Weekly Update for Nov. 16 – see below.

Hello friends of Bree’s Mackinac Island Blog!  I’m having a hard time staying away from this site, so I thought I would begin posting a short weekly update here of anything I’ve heard from island friends.  That way, I’ll stay connected to those of you who aren’t following me to Georgia for the winter (see paragraphs below in BLACK print for that info).  Winter photographs from the island will be posted here, as well as on the Georgia blog.

Here’s the scoop for the week of November 9-15:

1. The scoop is that it will be Tuesday, Nov. 17 before I can post for this week.  I’m walking out the door to ride back to Atlanta with my son Jason and his wife Blair.  I’ll be spending the night with them, then driving my mom’s car back to the lake.  It’s in Atlanta because my son Blake, who lives in China, drove it while he was home this summer.  Something to tease you about for tomorrow . . . . . GHOSTS in the Island House Hotel!

Here’s the scoop for the week of November 1-8:

• There have been snow flurries reported – but so far nothing is sticking to the ground.  Just not cold enough yet, even though I heard that a couple of days after we left the snow was flying so thickly over the Straits that Round Island Light was hardly visible.
• My buddy Jennifer, who works for the Grand, has been on a recruiting trip to Brazil and Argentina.  Talk about change of climate!  This is her really busy time of the year – hiring workers for the Grand Hotel for the 2010 season. 
• During the upcoming week, I will be having my first meeting on the publishing of the “blog book”.  Please keep that whole process in your prayers as I try to make the right decisions.

In the header above:  A view from the West Bluff.

Until we return to Mackinac Island in the spring, Bree’s blog can be found at beautiful Lake Blackshear in south Georgia.  The address is:  http://bree1976.wordpress.com.  Can’t wait to show you what good old southern hospitality is all about!  See you there!

NOTE:  For those of you who are just finding this Mackinac Island blog through search engines, please feel free to read through the achived stories here of our wonderful season on Mackinac Island.  We arrived on the island in May, 2009 and returned to Georgia on Nov. 1.  There are over 150 posts, so reading one a day will almost get you through the winter!  If you’d like to follow us to Georgia, see the address above for the Lake Blackshear blog.  Thanks for dropping by, and I hope you will join us in the spring back on the island.

Wow!  10 hours on the road.  Ted drove the whole way (he thinks I go too slow).  I slept a lot (didn’t sleep well last night, and up very early).  Ted is an excellent driver, and I love riding with him.  He is a speed demon, but he is a CAREFUL speed demon. 

Maddie has been in my lap the entire trip because she refuses to share the back of the truck with Bear – which is fine with Bear.  Gives him more room to stretch out.  They have both been excellent travelers.  We stop about every four hours to walk around in a rest area and get the cramps out of all 12 of our legs.

We are in Richmond, KY for the night.  There is a Holiday Inn Express here that is pet-friendly and VERY, VERY nice.  You would never know there has been a dog in our room, and the rooms are beautiful, spacious, and CLEAN!  I highly recommend it to travelers with pets!  They charge $25 per pet (he gave us a really good deal on the room itself, so that helped), but it is worth it to be somewhere clean.

Here’s some pics from this morning:

Our taxi arrived at 9:20 a.m. (Alyssa was our driver – her last day is Nov. 4, then she’s off to the U.P. for the winter).  Ted and another passenger who was leaving for the season piled all our stuff on board.  There was QUITE a lot of stuff!

Bear got a little corner of one seat, with some of our things beside him. That's Maddie's fleece covered bed on top of the red suitcase.

Everything in the front half of this cart is ours. There were quite a few people leaving the island today for the winter. Lots and lots of luggage.

At least we left OUR sofa in the condo!

The island from the ferry window.

All ferries go to St. Ignace now. We packed our car and headed for the Mackinac Bridge. Today was the only day of the year you could cross without paying the toll. I don't think they did that just for us though (smile).

Mackinac Island from the Mackinac Bridge.

The sky was beautiful this morning, and the water was calm.

