We purchased a new tube called The Revolution which we will break in tomorrow on the lake. It spins, which makes me dizzy just thinking about it.
Ernest Hemmingway based his famous "Nick Adams" stories on his summers spent at Walloon Lake.
Golfer Tom Watson (five time British Open Champion) also spent summers here at his family's lake house and comes back for the Walloon Lake Member Guest golf tournament. My son bumped into him buying sweet rolls at the "foot" .
The Watsons Celebrate 75 Years at WalloonLake
by Dave Barry
The lakes, streams, hills, dunes and pine and hardwood forests long have been a magnet for writers like Ernest Hemingway, Civil War historian Bruce Catton, Washington Post columnist David Broder and novelist Jim Harrison, television stars like Tim Allen and golfers from Walter Hagen to Tom Watson.
"I love that country up there," Kansas City native Watson said. "I love Walloon Lake. It's one of the most beautiful lakes there is.
"And all the lakes are different _ Walloon, Charlevoix, Round. I started going up north when I was five years old. My dad (Ray) had roots there. His father had a place on Walloon Lake."
"I first went up there in 1923," Ray Watson said, "and kept going-up for 35-40 years."
"When I first started going up there we'd stay for two weeks," Tom Watson said. "Then it was three weeks, then it was a month. I went up there every summer through high school and college.
"I love that country. It has a wonderful feel and the old Hemingway influence.
"Walloon Lake Country Club was a nine hole course when I first went up there and it was a perfect course for me. I was a kid and I went around and around it _ there wasn't a whole lot of play in those days.
Watson said that after he joined the PGA Tour he went up north for vacation, not to play golf.
"My dad would want to play and I'd say 'Naw, I'd rather fish every day.' Then when I'd get ready to go back to the Tour, I'd play Belvedere and Walloon."
Up in Michigan, to borrow a Hemingway phrase, the weather can turn fast, from going fishing weather, to playing golf weather, to eating hot dogs weather to devouring fudge weather. Young Tom Watson found it perfect for all of the above. And still does.
The "17"
--- sailboats of yesteryear built specifically for Walloon Lake .
--- sailboats of yesteryear built specifically for Walloon Lake .
There are still enough of these boats to race each week in the summer
This boat, #24 used to be owned by my cousin George Tayloe Forkin of Jackson Ms. The number refers to the order in which the boats were made. This one was the 24th.
We are an hour away from Mackinac (pronounced Mackinaw) Island and the famous Mackinaw Island Bridge which spans 5 miles!
The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island
My favorite view of Harbor Springs, a little town on Little Traverse Bay off Lake Michigan. The peninsula is referred to by locals as "The Point" . No cars are allowed.
The town of Harbor Springs
Picture Perfect Flowers
Horse Show by The Bay-
has some of the prettiest jumps of any horse show in the country and blooming flowers are everywhere.
The Bridge
Horse Show by the Bay's Signature Jump
The Chicago Yacht Club Race to Mackinac is the longest, annual freshwater sailing race in the world. It takes place on Lake Michigan.
The race departs from Chicago and finishes at Mackinac Island in Michigan.
