July 8th

Lavender Daze
		Drew, Tara, and Jayden walking in to the Lavender Daze festival.

We made it to our first destination, the Croswell Swinging Bridge slightly before 1:30pm, just as Tara had to take a business call. We took a few pictures with her before she stepped aside to answer her phone, while Drew, Jay and I explored the park area around the bridge as well as on the other side. The last time we were here was in 2008, and you can check out some of the pictures from that day by clicking here. Below is a description of the bridge from Michigan.org...
	The Croswell Swinging Bridge is a pedestrian suspension bridge in Michigan and is claimed that this is the longest spanning suspension foot bridge in Michigan, although Michigan really does not have many bridges of this type to begin with. It was built in 1905 at an original cost of $300. It spans 139 feet. The original bridge had just two cables which were provided by Michigan Sugar Company and were used to support the planks. To provide a handhold, two more cables were added at a cost of $150. In August of 2006, all 128 planks were replaced at a cost of $1,300. The Bridge originally had a sign at the west end that admonished people to "Love Ye One Another." A sign at the east entrance (Maple Street) still reads, "Be Good To Your Mother-in-law." A festival to celebrate the bridge takes place the second weekend of August each year and features cardboard boat races under the bridge.

Croswell's Swinging Bridge
		A sign posted near the north side of Croswell's Swinging Bridge.
		Tara, Drew, and Jayden posing for a couple of goofy photos on the bridge...

		A nice photo of Tara, Drew, and Jay.
		A look to the south at the Black River...
		...and a look to the west from the foot of the bridge.
		Drew "hanging out" on a tree over the Black River on the south side of Riverbend Park...

		Jay taking her turn posing for pictures on the tree...



		A look at the bridge from the south side of Riverbend Park.
		Jayden got ahold of my camera and managed to sneak in this selfie...
		...and this picture of Drew and Rodney (as he was talking to Grandma Terry about Grandpa Gary's pacemaker operation)...
		...as well as this shot of Tara taking her business call.
		One more shot of the Black River to the west of the swinging bridge.

Continuing our drive to the north took us to the municipal harbor in Port Sanilac. We stopped at the actual marina first, but decided against walking on the dock. We drove over to the boat launch just to the north of the harbor, and took a walk out onto the break wall there. We made a similar trek here back in 2004, and you can check out some of the pictures from that day by clicking here.

Port Sanilac Boat Launch
		A look at a freighter on Lake Huron on our drive along Lakeshore Road between Lexington and Port Sanilac.
		A look at the Port Sanilac Municipal Marina from the boat launch.
		A seagull flying over Lake Huron...

		Buttcrack on the beach!
		The waves were rolling in on this cool, windy day.
		Jayden, Rodney, and Drew posing for a selfie on the beach.
		Tara wanted in on the action as well!
		A look at the break wall that we were going to venture out on.
		Rodney took the brunt of the splash as a wave crashed into the breakwall...
		...while Tara got hit by a bit of the water, she was more concerned with laughing at Rod so much that she had to pee!
		A look at the harbor side of the breakwall.
		Drew, Jay, and Tara walking along the breakwall.
		A look out at Lake Huron from the breakwall.
		Drew looking out at Lake Huron from the breakwall.
		Lake Huron as seen from the breakwall.
		Tara, Drew, Rodney, and Jayden posing for a pictures with Lake Huron in the background...

		Tara walking back towards shore on the breakwall.

Our next stop was at the White Rock Roadside Park, a spot that we've been stopping at for pictures for many, many years. This time our experience was quite different, however. The initial impression was that nothing had changed, as the water pump that we used for years was still there (though no longer functional), and the walkway and everything else remained the same. It was at the end of the walkway where things drastically changed, though, as the stairs down to the beach are no longer there. You are currently limited to viewing the lake from the top of the walkway, which was a major disappointment to us. We always climbed down those stairs and took pictures on a downed tree that was located nearby. We did manage to find a trail down to the beach area that Drew, Jayden, and I hiked down, but the tree was no longer there for us to take pictures on (this part wasn't particularly unexpected, but still slightly disappointing). Overall, this experience was a little bit of a letdown.

As I previously stated, we have made visits here throughout the years. You can check out some of the pictures from those visits by clicking here, here, here, here, here, and here.

