Monthly Archives: August 2015

This part of the Upper Peninsula is ALL about copper and everything that used to be connected with the boom days of copper.  Just north of Houghton, where we are staying, is a town named Calumet that was created around the C & H Mine, hiring people from all over the world from 1849 into the 1930s.

The paternal philosophy of the management provided all kinds of benefits to the workers such as health care, housing, schools, good working conditions, churches and social clubs and lodges.  With wages higher than most other jobs in the country, this area was ideal for immigrants wanting to bring families from their home countries and many did just that.  There are still high concentrations of Italian, Scottish, and Austrian American populations in this area.

In the mid-1950s, Calumet decided (since the mines were gone forever and no other industry to take its place) preservation of the past and the rich history of this area was in their best interest and that is what they have done.  The old red sandstone buildings have been repurposed to house museums and exhibits of the days gone by and are now part of the Keweenaw National Historic Park.

St Anne’s Catholic Church

St Paul the Apostle Catholic Church

The historic Calumet Theatre, originally opened in 1900, has been restored and is still in operation.  Just this past week there was a performance of a live act and the theatre hosts “dinner and a movie” nights periodically for the local residents.  In its prime, this theatre hosted the likes of Sarah Bernhardt, Douglas Fairbanks, Sr., Wallace Beery and John Phillip Sousa.  The grandeur of the interior is still very evident.

Calumet Theater

Inside Calumet Theater

One of the senior managers of the C & H Mining Company built a house in nearby Laurium at a cost of $50,000 in 1908 and contains 13,000 square feet within its four floors.

Laurium Manor – Laurium, MI

The interesting thing for me was the history of this house and how it was brought back to life as a functioning bed and breakfast.  It seems two students from Michigan Tech saw the house while they attended college here.  They moved to California after graduation but always remembered the house.  From the time they saw it to the time they eventually bought it in 1989, the house had had several owners and the last was an antique dealer who striped the house of stained glass windows, fixtures and all the lovely furniture.  Over time they got the opportunity to buy the house, or what was left of it, and gradually restored it one room at a time until they made the decision to leave Silicon Valley and run the B & B themselves.  Library

Hallway

One of the bedrooms

In the Carriage House there is a turn-table used to get the Pierce Arrow car out once it was driven in.  I never knew this, but the early cars had no reverse, so if you drove into a garage, you had to push it back out.  This ingenious couple have found a Pierce Arrow and repaired the turn-table to add more authenticity to the house.

Turntable in Carriage House

Now they own several historic sites as vacation rentals and are very active in the historic preservation of this area.

Farther north, there is the Fort Wilkins National Park which was built in 1849 for the sole purpose of maintaining the order when this area first opened for copper mining.  After two years, it was determined not to be needed and deactivated until  1867 when it was activated again for a short while.  As a result of the minimal use, the buildings were in good enough shape to preserve and opened as a historic museum.

Inside Ft. Wilkins

Of course, there is no shortage of lighthouses or waterfalls on this peninsula.

Copper Harbor Lighthouse

Silver Falls near Copper Harbor

Jacob’s Falls

Eagle River Falls

Sand Hills Lighthouse

Some of the lighthouses are now private residences and not opened to the public, which is the case with Sand Hills, but we peeked anyway.

When we woke up Monday morning it was 52 degrees and rainy.   Most of our neighbor campers were packing up to leave because the prognosis was for this kind of weather for a few more days. Even though we were not scheduled to leave for one more day,  we decided we would move a day early and the park we were headed to could accommodate us.

As we drove closer to our destination, the temperature kept dropping with a low point of 47 degrees and still rainy.  I had to laugh because Jim had shorts on confident it would warm up as the day progressed.  That didn’t happen and we had to go through the setting up process with winds of 15- 20 MPH, drizzling rain, and a temperature of 51 degrees.   Miserable is the only word that comes to mind.

The next day we went on our first sightseeing adventure to the Quincy Mine being advised it was the perfect rainy day activity.  This area is famous for its copper mining and in the early 1900s actually had more millionaires per capita because of it than anywhere else in the country.   The copper rush in this area started in 1843, six years before the California gold rush  and from 1862 to 1920 this mine paid its investor’s dividends on a consistent basis earning the nickname of “Old Reliable”.

