Breaking "Monsters"

After penning my somewhat bittersweet post yesterday morning, it was time to get cracking on another day.  We had metaphorical monsters - from epic waterslide rollercoasters to massive sand dunes to a documentary of a band that hopes to have a monster of a hit - to experience today.  Of course, the fact that the Great Wolf Lodge didn't open the water park until 10:00, when our checkout was at 11:00 a.m. was somewhat discouraging to the boys who headed down in their bathing suits at just after 9;00.  Still, we managed to beat the crowd and had no wait for any of the coasters.  We did tandem water slides, single water slides ("the fastest" and/or "the longest"), the lazy river (less lazy when you're aware of the time but still fun), and even soaked in the "adults only" hot tub, far larger than most resort pools and absolutely empty but for the four of us, before we headed upstairs for a quick change of clothes to head to the Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore (which is what it is called on the official website).

It's quite understandable why Traverse City is the summer playground for Michanganers (or Michaganians; our proprietor in Bay City said either was acceptable); the Traverse Bays (one referred to as little, the other big) is tranquil, enormous, and stunning.  The little town is peppered with great restaurants and shops, and it's just a 30 minute drive to get to Lake Michigan and the dunes.  The famed Interlochen school for the arts is just about 20 minutes away, so we were even able to take a spin through the campus while Daniel said a quick hello to a school friend who is studying writing here for the summer.  All in all, it's a perfect base for a relaxing two week vacation.  Of course, we had two days, so we had to get busy :)

On our drive to Sleeping Bear, I read, as per tradition, all the entries in our Michigan books about what we were about to see and experience, so when we arrived in the parking lot of the "Climbing Dune," we were prepared for the unusual site of a lot full of cars set against a massive wall of sand that appears, at first, covered with ants.  As you get closer, of course, you realize they are people slowly making their way up the dune.  While Dana was initially annoyed that we had to pay a $10 entrance fee for the National park;lake shore, since I didn't have our annual park pass with me (must have left it at home with the passports! ;P ), I reminded him that he had just recently forked over $40 to sit on the porch of a hotel, and he happily dropped the subject.

Dana knew immediately that this was a job best accomplished barefoot, so he took off his sandals and hit the sand.  The rest of us, donned in the sneakers I had suggested were requisite for hiking, soon realized we had to follow Dana's lead, take off our sand filled shoes and socks and forge on.  The dune is a hoot, as all of the many inclines I have done on the treadmill at Orange Theory barely prepared me for walking up a steep slope of sand.  Regardless of the fitness level of the many people of all ages all around us, the effort of sinking into the sand upon each step upward clearly took its toll.  You heard children bemoaning why they had to climb any further when all the really wanted to do was roll down (which plenty did), while one incredibly young and fit couple near me kept encouraging each other that "it's much easier if you take small steps."  I suggested to Daniel that we try this tip, but we didn't find it made much of a difference.  When you make it to the "top" (there are several tops, actually, as the dune continues in a few different directions, one of which Daniel explored and reported offered "NOTHING" in terms of better views), you have a stunning view of Glen Lakes (one less deep, and, therefore, less blue, than the other) and a wonderful perspective on the climbers now struggling to accomplish what you just did.  The day was clear and sunny and the wind, thankfully, at a minimum, so we were able to enjoy our perch atop the dune for as long as we wished (which was until hunger kicked in) before making the far more fun trek down.

The park literature suggests that no first time trip to this area is complete without doing three things:  climbing the dune (check!!), exploring historic Glen Haven and taking the Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive.  So we headed to Glen Have for lunch at a wonderful little place called The Cherry Republic.  Since Michigan is famous for cherries and Traverse City hosts the annual cherry festival, it's only natural that some restaurant would adopt this concept - everything, from the iced tea to the burger to the grilled cheese - contains cherries in some manner or another.   While Daniel was initially skeptical that this would be the "worst meal of our vacation" (as he proclaimed he was decidedly not a fan of the cherry), he soon changed his tune and asked for a refill of his cherry cola after eating every bite of his burger and a bit of his sister's grilled cheese.  The setting is lovely, outside in a shaded garden filled with flowers.  All was perfect until we were about to leave and a Yellow Jacket from one of those nearby flower beds landed on Maddie's neck.

