Mermaid Marooned on the Beach: Swimming at Good Harbor after a Storm
As a mermaid, I have never swam anywhere besides my typical area near a local marina and once in Lake Leelanau. I can't see very well, so going to new places for a swim is a terrifying thing! However, my dad convinced me to try going somewhere different for a change back in early August. Where did we end up going? Good Harbor Beach, in Leelanau County.
Do you like this picture? You can buy it (and many more mermaid pictures) over on my Redbubble shop, which you can find by clicking the photo of me as a pirate-mermaid. :) You can buy it as a photographic print, or on various objects such as coffee mugs, Tote Bags (my favorite!), pillows, and much more. ♥
Good Harbor is a B-E-A-U-T-I-F-U-L beach that stretches on for what seems like forever. In order to get to the water, you have to take a short, sandy path that is hidden away in a wall of greenery and wild phloxs. It is a sight to behold! But, getting to the lake when you're half-fish can be quite tricky. At first, I thought it would be next to impossible to swim at Good Harbor without having to get into my mermaid tail at the beach, but lucky for me, my dad is a really creative guy, and super smart too! He figured out a rather innovative mer-transportation method that worked like a charm. As it turns out, sleds can be used long past when the snow melts. They are great for transporting mermaids across expanses of sand... even clumsy mermaids like me! (Not gonna lie... sand-sledding's a pretty wild adventure as a mer!) I wish I had pictures of the sledding portion of our outing, but sadly the camera-man was too busy dragging me around to take pictures! Hehehe!
We did manage to capture some mermaiding footage though.
Swimming at Good Harbor Beach
The water was NOT ideal for swimming in, let alone, mermaiding! Honestly, I pretty much told my dad "I can't do this, let's go home" after spending about 2 minutes in the lake. It was murky. It was cold. It was SO WAVY!
He helped me plop up on the shore after all of my fussing and we took some of the photos that you see posted here. Then, he went to fetch me some clothing and some towels. While he was walking away, I started thinking about how we had made it all the way to the beach from home. My dad and my little sister waited all of that time for me to do my makeup, put my wig on and put my tail on. They helped move me from the car to the shore, and even took pictures and videos for me. I felt like I wasted everyone's time by being scared off by the less-than-pleasant conditions.
Boy, oh boy... my tail was SO incredibly dirty after we went for our swim. There was sand in the bathtub, sand on the floor, sand on me... sand EVERYWHERE!!! Hahahha
So... I asked dad if we could give it another go.
Now, please note that I wouldn't have done this if I thought my life, or anyone else's, would be put in danger. I knew I could swim fine in the water, maybe not gracefully, but well enough to not drown or get hurt. It wasn't the fact that the water was choppy that I got out in the first place, it was my fear of the unknown that washed me up on shore. I wasn't prepared for mermaiding in anything that was less than calm. I was used to my comfortable lake back by the marina. I had never been to Good Harbor before. It was uncharted territory.
If you watched the video, I'm sure you'll agree with me that the lake was a little rough. Despite that, it was a great day. After I got past my fear, I had a wonderful time and so did dad!
While I tried making the video look like I was on some sort of terrible adventure through treacherous waters... what you didn't see (at least not yet ;D) is all of the footage that I cut. All of the smiling, the laughing, the uncontrollable giggles and the fish-flopping-log-rolling that I had to do to splash back into the lake. Had I not "braved the storm" and given it another go, we would have ended the day feeling blue and disappointed. It would have been a long car ride home. Instead, we all went home blabbing on and on about all sorts of silly things... and dead fish.
I loved that there was so much greenery near the beach! I feel like this picture looks like I'm on a tropical island, or something! Hahaha! Too bad I'm not that kind of mermaid! ;D
That's a story for another day!
I hope you enjoyed hearing some more about the little adventure we took back in August. Did you like the video, by the way? Personally, I LOVED the music that was used for it. Adrian von Ziegler is a very talented artist and I am so grateful that he allowed me to use his piece (I'll link it here, it's called "Morrigan") for my video. You should go check out his channel! Tell him Phantom sent you! ;)
Thanks for spending your evening with me!
XOXO- Mermaid Phantom
(P.S.) Want to meet a mermaid?
Let's talk business! I would love to make an appearance at your festival, party, or other special event! As a professional mermaid, it is my mission to create lasting memories for you and your guests. Click HERE to learn more about how you can hire me for your next private, or professional function. Not in Northern Michigan? I can travel too!
Mermaids of the Great Lakes - A new mermaid song about mermaids has been released! However, this song isn’t about mermaids swimming in oceans or charming sailors. This is a song about the mermaids who swim in the Great Lakes. This blog post will share this new song, which was created by a local of Northern Michigan, and it will also tell you more about the mermaids mentioned in the song.