Coming off the bridge into Mackinaw City and the Lower Peninsula. As we approached Mac City, Ted said, "I wonder if we can see Chris Ann's house from here?"

So I took this photo. Chris Ann, I have no idea if any of these houses is yours, but we thought "maybe!"

I forgot to tell you that when we got to the truck, we found a note in a zip-lock bag under the windshield wiper.  When Jill had left the island Wednesday, she had found our truck in the parking lot and left us a “safe travels” message.  I remember her asking what we drove – that should have been a clue.

We plan to leave in the morning around 9 a.m., but we really have no set schedule.  We are over half-way home.  Will try to post something tomorrow just so you will know we made it safely.

Love to you all, and God bless.

Before I begin the final blog of this season on Mackinac Island, I want to invite each of you to follow us down south to our home in Georgia for the winter.  We live on a beautiful lake about three hours south of Atlanta and about one hour north of the Florida border.  In the summer, it is HOT – which is why we come to Michigan.  But in the winter, we can have temps in the 30’s for a few days, then be back in the 60’s for a few weeks.  If it snows there, which might happen once every ten years, it is a BIG DEAL.  The whole place shuts down just so we can go outside and play in it!

I won’t be blogging every day in Georgia, and here’s why.  I have two major goals for the winter.  One is to work on turning this blog into a book before next spring.  That will be a monumental task, and if it gets done by then, it will take a minor miracle.  But the Island Bookstore wants to sell it, and they think there is a market for it.  That remains to be seen, but there is an awful lot of work to do to have it ready.  The other goal is to work with Bear and get him certified as a Therapy Dog before the spring.  I can do that through a program in a city near where we live, and if he is certified, I will be working him in hospitals and nursing homes in Georgia over the winter.  Then, I hope to be able to continue to work him somewhere close by the island next summer.

So – my plan now is to blog in Georgia three to four days a week.  Since I don’t live in a tourist destination, the Georgia blog will have a totally different format.  I will keep you updated on the book and on Bear, but you will learn a lot about Georgia.  Ted and I are planning some trips to several locales we think you will find interesting.   You will also learn a lot about our friends on the lake, and a lot about our family.  AND, with the help of Jennifer Bloswick, who works at the Grand, there will be pictures of Mackinac Island as it settles into winter.  Jennifer’s husband helps keep the island trails groomed for snowmobiles and cross country skiers, and he takes some great photographs. 

The address for the blog in Georgia is http://bree1976.wordpress.com.  In case any of you are “wonderers”, the 1972 in the Mackinac Island blog is the year of my oldest son’s birth, and the 1976 in the Georgia blog is the year my youngest son was born.  That site is under construction, but you are welcome to stop by anytime just to see if it is up and running.  In fact, Maddie insisted on writing a note there today, so you might want to check it out.  When it is ready, I will also post a note on THIS site to let you know.

Will this site continue next summer – absolutely!  I feel like I have made hundreds of new on-line friends this summer, and I don’t want to lose any of you.  But I do hope you come south with me – get on board, we southerners do know how to have fun!

Now . . . . . . . .

Let me tell you a story.  Ted and I were walking downtown Wednesday morning, going to the ferry to cross to St. Ignace.  We rounded a corner, and Mike (he is in charge of Carriage Tours downtown, which closed down for the season about a week ago) was coming toward us on his bike.  “Brenda,” he said, “Did you lose your camera case?”

“I don’t think so,” I said.  I remembered briefly looking for it that morning to put my camera in to carry on the ferry, but had just figured it was buried under something in the condo.

“Well,” Mike said, “Someone found one on a taxi a couple of days ago, and we think it’s yours.”

I wondered how many people had been on taxis with cameras in the last few days.  I told Mike I would check when we got back home, but I didn’t think it was mine.

We walked a few more blocks and ran into Smi Horn, going to the ferry also.  Smi is the Mayor Pro Tem and our neighbor in the Village.  “Brenda,” he said.  “Did you lose your camera case?”

I laughed out loud.  “I didn’t know I did, but now I am beginning to wonder,” I said.