In 1945 the Quincy Mine ceased operation and in 1961 a not-for-profit corporation, Quincy Mine Hoist Association, Inc., was formed to preserve the remaining mine and buildings.  Believe it or not, we were given a tour of the mine shaft 350 feet below the road and 1900 feet into the mountain.  Before we could venture down we had to put on hard hats and coats because the temperature in the mine is 43 degrees; not that much colder than at ground level, but I was thankful for the extra coat.  This mine has 92 levels and we were taken down to level number 7.

Tram that took us to level 7 of 92 in the mine

Incline of tram

Entrance to mine today

Today, all the levels below 7 are flooded but still, 350 feet is low enough for me.  I can’t even begin to tell you all the things we saw and heard about how the miners did their job back in the mid-1800s and how methods improved over the years.  One thing that struck me was initially the men had to climb down a series of ladders to work in the mine and then after working a 12 hour shift, climb back up again.  Not too bad if you are on one of the upper levels but what if you were working on level 35?  There was also only candle light to work in and if the candle blew out you had to relight it with flint and tinder in the dark.  The men were paid well for this work getting over twice the salary per month than a soldier of that day.

Mass of Solid copper

Ore on wagon (trams) to take to lift which brought ore to surface

Drills that were used to drill holes in rock for blasting

I have to say, this is the most unusual tour we have taken in all our travels.

Control tower in Hoist House

Cars (Skips) that hauled out the ore

water car to take water out of mine on left, man car on right side to transport men in and out of mine

The shaft that these cars rode on was at a 54 degree angel as you can see in this picture.  Imagine riding down a car like the one on the right side down 9000 feet into the earth at approximately 15-20 mph.  I didn’t see any seat belts.

We had to drive to Marquette to go to church this morning because there is no Church of Christ in Munising and we found a small but friendly church not far from the downtown area.

Marquette is a larger city with all the franchise options of restaurants available but we were directed downtown to the locally owned L’Attitude Bistro and what a treasure.  They had fresh brewed ice tea that tasted like real tea!  Our delightful waitress, Traci, said the assistant manager drinks iced tea all day and is fanatical about it being made right and tasting good.  I have to think most of the other restaurants we have been in never taste the stuff they pass off as iced tea.

Once we tasted the tea, everything on the menu looked good and we acted like people just rescued from a deserted island.  We ordered something called Falafel Waffle as an appetizer.

Appetizer Falafel Waffle

This is a batter made of chick peas with middle eastern spices then put into a small waffle iron and served with a sour cream and dill sauce, cucumber, lettuce and tomato and Traci suggested that we construct each bite to make sure there was sauce, tomato, cucumber and lettuce on each one.  She was right.  It was good if you got all the flavors together.  As a stand alone food, falafel has little taste.

Then I ordered the Ahi Tuna salad with wasabi cream and home made sesame dressing while Jim had Whitefish Tacos.

“Wicked” Sesame Ahi Tuna Salad

Shipwrecked Lake Superior Whitefish Tacos

Not knowing when the next opportunity for food other than mediocre fried fish or meatloaf would present itself, we opted for coconut crusted chocolate pie and raspberry-peach fruit tart for dessert.

Coconut Crusted Chocolate Pie

Raspberry Peach Tart

Stuffed with good food and no plan, we drove to find a lighthouse that turned out not to have public access.

Marquette Lighthouse

Then we drove along a beach side park with some pretty overlooks.

Pool at shoreline – Marquette Bay

Rocky shoreline at Marquette

and noticed all the flowers planted along the side of the main roads, reminiscent of the smaller towns down south.

Flowers on Main Street in Marquette, MI

Across from the restaurant there was this strange looking thing.

Iron Ore Loader

Later in our drive, we found one of these iron ore loaders in operation with rail cars on it. It looks like the rail cars filled with the ore are driven out onto the top of the loader and ore is dumped into a hopper and down chutes to load onto freighters.

