Boats played an important role in Orion’s development as a resort destination. The largest excursion boat, the Chautauqua, later widened and renamed the City of Orion, was a double-decker vessel that could accommodate 300 passengers, and on weekends passengers could enjoy dancing to orchestra music as it cruised around the lake. Other large boats hauled freight, passengers, and groceries to locations on the lake, while passenger boats followed regular routes, picking up and dropping off people at docks at Park Island, the Main Landing, now Green’s Park, hotels, and many other stops; passengers waiting at docks raised a flag to alert the launch pilot. In 1905 the U.S. Post Office designated Lake Orion as the site of the first Marine Postal Service in the country, and mail was delivered by boat to cottages that in the early days did not have addresses, so letters could be sent simply by writing the cottage name on the envelope and were delivered to mailboxes mounted at the ends of docks. Benaway’s Boat Delivery brought groceries to cottages around the lake, many different boats provided deliveries and tours in the early 20th century, and even a sting barge collected waste from outhouses. Folded brochures mailed to cities such as Detroit promoted vacations in Beautiful Lake Orion around 1915, and Venetian parades became a midsummer favorite in the 1930s as owners decorated their boats and lined up around the lake while onlookers gathered along the shores.