Best Birthday Brunch Ever!

We are still in Traverse City, enjoying the atmosphere of the film festival that Michael Moore started here six years ago. The harbor filled up with boats helmed by people coming to town to see movies, including our friends Kent and Marianne Reynolds on "Andiamo" from Elk Rapids. We enjoyed an evening catching up with them over a glass of wine. They gave us the sad news that our friend Lou Swartz from "Pooh", who was the first person we met when we arrived at Elk Rapids harbor fourteen years ago, passed away in early July from cancer. He was always a cheerful presence on the dock and will be sorely missed. Another familiar boat sailed in on Thursday. The schoolship "Inland Seas" came in to give tours and educational sails around the bay to tourists. Also here is Fred Rachwitz on his Nonsuch 30 "Concerto," who was assigned the slip right next to us! Everyone likes our criss-crossed wishbones. (If you click on the second photo to enlarge it, and look very closely under the forward end of our wishbone, you'll see a row of green porta-potties set up for the outdoor movies shown on an inflatable screen each night in a park next to the marina.)
Because today is my birthday, we decided to brunch somewhere special. There are lots of new restaurants in town (another consequence of the film festival), many of them quite good. We walked a short way into town to "Patisserie Amie" and enjoyed the most delicious brunch I can ever remember. The menu is authentically French with lots of yummy-sounding things to choose from. We only wish we had found it sooner! Tonight we will try another place that comes highly recommended, "Fire Fly," for a light dinner before attending a showing of the Swiss film, "Die Standesbeamtin" or "Will You Marry Us?" as it's known in English.

We are planning to leave Traverse City tomorrow morning bound for Sutton's Bay. The forecast is for wind from the southwest, which will be ideal. We might need to take in a reef, though, as they are predicted to blow at 15 to 20 knots. At least there's no rain in the forecast until nighttime.