Most places we go, we ask about the name Yoopers and what do they call people down state.  Everybody up here immediately says Trolls, but we got a little more information this time.  The complete answer is, “Trolls because they live under the bridge”.

On Friday, we left inland rural Newberry and traveled to coastal rural Munising, trading the woods for the coast but staying very rural.  In fact, we even had a sighting of Big Foot.

Big Foot

The Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore and numerous water falls are the big attraction to this area and we have joined many others in making this trip this year.  One of the waitresses we spoke to said there is a 30% increase in tourism this summer and none of the restaurants were ready for it.  They are all short on food supplies and wait staff.  Even our RV park is booked to the point where we could only get water and electric; no sewer available.  We think most of the parks in this area are strictly seasonal and have a higher percentage of pop up and tent campers who don’t need sewer so they don’t go to the expense of putting it in at many sites.

Bright and early on Saturday morning, we left the RV to visit a few of the falls in the immediate area.  The Wagner Falls, and Munising Falls are maintained by the National Park Service with walkways and steps leading to these falls.

Wagner Falls

Munising Falls

We read that the falls are more spectacular in the Spring when the melting snow adds to water volume coming down he rocks, but they were still pretty to see during this time.

Our next stop was at Miner’s Falls and then Miner’s Castle, which is a huge rock on the coast that resembles a castle.  While it doesn’t sound like much, these three locations earned us most of our 10,000 steps for the day (we put pedometer apps on our phones).   It was the last stop that finished us up and took us over the goal to almost 13,000 steps and almost finished me completely.

Miner’s Falls

Miner’s Castle in Painted Rocks National Lakeshore

The adventure didn’t start well when we drove past the entrance three times without seeing it.  There were two narrow staircases hidden by the trees with no parking visible on the same side of the highway.  We found parking on the opposite side and walked across to find the staircase and half way up what looked like a grave stone with a man’s name and his apparent date of birth and death.  This to me is not what you want to see as you begin a walk into the woods.  I walked a little farther and the wooden steps were replaced with an 18 inch wide path over roots and rocks.  Of course, I asked Jim to go ahead and find out what we were getting into.  My hero!  Before long he was calling me to follow him so up I went climbing on rocks and roots carefully placing my feet at every step.

Steep path at times

When we reached the plank bridge over a stream with no railing,

I began to question my faith in Jim’s decision-making ability.  Not too far from there was the falls, by far the most rustic and interesting but also the most difficult to get to.  Here at the falls was another grave stone complete with name and beginning and end dates.  What were they thinking!

Tannery Falls

The trail continued around into a big horse shoe and ended at the second staircase.  On the return leg of the horse shoe, we noticed blue dots on the trees to guide the adventurers to the falls.  Maybe we are not as bright as your average tourist looking for waterfalls, but I might have done this entire stop differently.

With 13,000 steps under our belts, it was time for lunch and more mediocre food before we took off on our Pictured Rocks Cruise.  It looks like the economy of this town is supported primarily by the tourists taking these hourly cruises and things may not have been good for a while.  There were lots of closed businesses and very little traffic except around the dock.

I have to say the cruise was by far the highlight of the day giving us views you could not see any other way than from the water.  Besides, we had earned our 3 hour rest on board the ship.  We chose the 5 pm cruise thinking the sun would be shining on the rock formations and we were right.

Miner’s Castle from the water

Looks like murals on walls

Indian Head

While each view was more spectacular than the last, the most memorable was the rock standing off shore with the tree growing on top with the roots stretching across to the main land and thriving.

Battleship row

Spray Falls

After the cruise we decided a dessert Pastie was in order so we stopped and got two to go.  They would taste good with some hot coffee back at the RV.  The wind was howling but we were warm and secure reflecting on our day and looking forward to tomorrow’s adventure.