Those of you who know Maddie well know that she fears nothing quite so much as she fears bees.  We used to have to coax her out of the house to go swimming if she saw one anywhere in the vicinity of the pool.  So she stood as still as a statue, waiting patiently for it to fly off.  When it didn't, I grabbed a napkin and cautiously scooped it off of her and into the nearby garbage can.  Disaster averted, though Maddie continued to relive the trauma for the next 20 minutes or so. ;)

After lunch in charming Glen Haven, nestled against Lake Glen and bustling with all sorts of activity - kayaks to rent, ice cream to eat, and so forth - we hit the road for our scenic drive.  Pierce Stocking loved this place so much that he wanted everyone to be able to access the beautiful views, regardless of their health and ability to climb a dune, so he built this road and stuck his name on it.  When he wanted a pretty photo spot, he created the bridge in the photo below, which was the first one of its kind.  Now all the National Parks have some such structure bearing the National Park logo.  Pretty good thinking for a former lumberjack in Michigan.  The drive did afford spectacular views, though by our last stop - for the best vantage point of Lake Michigan (and, for some intrepid swimmers, an entry point into the lake itself) - the wind had kicked up just enough that we had to guard our eyes from the sand flying everywhere.  Safely out of the lookout point, it was far more pleasant.

After our brief stint at Interlochen on our way back "home" to Traverse City, we checked into our new digs, a lovely little resort right on the bay and headed down to the "beach" for an hour relaxing to the sounds of lake waters gently rolling against the shore (a sound I am enjoying again as I write this morning's post from our balcony overlooking this lovely bay) before readying ourselves for the night's entertainment - a documentary called Breaking a Monster about a young band called Unlocking the Truth.  Since Daniel had seen them perform on The Colbert Show, he was more interested in this film than most of the few others we might have been able to see.  Since the director would be in attendance at this showing, and it was playing at the downtown State Theater, we were all enthusiastic we were able to score tickets.  The fact that the band would also be in attendance hadn't been reported in advance, so that was an extra treat.  Rolling Stone made this doc a top pick at an earlier film festival (it is currently on the festival circuit), and it's easy to see why.  The 13 year old boys are immensely talented and also quite likable, a fact that all the industry people who manage them within the film want to capitalize on.  We got on line just after 8 for our 9:00 film, so we got great seats, sitting in the row behind Malcolm, the lead singer and guitarist of the band, his father/tour manager, the film's director and the band's music producer, Johnny K.  It was just the sort of film festival experience one hopes to have, and we enjoyed every minute of it.  An added bonus - the band played a four song set after the film, so we got to see a movie and hear a concert!  We're TCFF enthusiasts :)

Now it's 8:21, the family has awakened, and it's time to settle on our last morning's activities before heading to Ann Arbor and Detroit for our next (and last) Michigan stops.  Will we hit a panel at the festival or rent a boat and go tooling around the Bay?   Hmmm.... at the moment, the lake sure does look (and sound) inviting.

In the name of keeping our sanity, we opted to enjoy the bay from the balcony, take in a charming breakfast spot (The Blue Heron 2) in the old city and do a bit of shopping before hitting the road.  TCFF merch in hand, we're checking out of Traverse City for now, but we hope to return for a future festival, as our little taste of this one was fantastic!

"Okay... Moment's Over"

Yesterday was devoted to exploring the 80% of Mackinac Island that over 80% of the tourists who hop off the ferry never see.  According to both of our intriguing horse and buggy drivers/guides, the vast majority of people who come to the island come for a couple of hours and never leave the few block area consisting of the shops (many of which are adorable sprinkled along the ubiquitous t-shirt places) and, of course, fudge stops.  Not that this is an unpleasant snapshot of Mackinac: all along the harbor, this few block "downtown" is filled with shops and gorgeous flower beds, and there is not a car in sight (or, just as importantly, sound).  Yes, the pedestrians must look both ways before crossing as not to crash into a bike or horse drawn buggy (they even have a "taxi" station at the end of the street for a horse drawn taxi), but the prevailing mood is still relaxed.

Flowers adorn every block; some hang from baskets; others are in flower beds

The horse drawn carriages begin their day

I liked the shot of bicycle passing horse :)

Still, when you do stay at least the night and have those extra hours to walk just a half mile outside of that tourist area, you achieve something close to nirvana.  As we meandered through the neighborhood where the full-time residents live (noticeable both because it is inland, where it is decidedly less frigid during the months the island is surrounded by a frozen lake and because there are snow mobiles - the only mode of transportation with an engine owned by residents - in most side/back yards), the lake shore dotted with million dollar summer "cottages" and the quiet woods encompassing much of the National State Park (second to be designated only after Yellowstone), we fully understood why these drivers would bemoan someone coming to Mackinac Island only to sample fudge and take the next ferry back to the mainland.

