ミシガン湖のプライベートウォーターフロントの設定

I was born and raised in Chicago, but my family always vacationed and celebrated holidays in Shelby, where my grandparents lived and where my mother grew up. My parents actually met one summer when they were both picking cherries at a neighbor's farm.
In 1958 my parents, together with an aunt and uncle, bought this property which included 1000' of Lake Michigan frontage surrounded by 24 acres of forest.
For many years my family just parked our car on the side of Stone Church Road and we hauled our camping gear, food, ice and drinking water to the lake front where we set up our campsite. We made several trips along a well-worn deer path and all 3 children had to carry a load (my younger sister was 6 at the time). The first big improvement was drilling a water well. Several years later came the road and finally the ladies got their outhouse! Construction of the first cottage didn't begin until about 1967; my dad had designed the cottage and did as much of the construction work as possible - one of my cousins did all the electrical work. This was my family's cottage - the second one along the driveway and is now occupied by my brother. My aunt and uncle built their cottage in the 70's and this is the one I now use and rent out. Over the years we had many wonderful family gatherings at the cottages and on the beach, particularly Labor Day weekend when we had 3 birthdays to celebrate. The celebration always included making homemade ice cream - the old way, with the hand crank!
While most of my adult life I have lived on the East Coast, I always love to return to this part of Michigan and to my property in particular. This part of Michigan hasn't changed as fast as many other parts of the country, so it's always refreshing to me to glimpse a slower, simpler, kinder way of living.