Today we were promised sunny but cool weather so we planned a trip to the Crisp Point Lighthouse and the Bear Ranch.  We were warned the road to the lighthouse had a section that was not paved but it was well traveled and no problem.  The first ½ hour I was not at all concerned even though we were seeing nothing but trees; no other cars or houses anywhere.  The second ½ hour I was expecting to see Sasquatch any minute come running out of the woods.  One thing I decided is For Sale and Stop signs seem foolish in the middle of nowhere.  We had packed a lunch thinking we could picnic at the lighthouse and at this point Jim said he was glad we brought food.  To make things worse, it started to rain pretty heavy and I announced if it continued I was not getting out of the truck.

Then we saw a sign that said the road was narrowing making our two way dirt road into a single lane winding road with many blind corners.  A little while after that we saw a sign that said, “Lighthouse 6.5 miles.”  We had already driven over twenty miles averaging about 16 miles an hour (do the math) and I seriously doubted the existence of this place.   As the signs counted down the miles, the road seemed to get even narrower and then suddenly there it was; a lighthouse on the edge of Lake Superior and even other cars with visitors like us.  The restroom door had a note above the sign that said “Thank God a restroom” and I agreed completely.  By the way, just as we approached the lighthouse the rain stopped.

This lighthouse, unlike so many others, has no fee or rules and was maned exclusively by volunteers who came and camped for one week at a time.  It has no funding source other than donations but the light itself is still operational and serviced by the Coast Guard.  This was the same situation at the Whitefish Point Light station; the Coast Guard only owns the top ten feet of the station including the light.

Typical shoreline of Lake Superior

Shoreline is sand and rocks

Crisp Point Lighthouse from beach side

Of course once we were far enough away from the truck to run back, it started to rain again and we ate our box lunch in the truck.  So much for the Bear Ranch!

When you read this post, you have to understand we had to go to McDonalds to have coffee and use their Wi-Fi to share this story.  By the way, using the fresh water tank is not that bad because it holds 80 gallons.

We left Sault Ste. Marie, the oldest city in Michigan, for Newberry, the beginning of our trek through rural UP.  Our campsite in Soo had no sewer but our holding tanks are sufficient to support our needs for four or five days and Jim told me it would be the same in Newberry.  No problem.  What I didn’t expect was the revelation that we had no water either and had to rely on our fresh water tank.  Visions of water restrictions danced in my head and I thought, “I don’t remember signing up for this”.  At least they have cable and I can stay up to date on the latest political news.

The park is small with all pull through sites and our site is next to this large pine tree for added shade.  Not too bad actually.  The only problem is absolutely no cell phone coverage and limited Wi-Fi.  As we drove to the park, in the closest town I noticed two options for lunch; McDonalds and Pizza Hut and not much else.  The reason I haven’t been talking about food much is we haven’t found much to talk about.  In general, restaurants do not serve very good iced tea.  In one restaurant I asked for hot tea and a glass of ice.  As soon as we set up, we left for Pizza Hut hoping we would find cell phone coverage, some Wi-Fi, and half way decent chicken wings to eat.  We were concerned because we had gotten word that our swimming pool back home was leaking water somewhere and we were trying to deal with it from here.

God always finds a way for us and we found cell coverage, Wi-Fi, good chicken wings and a visitor center to help plan our three days in the area.  The one thing we knew we wanted to see was Tahquamenon Falls both upper and lower.  With our plans tentatively made and some resolution to our pool problem begun, we headed back to the RV.  It’s a good thing we stocked up on food because it looks like we will be eating our own cooking for a while.

The next morning we headed to the Shipwreck Museum and Whitefish Point Light Station.

Lighthouse and Quarters at Whitefish Point, MI

View from Lighthouse at Whitefish Point

Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point

The surface water in Lake Superior never gets above 60 degrees and down deeper, after the first 16 feet, it never goes above 35 degrees.  One interesting thing we discovered is Lake Superior has actually gone up 45 inches in the last two years because of all the snowfall.

