We arrived mid-day in St. Ignace, the very last stop before leaving the U.P. and crossing the Mackinaw Bridge over to "mainland" Michigan. After running some errands (laundry day!), we took a little walk along Lake Huron then headed about 15 minutes out of town to settle in at our Harvest Host stay for the evening - The Gourd Barn.
Built in 1908, the barn has been wonderfully preserved and serves as the owner's wood workshop, artist studio, and antique collection display. The owner artist re-purposes many items into unique pieces as well as crafts decorative items out of the dried, massive gourds that grow in her garden. There was a huge area for us to park the camper and space for the kids and dogs to play. After peeking in the barn to check out the eclectic collection, our host insisted that we help ourselves to the fresh vegetables in the garden. The kids had a blast digging up carrots and beets, picking tomatoes, and nibbling on the grapes growing up the bottom of an old windmill.
Being out of town and in the woods a little, we heard a pack of coyotes call just after the sun went down - much cooler than highway noise, but Rory did not appreciate the new neighbors.
