Caseville, Pt. IV

(contd.) 

The next morning, folks slowly got around and us adults started whipping together a breakfast of pancakes and bacon.

Kris in the kitchen. Where she belongs.

After breakfast, folks got around for the day, which took a little longer this time around 'cause we were actually showering and crap. See, today's weather had rain in the forecast, and was about ten degrees cooler than the previous two, sunny, mid-80s days. As such, the beach was out of the question, so our group had decided to head up to Port Austin in order to check out their farmer's market, hit up the pier, and grab some dinner instead.

A short, twenty-minute (-ish) drive later, we rolled into Port Austin and parked on the side of some random side street, about a block or two away from the packed farmer's market.

The Colliers obviously had to bring their dog with them (it's not like they could realistically leave her behind at the empty campsite), so Ryan hung back while the rest of us made our way into the farmer's market (which was set up in some large pavilion and its adjacent parking lot.

Erik attempts to shake off our two teenage daughters, who didn't know where they should go first.

Courtney, Mees and Kris, hittin' up the ol' blouse barn (or whatever.)

Outside of the farmers market, off to the left there, there was some indie-looking chick playing an acoustic guitar up on a little stage. Mostly to old people.

Kris up and bought a plant while she was there. Of course.

Us guys got bored with this place after, like, ten minutes, so we stood outside by the sidewalk with Ryan and waited for groups of wives and kids to wander out of the shit-show.

The Houghs (sans Cannonball.)

A couple of bored teenagers, waiting for the moms and the younger kids to hurry the hell up.

Abby really wanted this $80 sweater, but we were fortunately able to talk her off the cliff. She would have worn this thing once, realized she hated it, and it would have ended up in a Goodwill bag. That's what always happens.

I was struggling this morning, having slept like absolute crap the night before, so I attempted to close my eyes when the opportunity presented itself.

At long last, we were finally able to round up all the wives and kids and get them the hell out of that mass of people and stands.

The group walks towards the main drag that runs through Port Austin, heading towards the pier. Along the way, us dudes had to end up waiting, yet again, while all the women and kids ducked into a nearby store that lured them in.

About twenty minutes and a short walk later, we stopped by some public bathrooms before continuing on towards the pier. While Erik and I were waiting for our turn, we spotted this sign above a nearby drinking fountain. Kinda ridiculous someone had to make a sign for this. . .

Courtney and Kris, waiting for everyone else by some. . . statue? Fountain? Not sure what the hell this thing is.

I guess the word 'pier' isn't totally accurate here, this thing is more of break wall to protect the harbor from Lake Huron's waves.

Venturing out on the pier/break wall/whatever. We all felt bad for Winnie having to walk out on this sharp, metal grating, you could feel it through your sandals so it must have been brutal for her. Fortunately, it switched to concrete after awhile.

Ella takes a pic of Abby looking off in the distance. For the 'Gram, obviously.

There was about a ten-foot drop into the water below, but I was seriously the ONLY person freaking out about the kids sitting like this. All the other adults were like, 'it's fine, relax.' I can't relax in situations like this, I was not having a fun time out here.

The rest of the break wall (we didn't go any further than where you see all these pics.)

Port Austin, in the distance.

Waiting for the kids to get their fill of sitting on the perilous ledge.

More point-and-shoot camera pics for the girls' social media accounts. They definitely got their money's worth out of those cameras this weekend.

The offspring of Johnson, Hough, Collier and Griffin.

Abby attempts to make me feel better. I was funned out with this place after, like, two minutes.

Hey look, more Abby and Ella pics. . .

Nice job keeping your eyes open, wife.

You can see in the background there that we were nowhere near the edge of the break wall. I refused to go closer, I'm a big puss.

Random foot pic.

The guys purposely posed closer to the edge and made me back up to get to where they were at. I was not cool with this, despite how it looks here.

For the next pic I made Kris and Abby stand in front of a rail with me instead. Call me a coward, I don't give a shit.

Back on shore, where it's safe, the wives and kids had to hit up the bathrooms (yet again), so I attempted to close my eyes for a couple minutes again. Wasn't able to, unfortunately.

Our next stop on our lil' day trip was a late lunch/early dinner, at this outdoor brewery joint, a short walk away from the break wall. Collier called ahead due to our group being something like eighteen or nineteen in number, just to err on the side of caution.

Miraculously there was only like a half hour wait - the place was slammed - and by the time we arrived we only had to wait like ten minutes or so for the tables to open up. 