White Rock Roadside Park
		A look at the White Rock in Lake Huron.
		Some fish bones we found when we made the walk down to the beach area.
		Tara is located somewhere up amongst the brush looking down on us from the viewing platform.
		Jayden posing for a picture on the fill-in tree that we found on the beach.
		Drew taking a couple of photos on the fill-in tree...

		Jay and Drew posing together for a picture.
		Jay and Drew taking a picture with the fish bones.
		A couple of looks out at Lake Huron from the White Rock Roadside Park...

Our final destination of the day was for dinner, at the Williams Inn in Harbor Beach. I've been eating at this restaurant since before I could drive, and Tara & I have been coming here since we started dating. After being closed for a few years, it is back open, and we decided to give it a shot. Things seem more or less exactly the same as before, and we all ate too much!

I'm not going to link to the various trips here - most of them are the same trips as the White Rock Roadside Park visits listed above, so feel free to check those out!

Williams Inn
		At one time this little shack in the overgrowth was clearly visible from across the street at the Williams Inn...
		...but it nearly hidden away now.
		"Let's Eat Here"
		A look at Williams Inn from the road.
		A look inside the restaurant as Drew enjoys his selections from the salad bar.
		Drew put us in the guestbook.
		Our car (the black Equinox) parked a car that looks nearly identical to Grandpa Gary & Grandma Terry's - what are the odds?
		I've taken pictures of this shed several times over the years as well, though it is currently nearly fallen down.

Lavender Daze

Drew, Tara, and Jayden walking in to the Lavender Daze festival.

Croswell's Swinging Bridge

A sign posted near the north side of Croswell's Swinging Bridge.

Tara, Drew, and Jayden posing for a couple of goofy photos on the bridge...

A nice photo of Tara, Drew, and Jay.

A look to the south at the Black River...

...and a look to the west from the foot of the bridge.

Drew "hanging out" on a tree over the Black River on the south side of Riverbend Park...

Jay taking her turn posing for pictures on the tree...

A look at the bridge from the south side of Riverbend Park.

Jayden got ahold of my camera and managed to sneak in this selfie...

...and this picture of Drew and Rodney (as he was talking to Grandma Terry about Grandpa Gary's pacemaker operation)...

...as well as this shot of Tara taking her business call.

One more shot of the Black River to the west of the swinging bridge.

Port Sanilac Boat Launch

A look at a freighter on Lake Huron on our drive along Lakeshore Road between Lexington and Port Sanilac.

A look at the Port Sanilac Municipal Marina from the boat launch.

A seagull flying over Lake Huron...

Buttcrack on the beach!

The waves were rolling in on this cool, windy day.

Jayden, Rodney, and Drew posing for a selfie on the beach.

Tara wanted in on the action as well!

A look at the break wall that we were going to venture out on.

Rodney took the brunt of the splash as a wave crashed into the breakwall...

...while Tara got hit by a bit of the water, she was more concerned with laughing at Rod so much that she had to pee!

A look at the harbor side of the breakwall.

Drew, Jay, and Tara walking along the breakwall.

A look out at Lake Huron from the breakwall.

Drew looking out at Lake Huron from the breakwall.

Lake Huron as seen from the breakwall.

Tara, Drew, Rodney, and Jayden posing for a pictures with Lake Huron in the background...

Tara walking back towards shore on the breakwall.

White Rock Roadside Park

A look at the White Rock in Lake Huron.

Some fish bones we found when we made the walk down to the beach area.

Tara is located somewhere up amongst the brush looking down on us from the viewing platform.

Jayden posing for a picture on the fill-in tree that we found on the beach.

Drew taking a couple of photos on the fill-in tree...

Jay and Drew posing together for a picture.

Jay and Drew taking a picture with the fish bones.

A couple of looks out at Lake Huron from the White Rock Roadside Park...

Williams Inn

At one time this little shack in the overgrowth was clearly visible from across the street at the Williams Inn...

...but it nearly hidden away now.

"Let's Eat Here"

A look at Williams Inn from the road.

A look inside the restaurant as Drew enjoys his selections from the salad bar.

Drew put us in the guestbook.

Our car (the black Equinox) parked a car that looks nearly identical to Grandpa Gary & Grandma Terry's - what are the odds?

I've taken pictures of this shed several times over the years as well, though it is currently nearly fallen down.

Harbor Beach Area Sights

A water tower that just says "Sand Beach" - not sure what that represents, however.

We found the trimming of these trees for the power line to run through them to be interesting.

Albert & Edna Peters Homestead

The chicken coop on my grandparents former farm.