We got an early start and traveled the 40 miles to Fayette.  It started out as a very nice cruise, sunny in the morning with the wind at our back. By the time we got there at 11:30 it was overcast but the temperatures are in the low 70′s This a deserted town that is now part of the Michigan Parks system, the docks are first come first serve with no utilities. We don’t expect to have trouble getting a space since we are the only boat headed north in Green Bay. We are wondering if there is something wrong with this picture, as we continue to talk about the Mississippi.

 

Fayette is an old company town that was abandoned over 100 years ago when it became cheaper to make pig iron using different methods. Originally the local limestone and abundant timber made this a profitable place for the Jackson Iron Company  to bring their ore and make pig iron.

 

Most of the laborers were immigrants and their children; they rented small cabins from the company. The largest remaining wooden structure is an old hotel that accommodated company officials when they visited and single workers.

 

The property was sold to an entrepreneur that tried to make it into a vacation retreat, but ultimately the state of Michigan bought the property and has restored some of the buildings and provided the dock. The dock had no services and is first come first serve, but the cove is very protected.

We got our bikes down and did a trail along the limestone cliffs and then back through the woods. Another looper came in, “Snow Cat”, we had not seen Don and Bernie since New York.

We spent the next day doing maintenance on the boat, the winds we over 20 mph out in Green Bay. Then we went to dinner with Don and Bernie at Sheery’s Port Bar. It was about a mile walk from the marina. We all enjoyed the Friday Night Fish Fry. The wind was really blowing as we came back from dinner. We don’t have phone or internet service here, but our chart plotter can get Sirius weather and we expect the winds to lay down over night. We think we will see Don and Bernie in Chicago if we both keep to our schedule to be there a few days after Labor Day.