The Shipwreck Museum shows information on many of the over 550 shipwrecks in Lake Superior including the Edmond Fitzgerald in 1975.  This ship never had a chance based on some of the things we were told.  Edmond Fitzgerald was reluctant to let them name the ship after him because two prior ships were named after his brothers and they both sank.  On the day the boat was to be launched, the Champaign bottle did not break on the first try (Sailor bad luck superstition) and one of the spectators at the launch died of a heart attack when a wave of water hit the onlookers standing on the dock.  On the night of the fatal storm, there was a smaller freighter about seven miles behind the Fitzgerald that was able to withstand the storm but not the Edmond Fitzgerald.

It was time to head over to the upper falls of Tahquamenon Falls along with a few hundred other people tantalized not only by the beauty of the falls, but a really good restaurant at the entry.   We had been seeing signs in this area about Pasties as a local food and they were on the menu at the Tahquamenon Grill and Brewery.

My understanding is this food has its origin with the steel workers building the bridges and railroads.  Their wives would put meat, potatoes and vegetables in a pastry shell and bake it in the morning before their husband left for work.  They would wrap the pie in something to keep it warm and the men would put it in their hats and get the warmth from the baked lunch and not have to carry anything extra to work.  Then when lunch time came, they had a somewhat hot meal with little or no fuss.  Jim ordered the pastie for lunch and this is what it looked like.

Pasties – Michigan dish

At the lower falls we saw some young people who had jumped into the water and were allowing the force from the water wash them down stream.  It really looked like fun.

Lower Tahquamenon falls

Time to head back because we were both tired and time to cook again.

The heatwave has hit the UP with a forecast of 88 degrees and people are miserable.  This morning we went back to Canada to attend church services at Pine Wood Church of Christ.  They have a two story building and the sanctuary is on the second floor with no air-conditioning but all the windows were open.  I thought it was quite comfortable but the first words we heard were, “I know we are all very hot.”  I guess we really do have thinner blood than the people up here.

It was a nice sunny day so we decided to take the Locks Boat Tour for two hours on the water going through several locks and seeing some of Lake Superior and Lake Huron.

Tour boat for tour of Soo Locks

From the boat dock we headed directly to the US Soo Lock which is 1,200 feet long and 80 feet wide.   You can picture this tour boat in this great big lock that normally handles freighters of 800 to 1,000 long; kind of like a toy boat in a swimming pool.

The two oldest locks on the US side, built in 1901 and 1922, are scheduled to be remodeled into a super lock as soon as Congress allocates the funds.  There is a steel plant that ships its product more economically via this waterway along with other needed materials that keep things moving in our economy.  I had no idea that so much commerce was still done using water as its main method of transportation.  When you see the size of these ships you realize how much a ship can hold compared to a semi and it becomes obvious which is less expensive.

Two of the four American locks

Gates of lock on both sides as we enter lock

Inside the lock waiting for water to rise

Water level almost to the top

Gates opening allowing boat to go into Lake Superior

Leaving the lock

The tour took us back to the Canadian Soo Locks .

In Lock waiting to be lowered to Lake Huron 21′

Going down in lock

Gates begin to open when water reaches level of Lake Huron

Exiting to Lake Huron

We could see a Wave Runner on the other side waiting for the lock to open for him to go the opposite direction.  My immediate thought was, “what a waste to fill this lock with water for a Wave Runner, but if you think about it, the hydro-electricity generated by the water opens and closes the gates.  Gravity actually fills and drains the water and you are just simply using the water that is flowing in both lakes so nothing is being wasted.  The whole operation is pretty amazing.

We then saw a sign that told us about a lighthouse at Brimley, MI, which was only about 30 minutes away, so we had to go since we both enjoy lighthouses.

Pt Iroquois Lighthouse – Brimley, MI

View from Pt Iroquois Lighthouse of Lake Superior

We moved up into the beginning of the UP (Upper Peninsula) and we are staying at Sault (Soo) Ste Marie, which is actually French for the Rapids at St Mary.  There is a Sault St. Marie in Michigan with about 15,000 population and Sault Ste Marie, Canada with a population of 75,000 separated by the St. Mary River with the boundary line down the center of the river.

I have to admit, it was something of a shock when we drove into town after being in so many charming small township with such manicured grounds and beautiful flower displays everywhere.  No flowers, lots of construction, and no quaintness in the downtown area.  The RV Park is a State Park with no sewer and grass pads with no landscaping but a nice view of the river.

