A full day with many highlights in Manistee, Michigan

Hard to imagine that the best day of our trip so far started with doing laundry.

We woke up to howling winds that had us worried for a minute that we might be climbing out of our trailer while it was laying on its side. After thinking about it for awhile we realized it would take more than 45 mph gusts to turn over the trailer with us inside.

So far this trip has been a lot like our first one in Kentucky. We’ve used the heater, the fireplace (yes, this thing has an electric fireplace complete with logs) the air conditioner and at times we simply opened the vents and windows to let in the fresh air. Typical Michigan fall weather, a little bit of everything.

Today looks promising with temperatures expected in the low 70s and light winds and only a small chance of rain.

Anyway, back to yesterday. After finishing up the laundry, which included walks around the park while the clothes were rinsing and tumbling, we cleaned up, watched “Days of Our Lives” and then headed out to Manistee, Michigan.

We found Manistee to be a surprisingly wonderful destination, one neither of us had ever visited before.

To get there we used our OnStar navigation system which sometimes results in humorous pronunciations. Yesteday is was “Loooodington” instead of Ludington. Our own city Lapeer (La – pier) comes out (La – pierre) when the automated voice gets through with it.

We arrived there about 4 p.m. and parked downtown which was pretty deserted. Online we had seen that they had a nice Riverwalk so decided to sample that.

Starting at the east end of the walk we found ourselves on the boardwalk that runs along the Manistee Riiver and its many marinas leading to the harbor opening to Lake Michigan. The walk has many historical markers with interesting information about Manistee’s past.

I love the quirky stuff like the fact that the federal government came to town in the 1880s searching for a number of prominent citizens who were making a tidy fortune harvesting trees off federal land. Some of them were fugitives for many years leaving behind businesses for family members to run while they fled from the feds.

The fishing industry was huge in Manistee and there are still a number of fishing charter companies moored here. The weather was warm and we really enjoyed our 1.5 mile walk along the river. It is obvious that this town understood and developed well its best resource to attract tourists.

By the time we finished our walk it was time for dinner and we returned to the Boathouse Grill, a downtown restaurant we had seen on our walk along the Manistee River. We were early enough to get a table on the window and Joan ordered the Smothered Chicken Dinner (smothered with shrimp). I had the “Black and Blue” sirloin which also included a Cajun style shrimp side dish. The price was reasonable and very, very tasty.

The reviews for the restaurant were mixed online, but we found our food and service very good. (View at right is from our table)

After dinner we headed for the real reason for our visit, a concert with Michigan actor/musician/songwriter Jeff Daniels. Unfortunately he is best remembered for his starring role in “Dumb and Dumber” with Jim Carrey but his list of movie accomplishments is much longer. One of my favorite Jeff Daniels’ roles was his portrayal of U.S. Army Colonel Joshua Chamberlain, in the movie “Gettysburg.” He did a great job and looks a lot like the Maine school teacher turned hero. But he has many, many more credits, including being killed by Clint Eastwood in the movie “Blood Work.”

The concert was held at the Historic Ramsdell Theatre, which includes among its credit the launching of the career of James Earl Jones. Jones started as a stage carpenter at the theater, but later performed in plays.

In his concert, Daniels sung his own work called “Dirty Harry Blues” about his experience of being a serial killer killed by Clint Eastwood in the movie. A very funny song.

The two-hour concert was filled with laughter and he sang his signature song, “My Grandfather’s Hat,” which is poignant piece.

After the concert he stayed and met with fans and I snapped a photo of Joan with him. A great, great night which ended very late for us after the 40-minute drive back to the campground.

If you get a chance to see Jeff Daniels in concert, and he sometimes performs at his own Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, Michigan where he continues to live with his wife. From his early days in show business he made a decision not to move to New York and Los Angeles so he could give his children a normal upbringing.

It means a lot of extra travel for him, but those of us in Michigan appreciate his loyalty and down-to-earth Midwestern values. His performance at the Ramsdell Theatre was a benefit for the local community theater group and a local community college’s drama program.

Judging by the audience they should have raised a fair amount of money last night. (Photo is Jeff at our concert - best I could do with the lighting)