“Well, someone turned one in over at the Lenox, and everyone thinks it’s yours.”  I told him we would go by the Lenox when we got back from St. Ignace.

We crossed over, looked at electric fireplaces (no decision), came back, saw Jill off, ate at Millie’s, went to the post office, then went to the Lenox, an office building for the city.  The first person I saw was Sheri, who works in the office where you pay for dray services. 

“Hi, Sheri,” I said.

“Hi!  Did you lose your camera case?” she asked.  And she turned around and pulled my camera case out of a drawer.

“I didn’t even know I had lost it!  How did you know it was mine?”

It seems that Sheri had been on a taxi a couple of days ago and found the case on the seat.  She asked the driver who had been on his taxi that day.  Two of his riders had been “that couple up at Surrey Ridge with Bear and Maddie” (still known by our dogs, as you can see).

Sheri said she figured it was mine since I have been the one running all over town taking pictures all summer.

So my camera case and I were reunited, even before I knew it was missing.

That story sums up in a few words the reason why this is such a special place to me.  Over this summer, I have been everywhere on this island meeting people, taking pictures, and asking questions.  I’d say we know an equal number of seasonal and year-round residents.  Living where we do in the Village has allowed us to meet both groups.  We have been welcomed by everyone – not immediately in some cases – but over time, the welcome has been extended.  I remember one day this summer a gentlemen who lives in the Village, someone I had never seen speak to anyone, called “Hi” to me from across the road.  I was so happy, I almost cried, and we are now on a first name basis. 

Mackinac Island is not for everyone.  We have been in restaurants downtown, and we have heard tourists say, “Once you’ve seen the fudge shops and the fort, what else is there to do?”  Ted usually has to hold me in my seat so I won’t jump up, join them at their table, and explain that they haven’t even scratched the surface of the island.  Of course I wouldn’t do that, but I sure have wanted to.

We have made many  ”beginner”  friends, folks that over the summers to come, we hope we will forge real friendships with.  And one friend - Jill – I already feel I have known all my life.  An accidental connection?  I don’t think so.  I think God puts special people in our lives for special reasons.

I began this blog because I love Mackinac Island and because folks back home in Georgia wanted a way to keep in touch with us.  It began with 12 readers.  Now I have around 700 a day, and sometimes get eight or nine hundred.  One day, I almost reached 1,000.  Why?  Because there are so many people out there who love this island like I do and want to know everything about it.  Oh, I don’t mean the touristy stuff – although there are those questions also.  But most want to know what it is like to LIVE here – and for those folks, this blog has filled a niche.

I feel incredibly blessed to be able to spend 5 1/2 months here each year.  As I have said before, this island spoke to me when I first set foot on the ferry dock in June of 2000, and it continues to speak to me every day.  Its words come to me everywhere – in the woods, on the hills, past the horse barns, in the spring tulips, at the water’s edge, through the summer flowers, and from the fall leaves.  And the words are always the same - your heart belongs here, and it always will.  I will give you joy and happiness and laughter. I will give you peace and quiet and rest and calm and contentment. You may travel to other places and love to visit there.  But only here will you find your heart’s true home.  Only here. 

The people in Georgia – our family and our friends – are who will always carry us back there, and I have a deep longing to get back to them now.  There will never be anyone on the island who will know me and love me like these precious people in Georgia do. They are my foundation and my history - people I have known and loved, in some cases, practically since birth, others for years and years.   I bring my love for them with me when we come  here.  The friends and family who came to visit this summer have begun to understand the love I have for this place, and they know it doesn’t diminish at all the love in my heart for them.  In a perfect world, we could have the people we love the most in the place we love the most.  But here on earth, that seldom happens.  That’s what I believe Heaven will be like – all of our loved ones gathered together in the most perfect place ever.  Can you imagine the joy!

Good Lord willing, we will all meet again right here on this island blog next spring.  I hope, through me this summer, you have grown to know Mackinac Island better and to love it even more.  And whether it is here, or another magical place, I wish you all your heart’s true home.   God bless.