One of only a handful of cemeteries (including Normandy, Pearl Harbor, and Arlington) to be allowed to always fly a flag at half mast in honor of the unknown soldiers buried there.

Arch Rock (or, as Jared put it, "did you get a photo of the rock with the hole in it?")

"Take a photo of yourselves in front of the rock.  Anybody can get a pic of Arch Rock on Google!!"

The view from Arch Rock

Tending to the fort

We felt about Mackinac Island much the same as we felt about Jackson Hole, Wyoming, when we first started this journey through America back in 2008.  In short, we fell instantly in love.  Chris, the gentleman who took us on the first leg of our tour was a middle aged husband and father from Memphis, Tennessee.  When he came to Mackinac a couple of summers ago to drive the horses, he immediately knew that he would have to relocate his family and become a permanent resident, which is what he is the process of doing.  Our second tour guide (who is the author of today's blog post title) was equally enchanted with the place, though he will relocate, likely to New Orleans, to drive horses (something "man is intended to do" - we've been quoting him for the past 24 hours, let me tell you :) during the winter months.

Listening to these two men talk about the pleasure they derive from introducing the island they love by navigating the horses they love (the teams of drivers and horses stay together summer after summer) through streets with no cars was enough to make each person on that buggy contemplate the notion of chucking it all and heading to Mackinac to live another life.  After we learned about the island, and, perhaps even more interesting, the workings of the island, we were able to commandeer our own private horse and buggy (let by Mabel and driven by Maddie and Daniel, with Dana and I as backseat passengers) around the part of the island we hadn't yet explored - a stretch of lake where those million dollar homes sit and the residential neighborhood I described earlier.

Maddie behind the reins - not such a problem to take your eyes off the road when no cars are on it!

Mabel :)

Harrisonville, the neighborhood for full-time residents, where it is not uncommon to see a horse hanging out in the yard. 

A few notes about the workings of the island:  There is a post office, but it has never delivered a single piece of mail.  Residents (both summer and yearlong) must stop by each day to pick up or drop off whatever mail they have.  There is a single k - 12 public school on the island (with a spectacular view, I might add) where one year the graduating class consisted of twins ("awkward prom," said Chris, driver #1 :)  - both were amateur comedians and philosophers).  The horses are all taken elsewhere during the winter months, to a gorgeous farm in Michigan.  They have very good lives, apparently, working only four hours a day and brushed down daily by the CEO of the company/family that has owned the business for over a hundred years.  The 75 year old patriarch greets all the drivers each morning by hosing down the path outside of the stable and wishing driver and horse a good day.  The employees, for both this stable and throughout the island, as all the hotels and inns but for one close during the winter, are given room and board during the summer months (both as a kindness and because employers don't want to have to worry about their help arriving late via ferry when they have customers to serve).  There is a burgeoning, but still very small, winter tourism industry for those who love to snow mobile, as the notion of tearing through forest paths and "city streets" covered with snow does sound like fun, I admit.

When we finally had to bid the island adieu and make our way to the 4:00 ferry, we were sad to say goodbye but certain we would be back for a longer visit.  Our waiter last night at Red Ginger, easily the best place we've been on the trip thus far and, according to Dana, the "best Asian food ever," vacationed each year with his entire family on Mackinac Island.  The governor of Michigan has a home there that may be used throughout the summer months.  Apparently this perk was open to others in the government as well, as our waiter's uncle was a senator with a cottage available to him and his family just around the bend from the Grand Hotel (made most famous as the setting in the film Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour).  Made, he assured us, for an amazing family reunion each year.

One view from the front porch (longest in the country) of The Grand

Rocking on famed porch - if you're not staying at The Grand, you must pay $10 each to tour the hotel

Another view from The Grand

The ceiling of the Grand Hotel is painted blue to discourage nesting by birds or bees

The UPS delivery is on its way!

The stables for the Grand Hotel - they have their own buggies

We made it to Traverse City by 7:30 and our "Wolf Lodge" (whimsical and charming but clearly more so for children younger than ours - we were given wolf ears upon check-in), where the kids slept in bunk beds in the "Wolf Den." Yes, it's ridiculous, but we decided to embrace the ridiculous for the day (this morning we will indulge in the onsite water park in the lobby!) and then to change our second night to a more apt accommodation, right on Front Street and overlooking Lake Michigan.

