The ferry leaves Charlevoix at 8 a.m. through Labor Day with two and sometimes three daily round-trips. On the new boat, passengers can sit indoors, outside in sheltered areas or on the breezy decks for the crossing to St. James. Take a book, a newspaper or a chatty companion. The marine office is in an old blacksmith shop from the island's sawmill and lumbering days. Beaver Island and the surrounding smaller islands of the Beaver Archipelago were once famous for their commercial fishing, which peaked between the 1880s and 1930s.
Many road signs are small or absent.
If you ever get so lost that your foot touches Lake Michigan, simply turn around and go the other way. Amazingly, even teenagers waved. Basking in unaccustomed friendliness, we drove through St. James, which with its frame buildings and open land has a frontier-town atmosphere. Then we set off to explore the island's northwestern shore and Donnegal Bay. From there, we browsed through woods, along the water and around a few of Beaver Island's seven inland lakes and nature areas.