In Amy McVeigh’s book, Mackinac Connection, she quotes Jessie Doud, owner of Jesse’s Chuck Wagon Restaurant until this past year, who was asked about winter on Mackinac Island.  Ms. Doud said, “The words I would use about winter are ‘quiet’ and ‘peaceful’.  We get our home back. I don’t mean that as a slur on the tourists, because come spring we are ready for everyone to come back and for all the activity to begin again.  I guess you’d say I can’t wait for it (the summer season) to end and can’t wait for it to begin.”

Today I want to share with you some pictures I’ve been taking this week as the “town” of Mackinac Island slowly closes its doors to all but the winter residents (around 600) and the few hundred tourists who come over during the winter to snowmobile and cross-country ski. 

Yes, there are a few businesses still open.  The city offices are here and working all year – the island still has to have lights and water and garbage pickup.  The public school is open year-round, as is Doud’s Market and Alford’s Drug Store.  The Village Inn will be open all winter, except for two weeks at the end of November (hunting season!).  The Mustang never closes, nor does Sinclair’s Irish Pub.  St. Anne’s Catholic Church becomes the social hub of the entire community now, regardless of church affiliation.

I noticed, even before the last Grand employee had left the island, businesses had begun maintenance work for next spring.  One of the fudge shops was getting a new tile floor, another was getting new paint.  The islanders stay as busy as possible with outdoor work right up until that first heavy snowfall stops all the activity in its tracks.  Maintenance will continue indoors on some businesses until the cost of heating shuts everything down until spring.

La Galerie's display windows, completely bare. The doors have special slanted mats in front of them to prevent melting snow from getting into the shop.

The sign on Goodfellow's door.

Two empty shops on Main Street.

Shepler's Ferry Dock - no boats, no people.

These workers were carrying the awnings from the Mackinac Island Bike Shop somewhere to put in storage. All the stores with awnings do the same thing. That's easier that having to replace all those awnings that heavy snow would have broken during the winter.

Luggage carts from the ferry docks going to storage.

Decked Out, a very nice clothing store, empty and locked.

Murdick's Fudge, getting a new coat of paint before the snow falls.

The lobby of the Chippewa Hotel.

The Pink Pony - two nights before this photo was taken, it was full of costume-clad goblins.

Sweet Anna. I finally got to photograph her somewhere besides in front of the Grand shoveling up horse poop. She was leaving the island, on her way back to college.

Jill took this shot early one morning this week, before she left. It's boxes and boxes of empty beer bottles, waiting to be picked up for recycling.

Empty Main Street - Wednesday morning.

The other end of Main Street.

A new shop - opening in the spring!

It’s now Friday night – around 10:45 p.m.  Ted and I have just gotten back from our date night.  About an hour before we started to town, the rain started again.  There are no taxis running after five o’clock now unless you have reserved one in advance.  We didn’t.  So we put on all our rain gear and started down the hill.  We laughted as we walked, saying that back home in Georgia, we probably wouldn’t even venture out in our car on a night like tonight – we certainly wouldn’t think of putting on rain gear and walking somewhere.  Yet, here we were, splashing through puddles with rain blowing in our face- and laughing about it!

We ate dinner at the Village Inn, and about 10 minutes before we were leaving, the wind started blowing like crazy.  We walked up the hill with Ted holding on to me so I wouldn’t be blown away.  That stretch of Cadotte behind the school where there are no trees to block the winds off Lake Huron is the worst, but we got home ok.  So the last Friday in the month played itself out as the other Fridays in October did – with crazy weather. 

Downtown tonight - just as we got into town, the rain stopped.

 

The Village Inn tonight. They have placed a pool table in the middle of the floor where about 10 dinner tables were this summer.

On the way up the hill tonight, we stepped into the little entrance gazebo of the Jockey Club to get a little protection from the wind for a minute. Behind Ted you can see a snow fence. It has been placed all along Cadotte bordering the Grand's property. It will prevent snowmobiles from crossing onto the golf course.

Time to go to bed.  We got a lot of packing done today – tomorrow we clean.  Sunday we leave.  Sometime tomorrow I will sit down and write the last blog of the season.  I can’t believe that day is finally here.  I   just   can’t   believe   it.

