Grumpa Joe's Place

Driving and taking road trips has been a passion of mine since 1961. However, I’ve only ventured out three times in the past four years. Two of the escapes were taken this month. I dream of driving across this great country of the United States at least once more. The thrill of experiencing the great plains and deserts, followed by the Rockies, sometimes overwhelms me. My body, however, has slipped to a level that surprises me. Having been physically active most of my life, I have fallen into a malaise and inactivity. The result is a body that is twenty pounds overweight, all of it hanging above my belt line like a bowling ball. The weight doesn’t bother me as much as the achy joints they cause. This trip was another test to see If I can last through an extended drive.

Lovely and I undertook the adventure of driving around Lake Michigan, starting from Chicago and circumnavigating in a counterclockwise direction. In days past, it would have taken me two days to drive 998 miles, but this time, I wanted Lovely to experience the beauty of the many lake towns, the great sand dunes that border the west coast of Michigan, and finally, Mackinac Island (pronounced Mackinaw}, and Mackinaw Bridge. The bridge has a history and beauty of its own. It allows people like me to cross the straits a ten mile stretch of water that joins Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, and Lake Huron. The bridge also connects lower Michigan with upper Michigan. Why the state is split into two sections is another history lesson.

Our first stop was Traverse City, the home of cherries. Two peninsulas extend north to form Traverse Bay, creating a terroir that makes growing cherries successful. Thus, the Cherry Capital of the World is born. The drive along the shore of Lake Michigan is scenic and extends almost to the bridge. I had to stop at Charlevoix to take a break and to eat a donut. This is a charming town with many touristy shops catering to the boating crowd, making it a destination. The day was cloudy grey and rather dreary, but we prevailed and continued to enjoy the scenery. The next town in line was Petoskey, famous for the Petoskey stone. These stones are the Great Lakes contribution to fossilized coral formations. My recollection of these towns is from three bike tours I took years ago. I was amazed at the growth that has taken place since those visits.

We arrived at our destination, Mackinac City, at the foot of the bridge. I had always passed this town, but I deliberately stopped to check it out. We checked into our motel, called the American Boutique Inn, and made it our base for the next two days. It was within a ten-minute walk to the ferry dock and the downtown shopping/restaurant area. We discovered two restaurants open and several that catered to breakfast, The White Buffalo Bar & Grille was next door to O’Reilly’s Irish Pub & Restaurant. We later discovered they had the exact same menu and delivered food from the same kitchen. The only difference between them was the beer menu and decor.

Touring Mackinaw Island is undoubtedly different. There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the island. Although I would argue that electric-assist bicycles are motorized, but they are allowed. The main street at the water’s edge is about a mile long and is crowded on both sides with buildings built in the eighteen hundreds. All of them are nic-nack shops and cafes. Other notable attractions are, The Grand Hotel, Fort Mackinac, and Arch Rock. The nicety of the street was that it was quiet except for the clop-clopping of horses hooves as horse drawn carriages acted as taxis, tour, and livery vehicles. We finally took a tour and enjoyed a rest from the shopping. Out cart was drawn by three very large percheron draft horses, and they climbed the hills up to Arch Rock with little effort while dragging a cart load of thirty people.

The tourist season lasts until the end of October. Then, all the shops and hotels close, leaving a permanent population of five hundred people to enjoy the solitude of the island, which often gets iced in when the lakes freeze. Most of the help is contracted from Jamaica and the Dominican Republic. They all go home to enjoy the money they made during the summer. Over 900 horses are ferried back to the mainland to farms and barns in the upper peninsula to rest up for the next season.

We left Mackinaw City to cross the bridge and follow US Rte 2 west, the lake on our left, and forests on our right. After an hour we turned onto Hwy 77 north through heavy forests on both sides with a few tiny hamlets to Munising, Michigan, on the shore of Lake Superior. Our boat ride was at two o’clock and we arrived there at one thirty. The boat ride took us along the lake’s western coast along the Pictured Rocks National Shoreline. To describe it, the coast is a 200 foot high cliff that drops vertically into Lake Superior. I have seen this part of Michigan from the top of the cliff and lakeside. It is an amazing view from both perspectives. The captain of our boat pointed out mosquito bay. He said there is not one single mosquito living there. They are all married and have children.

The geology of the pictured rocks is fascinating. Layers of sandstone form the cliff. On top, there is a layer of topsoil with forest. Groundwater seeps through the layers, picking up various minerals as it moves. The water reaches a level of stone that stops it and moves horizontally toward the lakes, seeps out, and runs down the face of the cliff. The rock face is streaked with colorful orange(Iron), green(copper), black, and white.

We rested in a Holiday Inn Express that night and dined at Munising’s finest supper club, The Dogpatch Restaurant (two and a half stars). In the morning we packed up the Death Star and headed south. The plan was to make it home in one 400 mile segment. Everything went well until we were fifty miles from home. We arrived at precisely the same time as everyone who works in downtown Chicago is leaving to go home for supper. It took us an hour and a half to inch our way home from that point. Lovely was not a happy camper, nor was I. There was nothing I could do to speed things up we just had to slug our way through the traffic.

When I got into the house, the first thing I did was pour myself a healthy jigger of scotch and slugged it down. Except for those last fifty miles, it was a great trip, and I passed my driving test. In total, we drove 998 miles, 400 of which were on the last day, and the final 50 took the longest time

Filed under: Biography, Travel | Tagged: Cherry Capital, Mackinaw City, Mackinaw Island, Pictured Rocks | 1 Comment »