Sunrise over St. Mary’s River Sault Ste Marie

Just down the street are the US locks that allow the large freighters to pass between Lake Superior and Lake Huron.  Several times a day, we see these massive ships go by and hear them blow their whistles.  The back window of our camper is facing the water and we get a good view each time.

We decided the first stop needed to be to the Soo Locks in Canada so off we went with our passports to check out the other side.  At the welcome center, we asked about a tour advertised for $5.80 per person explaining all about the locks, and several other buildings.  The worker tried to discourage us because it was so hot today (high forecasted to be 86 but only about 82 at the time) and none of the buildings had air conditioning.  We explained we were from Florida and this is NOT hot to us so reluctantly she went into the next room and found a guide willing to endure the temperatures.  Our guide was a recent college graduate who had been working there for 5 summers and was very knowledgeable about the locks and their history.  The Canadian locks are only used for smaller vessels like pleasure boats, tugs and some tour boats because when the time came for major repairs, they reduced the size to one-third their original size to save money and they can no longer handle the large commercial vessels.

Boats going down in Locks

Lock Gate doors starting to open

Boats going out of lock into Lake Huron

What I thought was interesting was they originally built the Canadian locks in 1895 because they had a military vessel they had to send through the US lock and were required to unload all the cargo before taking it though the lock for security.  I guess that is not a problem anymore.  Locks have been used in every ancient civilization back to the Greeks and Romans, but Canada’s lock was the first hydro-electric powered just two short years after Thomas Edison introduced the electric light bulb at the World’s Fair.

The locks are necessary because without them there is a 21 foot difference between the level of Lake Superior and Lake Huron with only fast moving shallow rapids connecting them.  When you think that it is all handled by gravity to fill and drain the locks and they actually generate their own hydro-electricity to move the gates and lighting it was a masterpiece of ingenuity for their day and even for today.  With this system of locks a pleasure boat can go from the St Lawrence waterway through all the Great Lakes to Lake Superior.

While we were in Canada, we wanted to try some authentic Canadian food.  This area has a large Italian population so there are many Italian restaurants, but our young guide suggested a “poutine” and directed us to Smoke’s Poutine.  This is a concoction of French fries with cheese curds and gravy and your choice of meat.

Lunch in Sault Ste Marie, ON

Poutins

We tried it but not exactly in the top ten of my favorite foods.

We left the Canadian Soo and stopped at the US Locks to see a BIG freighter come through.  After seeing the smaller version on the Canadian side, this looked massive and it works on the same simple principle of gravity.

Freighter entering the lock from Lake Superior
Ship starting to go down in lock
Freighter entering Lake Huron from lock

See Person waving to us from bridge

These last two  pictures taken from our campsite as ship went by.

Not a bad first day.

After we left Mackinac Island, we decided to take the bridge over to St Ignace.   When it was completed, it was the longest suspension bridge in the world and remains the third longest to this day.

Right at the end of the bridge is the welcome station for the Upper Peninsular and when you travel with three seniors you stop at many welcome stations.  The worker in the information center gave us lots of information but also gave us a tip for dinner.

Marina at St. Ignace

Lighthouse at St. Ignace

At the Village Inn the signature dish is Planked Whitefish and it sounded too good not to order.  The description read, “A fresh whole filet of baked whitefish baked on a maple plank, sautéed vegetables, parmesan crusted tomato crown and bordered with duchesse potatoes” and it tasted every bit as good as this picture looks.

Plank Whitefish

This was also the place we found out about “Yoopers”.  This is the name given to people living in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  While we were at the restaurant we asked the waitress if she was a Yooper and she was.  Naturally, the next question was what do you call the people in the Lower Peninsula?  Without a moment’s hesitation she replied, “Trolls!” and that was that.

Thursday was a relaxing day in Petoskey where we added to the economic welfare of the community and finished with dinner at the Twisted Olive as our farewell to Carol. 