NOTE:  “Shannon”, one of this blog’s loyal readers, posted a comment yesterday that many of you asked about privately and publicly.  Some of you requested an address and email for Shannon to send cards or well wishes.  I contacted Shannon by e-mail, and she gave me permission to give out both her home address and email address for anyone wanting to contact her directly.  If you would like that information, please contact me at brendasumnerhorton@hotmail.com, and I will be glad to send it to you by return email.  Shannon wanted me to thank all of you who have added her to your prayer list.  She has an amazing story to tell of already answered prayers in her family, and now needs prayers lifted up for her.  Thank you readers, for caring.

No tissues needed for this one – I promise!

Ted and I have been packing all day.  Let me correct that – I have been packing all day.  Ted has been cleaning out, cleaning up, and cleaning away five and one-half months of accumulated stuff that two weeks ago he wouldn’t have dreamed of tossing away.  Now, faced with 1) Do we pack it up and take it home? or 2) Do we leave it here until next year -even though it has been here for five and one-half months, and we have never put our hands on it? or 3) Do we throw it away? 

Because of the recycling rule here on the island, all those choices had to be made today – because today was the last pick-up for garbage/recycling before we leave.  Anything we need to get rid of at the last minute will go into one large bag and be given to Duck across the street, who is going to put that bag out for us next week on garbage day.

I’ve gone through dresser drawers and closets and selected what goes home and what stays.  It was pretty easy.  Anything summery goes home, even though we spend our summers in Michigan.  That is because by the time we come up here in mid-May of next year, we will have already had at least two months of summer in Georgia.  So the summer clothes have to go back.  I’m taking home a few “winter” items – one warm coat, a couple of sweatshirts, some lightweight sweaters.  I’m even going to throw in my heavy-duty gloves and earmuffs because we will be going to northern Arkansas for New Year’s with our grandchildren.  Every year we go, and every year I wish for snow.  So far – no snow.  I am beginning to think that snow is just not something I will ever be able to cross off my wish list.  But I will continue to hope for it – and be prepared!

We have been doing other “get ready to leave” things today.  Ted has cleaned up and stored two of our now three bicycles upstairs in the third bedroom.  He’s saving his out until the last day because he will still go into town each day to the post office.  I have taken all the sheets, bedspreads, blankets, and quilts off all the beds and have washed and dried them.  I’ve spread up the beds with just the bedspreads and sham-covered pillows (well except for ours, which is still fully “clothed”).  All the good sheets and blankets are stored in closets and dressers.  Sometime before we leave I will follow the example of the Grand Hotel and Chris Ann and cover up as much stuff as I can with old sheets, just to keep the dust off everything.   Next year, I can just imagine me walking in, snatching all those sheets off the furniture, and shouting, “We’re back!”

The forecast is calling for more rain for Friday and Saturday.  We were promised sunshine and warmer temps today, but the clouds hung on, and it never got out of the 40s.  No snow in sight though.  Sigh.

I’m posting my last round of random pictures tonight, with captions.  What photos you will see before we leave have already been taken, because there is no time to go out and take more.  We plan to have one final “date night” on Friday, then eat in on Saturday night, before leaving Sunday morning.  My plan now is to post both nights, and possibly one short one on the road Sunday night, if we find a dog-friendly hotel with wireless.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Ted crossing the finish line Saturday after walking in the Great Turtle Race and Half Marathon.

Ted and I after the race. This is terrible, but Jill got there before me and actually took this picture and the one of him crossing the finish line. Thanks, JIB!

 

Little Stone Church at twilight.

I was walking by Jewel Golf Course this week, and suddenly the sprinkler heads popped up and steam and water started spewing out. "Bout scared me to death! They were blowing all the water out of the pipes in anticipation of freezing temperatures.

With all the wet weather, mushrooms are popping up everywhere. The true islanders know which ones to pick and cook that aren't harmful. I haven't got a clue.

I took this one the night I was walking home from the Grand "closing". A lone walker, pushing her bike home in the rain.

