Cedar Point
If you have ties to southeast lower Michigan and the surrounding area, you might be thinking I’m writing about the popular amusement park on the Ohio shore of Lake Erie. But I’m not. Actually, I am not an amusement park fan. It was different when I was a kid. When I was a kid, I longed for the annual arrival of the carnival up in the great white north. You know the kind. It had a ferris wheel and a tilt-a-whirl and cotton candy and various cheap and dirty sideshows. I longed to go to a place like Cedar Point in those days. Not so much now but that would be a whole ‘nother post.
I never got to go to the Cedar Point amusement park when I was a kid but I did get to walk to Cedar Point fairly frequently. It was “our” Cedar Point and it involved walking to the end of the beautiful sand Fin Family Moominbeach and then an adventure of clambering over big rock boulders and jungling through mo-skee-toe infested woods to get to our destination. It is at least a mile over there and so it was a trip that required a peanut butter sandwich lunch and an adult supervisor and, um, shoes. Or not. My own special moom, now known as The Commander, still tries to suggest that I wear shoes when I walk to Cedar Point. I would usually wear shoes in those days and, by the time we would get back to the beach after one of those treks, we would be tired and hot and chomping at the bit to take our shoes off and walk in the water.
Uber Kayak Woman and I re-created our childhood the other day and walked to Cedar Point. In our bare feet, as you can see. And yes those are bunions (you are wondering, people are always freaking out about those). I inherited them. Do they bother me? No! I walk about a billion miles a day and my feet never hurt and when I do wear shoes, I don’t wear stupid shoes. Ever! Chacos forever! And check out that Celtic second toe! [Er, don’t ask me about the crazy shoes I wore in my youth. I’ve blocked them.] Anyway, don’t ask! I do think that, weather permitting, bare feet are better on “our” rocks. Bare feet grip the rocks better. Shoes can be slippery.
The pictures are from two trips to Cedar Point: our walking trip and a solo kayak trip I took the next morning. Sun and fog were battling during our walking trip and you will see my beautiful relatives Uber Kayak Woman and Mouse (who met us on the beach on the return trip) more or less silhouetted against the fog. On the kayak trip, the lake was like glass and I spent some time with reflections and shadows, et al. You will see the remains of a rock dock that is probably 150 years old. I remember my dad, Grandroobly, showing me that when I was a little kid. Anyway… Click here or on the pic for the slide show. Oh and check this out for our trip last February to Cedar Point over ice.
June 26th, 2009 at 11:40 am
I have bunions too. Great Grandma O’Niel (Caroline, Sallys Mother) had huge bunions. She would buy shoes and cut them with a razor on the side so they would fit. Mine hurt… how come your don’t???? Because YOU never wear shoes. I have found some that don’t hurt. Try on a pair of Sketchers. I like the ones with velcro, around the toes and the ankle, so when your feet swell up, you can adjust them. Want a picture of my feet??? ;p
There’s nuthing like a good pair of moccasins either…..
June 26th, 2009 at 12:26 pm
Love the pictures! Number 12 manages to look like aerial photography. What was that silver line?
June 26th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
Number 12 is a reflection of the sky, of course. The silver line is the vapor trail from a passing jet. Or “paper jail” as a friend of mine used to call them.
June 26th, 2009 at 7:29 pm
Thanks for the clarification on #12. I liked it very much, but couldn’t figure it out….