Lake view

A hotel room with a lake view is particularly exotic. Last night in Sister Bay in Door County we stayed in the Country Resort Hotel, a modest hotel in a spectacular setting overlooking Sister Bay, an offshoot of Green Bay. We looked across to the marina in the part of town around the edge of the bay. It was a soothing view, both from our room and the terrace they had next to the pool with chaises longues.

Tonight is even more spectacular as we look onto the blue waters of Lake Superior from our Holiday Inn Express Lakeview in Munising, Michigan. The drive here could have been through Sweden -- a straight highway cut through the fir and pine trees with an open blue sky overhead and fluffy gray clouds. For some reason, Michigan is on Eastern time, so it was still light at 9:30 p.m. It was also awkward when we called at 7:19 about the 7:15 sunset boat tour to see the picture rocks along the coast here.