescue boat

The season has come to an end for us and, as the leaves begin to change, we leave Sleeping Bear Dunes

Our Weekend in Detroit

 July 28 - 30, 2026

We went to Detroit on our days off and explored outsider art, architecture, Henry Ford legacy, and hopped over to Canada on the brand-new Gordie Howe Bridge.

The first evening we walked along the waterfront and then the Dequindre Cut, a below-street-level former railroad track now turned art walk

Free merry-go-round on the waterfront

Sculpture from a single log in front of the nature center

Contrast of neglected and new shiny Detroit

The next day we went to Greenfield Village and the Henry Ford complex. The village was created by Ford as an educational and experiential site for children to learn about history. Ford was dyslexic and this was how he thought children should learn. He acquired almost 100 historic buildings from all over the country and located them here.

A Cotswold English cottage he fell in love with and moved here

The Henry Ford Museum was part of this complex. There was so much to see, it was overwhelming.

Dwight D Eisenhower's presidential bubbletop 1950 Lincoln

Kennedy's 1961 Lincoln presidential car - the one he was assassinated in 

Franklin Roosevelt's presidential 1939 Lincoln

Teddy Roosevelt's 1902 Brougham

Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House - lightweight, space efficient, resource saving 

Matthew's contribution to the Civil Rights displays

Bed in a suitcase

Rosa Parks bus

Dinner time called for the home of the Detroit style pizza, and we were not disappointed!

Since it was still daylight and the Gordie Howe Bridge had opened just a week or so ago, we decided to go to Windsor, Canada and check out a church that was on the underground railroad.

And then on to Paterson Park

Our final day was dedicated to folk art and majestic buildings. First stop, the Disneyland of Hamtramck, a backyard project of retired immigrant Dmytro Szylak.

Then on to the Heidelberg Project.

A change of pace with the Guardian Building

Unfortunately, Motown was closed for a major expansion project

Then the Lincoln Street Art Park

And finally the Fischer Building