The Algoway!

Earlier on Monday when we were approaching the drawbridge you cross over to get to Grand Haven, I saw a freighter unloading its yield right there, near the bridge. I pointed it out to the children and told them that I hoped very much we would get to see it leave the harbor.

But the third thing on our agenda:  (3)  Eat at Snug Harbor right on the channel!

 As we were eating our yummy food and drinking endless pop, guess what we were blessed enough to SEE? Yes! We saw this majestic freighter leaving port ...

 The funny thing is … at Grand Haven, freighters BACK out of the harbor ...

 It makes it very fun to watch this HUGE ship in reverse ...

 Did I tell you that I LOVE freighters? I do! I grew up boating in the Detroit River, and we would go near the shipping channels just to watch these great boats come through, from all over the world.

 Christopher brought it to our attention, that this ship was sailing from Canada. He noticed the maple leaf Canadian flag. Good job, Chris. Oh! And the name of this ship is ALGOWAY. We were sitting inside Snug Harbor watching it sail backwards down the channel.

 Suddenly, we said to ourselves: "Are we completely CRAZY?!! Let's finish eating quickly now and go chase it all the way to end of the pier!"

 Which is exactly what we did!

 We did, however, fly into my car and drive to a much closer parking lot--otherwise, this ship would have long sailed with us way behind!

 As it was, we parked our car, ran to the boardwalk and actually had an almost leisurely time watching it sail away.

 Isn't it so beautiful?

 The kiddos were pretty thrilled, although I must say NOT as much as I was. It's just that … this was such an extra special gift on this extra special day of being at Grand Haven with Ems, Chris and Matthew. I was so thankful!

 I love these kiddos!

 We had such a blast following it out of the channel.

 We were trying to guess … which way would it turn? Would it go north towards Muskegon? Or would it turn south and go to Chicago?

 We finally determined that it had gone NORTH ...

 So we were content to watch the waves a little bit ...

 The children even got VERY brave and stepped as close to the edge as possible! Matthew was quite hesitant!

 I guess if you have never stood on the end of a pier before, it might be scary … I don't know! I have never been afraid of the water or waves or piers or boats or … anything around the beach.

 And did I tell you that I just love the seagulls?

 Number four on our agenda:  (4)  Get a nice huge soft ice-cream cone! So we did. This ice cream place was directly across the street from Snug Harbor.

When we got to the window to place our order, Emma said: "Grandma? Since today is a special day, do you think we might be able to get a LARGE ice cream cone for once?" Certainly, precious Emma Joy! LARGE cones all around!