A group of Grand employees, the morning after it closed, rushing with all their belongings to catch the ferry.

The sun going down - Tuesday night as I was walking to town.

 

 

Ted and I went over to St. Ignace on Wednesday morning. This is a shot of one of the Shepler ferries, out of the water for the season.

The trip back from St. Ignace - the closed Grand from the ferry.

Taken the night of the Grand "closing" on that walk home in the rain. This is one of the main horse barns, mostly boarded up.

Grand Hill at twilight.

Yesterday, after seeing Jill off on the ferry, we ate lunch in town at Millie’s on Main.  It was their last day, and they were closing at 4 p.m.  We ate some really good homemade spaghetti and then decided to splurge and get peach cobbler for dessert.  Oh my gosh!  They brought us both out a helping that was the size of a dinner plate!  They were trying to get rid of everything, and they didn’t even charge us for the cobbler.  Delicious!

After all that food, we walked home, picked up the dogs and went for a long walk up to Ft. Holmes (finally).  I am sorry to say that the leaves were probably two weeks past their peak.  I am so sorry I never made that trip up there for the third shot of the series, but the weather has just not cooperated.  Even though a lot of the trees have lost their leaves, it was still a beautiful walk.

The road up to Lookout Point.

The edge of one of the cemetaries.

Ted, Maddie (can't see her in the leaves), and Bear - ahead of me as usual. You just can't walk fast AND take photos!

At the crest of the hill to Lookout Point - this gift.

Sugar Loaf - two weeks past its peak. Next year, I will hike up there - regardless of the weather - and catch it at full color. A promise.

The trail up to Ft. Holmes, the highest point on the island.

We were at Ft. Holmes at maybe 4 p.m. The sky was already darkening - the clouds moving in helped with that.

A picnic table sits on the Ft. Holmes hill, under a beautiful orange tree.

The fastest way back down to the cemetaries? Take the steps!

About half-way down - looking back up.

On Saturday morning, you’ll have some photos of Mackinac Island – after the Grand closes and the islanders “get their island back”.  If you’ve never seen downtown at that time of year, I think you will be in for quite a surprise!

I keep telling myself that one day this week I will sit down to write the “final post” for the season.  I’m not ready to do that yet, even though today was the closest I’ve come to saying, “Ok – I’m ready to go.”  And that is because today, my good friend Jill left the island. 

JIB in The Island Bookstore.

As I have said before, Jill is the communicator for Mackinac Island.  If Jill doesn’t know about something that’s going on, then it must not be going on.   She always seems to be everywhere at once, and when we were first getting to know each other, I gave her the nickname JIB (for Jill in the Box) – because she just popped up everywhere.  At first I thought she knew everything because she worked at the The Island Bookstore.  I figured there must be some secret information system that fed every little tidbit of news from every corner of the island into that tiny little store inside the Lilac Tree Hotel mall.  But then I realized, no – it’s just that Jill knows everyone on Mackinac, and everyone knows her. 

How in the world I would have ever kept this blog going without her constant stream of places to go and people to meet is beyond me.  It probably would have been dead in the water by June.  Jill was a Godsend. 

But the best part of meeting Jill was not how much she knew.  The best part was becoming her friend.  Being Jill’s friend is like taking little rays of sunshine and spreading them across your day – regardless of the weather, regardless of your mood, regardless of how you feel – Jill’s voice and her smiling face can lift you right up.  Her spirit is sweet and generous and kind, and she shares herself with everyone. 

This summer I have seen her come to the aid of an endless number of people in countless ways – housesitter, meeting someone at the ferry, seeing someone off at the ferry, helping people unpack-then helping them pack, dogsitter, delivering messages, delivering packages, catsitter, buying groceries for others, and picking up mail for a friend.  And she is usually taking care of all that before she goes to a a full-time job in the afternoon at the bookstore.  She does it all, and she never complains.  She never says she’s too busy or too tired to help someone, even though I know that sometimes she is both. 

