2018 Road Trip, Day 13

This is the day when I actually feel like I’m beginning the journey back home, and I also feel that this year’s trip was a good length, long enough to completely relax and enjoy the time away. Today started by saying goodbye to this wonderful view from my hotel room for the past three nights. It wasn’t the greatest hotel, but the private balcony was fabulous (except when people on either side started smoking, which was often 😡)

I mostly followed the Lake Huron coastline, stopping a couple of times to enjoy the water, sun, and fresh air. The first was at a small roadside park south of Cheboygan:

This was also a good opportunity to get the drone into the air before winds picked up later in the afternoon. Here are a couple of pictures from about 250′ up as well as a link to a slightly longer video (127MB) of a bit of the drone flight:

Short Drone Flight at a Roadside Park

My next stop was in Alpena at a park next to a marina. There’s a great walkway along the breakwater that’s good for a 15-minute brisk walk to the end and back, not counting time for pictures 😀:

Finally, I arrived in Frankenmuth and had Second Meal at the Frankenmuth Brewery; this place and Black Bottle in Fort Collins CO were definitely my two favorite spots on this trip. There are 16 taps here and only 4 are IPAs so there were plenty for me to choose from. From left to right, the flight is a sour, a kölsch, an oatmeal stout, and a red ale. All were excellent, and I also had a variant on the oatmeal stout that was made with fresh-roasted coffee beans. In the picture of the bar, note the double-level tanks! There are more behind the glass windows that can’t be seen from this angle as well as something hidden in the shadows up high … they’re not afraid of heights here! 😳

Finally, you know you’re in a town that wants to be seen as German when you get a view like this out your hotel room window. This is nothing compared to some of the buildings, and there are flowers everywhere on the main street.