Charming downtown Traverse City

where all the shop windows are dressed up to honor the film festival - this one was my favorite

We may try to see a film tonight at the TCFF (Traverse City Film Festival, 11 years old and started by Flint's own Michael Moore, who now lives just outside of Traverse City in what is said to be a magnificent home). With a perspective on Robert Altman and premieres of The End of the Road (starring Jason Segal and Jesse Eisenberg), we are keeping our eyes open for any possible celebrity encounters (we were certain there were industry "people" at Red Ginger last night, but none we could name), though we will spend our day exploring the nearby Sleeping Bear Dunes, THE thing to do in these parts.

At each leg of our journey through Michigan we've all echoed the same sentiment - we must come back to this state to spend more time.  That's a pretty good way to feel on a vacation.  As Jared, our second (quotable) driver, kept reminding us - we must not worry about the past or the future and instead focus only on this one moment.  Until abruptly announcing, "Okay... Moment's Over."  :)  That's what a vacation such as this one feels like.  You stay just long enough to want to stay longer.

Madonna's birthplace to Marvelous Mackinac

After a couple of fun nights and one very full -- and hot! -- day in Toronto, it was time to head back "home" to the good old US of A.  We enjoyed our last spot in Sarnia, a quaint little Canadian town just east of the border, before heading to the border crossing (Finally putting those passports to work) and settling in our luxurious bed and breakfast in Bay City.

We chose Bay City because it was a natural stopping point between Toronto and Mackinac Island.  At the time we didn't know it was a former home of wood barons and lumber mills, or, later, the birthplace of Madonna (who has apparently made some disparaging comments about it over the years,though she continues to patronize the local candy store whenever she is in town).  Ours was a short stay, which was fine in terms of what there is to do in Bay City but sad because we were in love with our basement suite ("the keep") at the Webster Inn (where we were served for breakfast this morning egg yolks fried in panko bread crumbs!!  Strangely delicious)

Our next stop, after everyone took advantage of the steam room, whirlpool tub, etc. (in addition to having a rousing game of Shanghai on our private bar the night before) was Mackinac Island.  We decided to take the five mile bridge over to St. Ignace just so we could experience the marvel that connects the "UP" (aka the upper peninsula) with the rest of Michigan.  We will have to plan another trip just to explore that part of this magnificent state, but, for now, it was time to hand over our car keys, pay a few bucks extra for the "secure" parking lot and hop on the ferry to the island.

We arrived here around 3:15 yesterday afternoon, and I am writing this blog at 8:00 am.  In just those short hours, I already feel so relaxed.  After leaving behind the exciting bustle of Toronto, our journey has consisted of pretty drives, the opportunity to interact with kind people (the proprietors of the Webster Inn were particularly lovely) and charming towns.  Despite having read all measure of laudatory accounts of this place, nothing prepared me for the sensation of walking all around an
island bustling with pedestrians, bikes and horses, but not a single car anywhere.  Today we will explore the 80% of the island that is protected park land, but we are already "obsessed" ( as Maddie put it) with the 20% we got to know in our walks last night.

Since we only brought a single suitcase on the ferry, my computer charger is in the car in the secured (we hope;) ) lot, and I am attempting to publish today's entry via iPad.  I mention this because it is not easily letting me upload the photos that, while not doing justice to the place, at least come closer than my words do.  In short, I'm thinking it should be mandatory R&R to spend a week a year here, contemplating the sunset, admiring the Victorian architecture, and determining once and for all which fudge truly is the best in Mackinac Island (as many claim to be :) ). I will once again try to add a few photos, but will likely add more from Traverse City, where we will arrive this afternoon for our next Michigan stop.  Turns out we stumbled into a film festival we did not know was happening until our chatty B & B owners told us all about it.  Not sure if we will be able to score any movie tickets, but we definitely intend to check out the scene.  Now off to explore the rest of the island!  *Well, that didn't work :)  I am adding these photos at midnight from Traverse City.  I'll post a day two of Mackinac Island post tomorrow morning.

Meanwhile, what a great place Traverse City is!  Apparently Michael Moore has an amazing house just outside of town, but we didn't run into him in town tonight.  Perhaps tomorrow?

Just a typical back yard in Mackinac...

Kayakers out for a sunset cruise

fudge!!