On her breaks from the bookstore, she will walk down the sidewalk and have 20 people speak to her by name before she hits the first corner.  She is hailed from the street, from taxis, from bikes, and from stores.  She has this amazing ability to make you feel special.  That’s what she did for me, and that’s what she does for everyone lucky enough to know her. 

Jill left today on the 12:30 ferry.  Her plan is to spend a few months with her family in downstate Michigan, then spend some time with friends in Arizona, before returning to the island in the spring. 

Ted and I were there at the dock to see her off.  She wrote me a lovely note that she gave me as she was boarding the boat, making me promise not to open it until she was well out of sight.  I kept my promise. 

Watching the ferry pull away, I thought, ”Now there is only one more important goodbye I have to say before we leave – and that will be to the island itself.”  

Then it will be time to go home.

Our plan is to leave on Sunday. 

Have a great winter, JIB!  Love you, my friend.

 

 

 

 

After yesterday’s story on the closing of the Grand, I figured we all could use a few laughs.  I’ve been holding on to these photographs I took last Saturday night downtown for just that reason, and I want to share them with you today. 

On the Saturday night of the weekend before Halloween, there are two traditions  on Mackinac Island.  One tradition is for the children to visit all the businesses downtown and trick-or-treat.  The kids also trick-or-treat on the real Halloween night, so the first one is kind of like a practice run.  The second tradition is that all the adults (I refuse to say “grown-ups”) dress up in the most outrageous costumes that can imagine and have a good old time walking up and down Main Street – visiting Horn’s Bar, Sinclair’s Irish Pub, and the Pink Pony. 

Now some of you out there are saying (I can hear you), “That’s just an excuse to run around and act crazy and drink.”  If you are out there saying that, I only have one thing to say to you – you are exactly right!

But you know what?  It was soooo much fun!  Ted and I had asked Jill to go to dinner with us Saturday.  She didn’t know how many more days she would be on the island, and we wanted to take her out before she left.  None of us dressed in costumes.  Jill, who has seen a lot of these “adult” Halloween parties on the island, couldn’t wait to see my face and Ted’s when we saw the elaborate lengths people go to.  There’s even a contest with prize money! 

Since this is a G-rated blog, I am going to be very selective in the photos I post, but let’s just say there were a few costumes of the NOT G-rated variety.

We ate dinner at the Harborview Dining Room at the Chippewa Hotel, and we had barely gotten seated when Nadine, the Chip’s Sales Manager (dressed as a very attractive policewoman), walked in and slapped her handcuffs on Ted.  Thank goodness she decided to let him go on the grounds that he wouldn’t be able to pay for our meal while he was “locked up”.

Ted had just gotten seated, when another attractive lady walked over to say hello to everyone.  It was Sandy, who Ted worked with at the Visitor’s Center this summer.  I think she was dressed as a caberet performer – that is my best guess anyway.

When we finished our meal, we just wandered around town and took pictures, so I will caption the rest of the photos.  Unfortunately, I did not know what or who a lot of these people were supposed to be.  But I give them all an “A” for creativity, design, and sheer bravado to wear some of these costumes.  Here goes!

A trio of pirates, straight off their ship, and looking for trouble.

Two of the prettiest "witches" I've ever seen, sitting on the sofa in the Chippewa Hotel lobby.

A big crowd of wizards and witches (and other magical characters).

My best guess? Wizards from one of the Harry Potter movies? I'm so not up to date on all this!

The only way I knew this was Brian (General Manager of the Chippewa and the Lilac Tree Hotels) is because Brian is taller than anyone else on the island. His wife, Jeri-Lyn, gets an A+ for her costume of the Wizard of Oz's Wicked Witch of the North (Geez, I hope that's who she was)!

 

Cute Julie - the Front Desk Manager at the Chippewa - pretending to be a pirate.

Here you immediately see Batman. But you have to look down that long hall on the left to see the Y-M-C-A Village People cowboy heading for the men's room.

Two bright blue eyes on the back of a very bald head. And yes, that is a yellow spider on his ear.

The Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz?

Bat Girl and . . . . . . . I have no idea.