The view from the backyard of this brewery, with a private canal stemming from the lake and winding around these fancy, dockside properties. 

We weren't sure if those places were Airbnb's, or year-round properties, or what. Kinda hard to tell from the outside, but it'd be pretty sweet living next to a canal with access to the Great Lakes.

Erik catches up on all the hot, teenage gossip while we waited for our table to open up.

We all grabbed drinks while waiting. The beer selection was decent, but they didn't have anything that blew you away, unfortunately. 

When our table finally opened up, they had pushed two picnic tables together, then added on a smaller, square table at the end. This basically fit all of the adults plus the five younger kids.

The four older girls (Elise and Liv are a grade behind Abby and Ella at Midland High), were seated away from us at their own table (which they preferred anyway.)

The food was awesome there, and ended up being worth the wait (Kris and I each ate burgers and fries, and devoured them.) We walked back to the cars, loaded up, and headed back to Sleeper State Park, rolling back in around 4:30pm. The rain had all but missed us, and there wasn't any more in the forecast, but it was still kinda chilly and wet out, so we decided to head into Caseville for the evening. As we were getting ready to roll out, Erik spotted a stick bug on one of the grills' propane tanks. 

And this weird-looking bug on his cooler. Nature is downright scary sometimes.

While we were trying to figure out our next move, the wives tried to play a quick game of cornhole. This low-hanging branch (that us dudes had zero issue with during our multiple games earlier in the weekend), was pissing the womenfolk off, so Mees got out a ladder and ripped it down with her bare hands. These chicks are high maintenance. 

Myles kept pestering his dad to take him fishing this weekend, so Collier relented and announced he'd be heading to the marina in town to let Myles cast out a few times. Lonnie, Erik and I, along with LJ, came along as well. The womenfolk, meanwhile, broke off into two vehicles and headed into downtown Caseville to hit up a couple shops and places of interest. While they were doing so, Abby had to take advantage of all the new photo op spots along the main drag (obviously.)

Breaking out the fishing gear at the marina.

Shut up, sign.

This kid cast out his line for over and hour, and didn't get so much as a nibble. It was blowing everyone's mind, 'cause the weather was perfect for fishing - overcast, in the evening, no boats operating at all, etc..

Meanwhile, in town, the wives were checking out. . . whatever the hell this is.

Abby leaves her mark on some random white board somewhere.

Kris and Abby outside Beachy's, one of Caseville's institutions.

This restaurant has a large outdoor dining area with live music on weekends. Collier was itching to get down here so he could have a few beers while listening to a live band.

Unfortunately for him, Myles and LJ were still in hardcore fishing mode, and showed no signs of stopping anytime soon.

Some of the outdoor dining area behind Beachy's.

No idea what this is - a merch store?

Tagging the side of the building (I'm assuming that's cool.)

Abby makes friends with some ugly, obese dog. Somewhere.

Mees, Courtney, Stefanie and Kris.

More pics for Abby's 'Gram. . .

After over an hour of not getting one damn fish, Collier was ready to wrap things up. We loaded up into Erik's truck and drove over to Shakers, another Caseville staple, for some ice cream.

We got there about five minutes before our wives and the assortment of children showed up. For the next twenty minutes or so, folks placed their orders and settled into the booths, enduring scowls from the employees, who were NOT happy with a group our size popping in all at once. 

The wives took the kids back to the camp sites after everyone had finished their ice cream, but Collier wanted to check out the band playing at Beachy's still. When we arrived, he saw - to his dismay - the band was packing up their gear for the night, having reached the end of their show. He was pissed.

We decided to head in for a couple drinks and an appetizer, as it was starting to sprinkle out and the weather was cooling off.

That has to be the most expensive Moscow Mule I've ever seen. . .

Erik ordered us a plate of calamari to pick at, and we were pleasantly surprised to see that it was made from scratch, not just breaded shit out of a frozen, Walmart bag or something.

After a couple drinks, we came back to find the moms sitting around a picnic table under the canopies, hanging out and clucking about God knows what. We visited for a bit before breaking out the Eagle Rare and setting off on a walkabout of the entire campground for a bit.

Upon our return, we got our last fire of the weekend going, and hung out there for a spell before turning in for the night. Thus concludes our family's sole camping adventure of the summer. Like I said earlier, we will definitely be repeating this same, exact camping venture again next summer - this group worked out incredibly well. See ya 'round, gang. . .

- Fin