Flowers all around town in Petoskey

She was leaving on an early flight out of Traverse City and we would have to leave the RV at 3:30 in the morning to get her to the airport on time.  We really enjoyed having Carol with us but all good things must come to an end, and it was time for us to move on as well.

The movie, Somewhere in Time, is responsible for most people’s general knowledge of Mackinac Island but this 22 square mile island has been popular for some people for hundreds of years.   This once quaint village is invaded by 1.2 million tourists every summer season and has become a major economic force for Michigan.

Interesting question:  Why is Mackinaw City and Mackinac Island pronounced the same but not spelled the same?

Answer:  Blame it on the French language and pronounciations.

The only way to get to the island is by ferry, and there are no less than three companies providing the trip.  The dock area on the island is several blocks long filled with restaurants, fudge shops, and souvenir shops selling t-shirts publicizing the island.  There are no motorized vehicles permitted and only bicycles and horse drawn carriages are used to transport people and supplies.

Downtown Mackinac Island

While we stood at the station waiting for a carriage, we saw men on bicycles taking unbelievable loads of luggage to various hotels and we marveled at their balance and strength.

Of course with all the horses, comes some negatives when it rains.  While on the island tour we were warned by our guide not to step in any puddles because it usually includes something in addition to rain water.  I  have to say, once you leave the port area, Mackinaw Island is beautiful with huge summer homes owned by wealthy people from Chicago and other areas, uncut forest, clear clean water surrounding the island, and old buildings meticulously maintained over the years by the 600 full time residents.

Private Home on Island

Flowers around the island

Little Stone Church – Mackinac Island

Like the rest of western Michigan that we have explored during this first month, Mackinac Island is filled with stunning flowers in baskets and gardens.

Walkway at Carriage House Restaurant

Flowers around Carriage House Rest looking out at Lighthouse

We splurged one night and had dinner at the Grand Hotel dining room that seats 800 people.   When we walked in I was taken back by a buffet table nearby and was thinking we must be in the wrong place.  It was explained to us that the buffet is for children and then I noticed there were quite a few young families with younger children eating in the Main Dining room.  I guess they found young families to be a good market demographic to pursue.

Grand Hotel – Mackinac Island

View of Grounds of Grand Hotel

The adult meal was quite elaborate with a menu of multiple choices of appetizer, soup, salad, entree, and dessert.  Jim and Carol had an appetizer of Roasted chicken-avocado egg roll and I had Norwegian smoked salmon with goat cheese and truffle aioli.  Soup for Jim and Carol were Cream of five onion and I had Tuscan white bean with Chorizo sausage and mustard greens.  We all had a Caprese salad.  Can you tell that Jim and Carol were raised in the same household?

Jim had Rainbow Trout Almondine with Herbed Golden Quinoa,  Cipollini Onions, Cassis-Butter Sauce.

Trout Almondine – Grand Hotel

Carol had Sea Salt Crusted Prime Rib of Beef with Horseradish Puffs, Twice Baked Potato, and Beef Jus.

Prime Rib entry Grand Hotel

I had Colorado Loin of Lamb with Artichoke Fritters, Baked Parmesan Polenta and Tasso Ham Gravy.

Lamb entree at Grand Hotel

I assure you the food was fabulous!  For dessert we had Flourless Hazelnut Torte, Creme Brulee with a Pistacho cookie and Red Velvet Cheesecake with Popcorn flavored ice cream and sea salt caramel sauce.

Desserts at Grand Hotel – Creme Brulee, Red Velvet Cheesecake w/Popcorn Ice cream & Sea Salt Caramel Glaze & Flourless Hazelnut Cake

After dinner we waddled out to the grand porch and spent time sitting in the rockers and watching the people.

By the way, contrary to what we were told, there is no charge for sitting on the porch.  They do have a sign posted as you come up the hill to the hotel that says there is a $10.00 fee for entering the hotel if you are not a registered guest.  I guess we qualified as “residents” since we had just spent 2 hours eating dinner because no one asked us for any money.

One of the many sitting areas in the lobby of Grand Hotel

We had a once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Grand Hotel. I think once is enough.