Two headless people. Really weird looking from the back. Their heads were where their chests should be.

A real bonehead.

A robot and a conehead - and a couple in the left corner who look like they just landed in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Could be Father Time.

Ted and Julie, the Pirate

 

Cute Katie - the last time you saw her she was saying goodbye to her horse Pasha at the ferry dock.

My absolute favorite - a group of friends dressed as pink flamingos.

Now, if you have a Halloween costume party to go to this weekend, and are stuck for an idea, the pictures above should give you something to think about.  BUT, if none of those help, I offer this last idea. 

OCTO-MOM! 

The Grand Hotel will close its doors for another season on Tuesday.  Check-out time is 10 a.m. on October 27. 

For the first time in the hotel’s 123 year history, a closing “special” was offered this season.  Guests could spend Monday night and be part of the ritual of closing down the hotel, eat a buffet in the dining room in casual clothes (a no-n0 on any other night of the season), and check out the decor in some of the  385 rooms and suites (each one is decorated differently).  Bob Tagatz, the Concierge and Historian for the Grand, gave a “closing” presentation to several hundred guests on Monday afternoon.  I asked Bob if I could attend, and he graciously said yes.

Bob spoke for an hour, and I don’t remember him even stopping once to breathe.  He knows the Grand Hotel, her history, and her personality like very few others do.  He knows her charm and her secrets, and he loves sharing it all with guests.  I tried to write down what he was saying, but was so fascinated I finally gave up and just listened.

Bob told us when the Grand decided to offer the closing night special, management thought they would have 100-200 takers.  But 500 guests made reservations, and most of them arrived this afternoon on the 3 o’clock ferry.  A stream of taxis and Grand buses were coming up the hill to the Grand as I was walking to town. 

I will try my best to paraphrase Bob’s talk, and Bob, please forgive me if I get parts wrong – as I said, it was just too interesting to take notes. 

The Grand is not a hotel or a restaurant- it is a theatrical package.  When you arrive, you enter a world of drama and excitement and dazzle.  In 1904, there were 1200 woodframe hotels in the United States.  Today there are only 12, and there is only one solely owned by one family, and that is the Grand on Mackinac Island.  Built in 1887  by 600 laborers in 93 days, the Grand has been owned by the Musser family since 1933. 

Over 600 mployees (approximately one for every two guests) begin arriving in April from 23 different countries to be trained and to open the hotel.  Tomorrow, except for a few who have already gone, those employees will leave the island going back to their homes around the world, or they will travel to other resort areas in the U.S. to work during the winter. 

The first sign the season is coming to a close is the first morning the horses are seen being led down the hill in threes and fours to the ferry docks.  The second sign is the “turning of the ground” in front of the hotel, to ready the soil for the planting of the 24,000 tulip and 16,000 daffodil bulbs that will brighten the Grand in the spring.  Tomorrow, following tradition, the Grand’s golf carts will be loaded on flatbeds and pulled by dray to the ferry docks, where they will be taken to the mainland for the winter.

As we walked through the hotel today going to the Theatre to hear Bob, we witnessed another tradition – the running of the rockers.  Every available hotel employee, at a set time, goes outside on the porch and picks up a rocker or a table or a chair and brings it into the hotel and places it in the ballroom for storage.

 

 

 

As Bob was talking, housekeeping was inspecting each room, each hallway, each conference room – everything - for signs of wear and tear.  Lists are made, and during the winter, whatever needs painting, or restitching, or replacing is taken care of.  The upkeep on the Grand is unbelievable, but the Musser family is committed to keeping her in Grand Lady style.

The hotel, except for a few essential offices, is completely closed and unheated for the winter.  To keep the entire building heated would be an astronomical expense.  If a room or any area requires maintenance of any kind over the winter, partitions are built and that part is heated.  Other than that, the hotel is cold (below O degrees) and dark (no electricity).  The miles and miles of sprinkler system pipes and plumbing pipes are drained, blown out, and treated with antifreeze.  The wine cellar is climate controlled all winter, with an alarm system if the room gets too cold.

Even without electricity and heat, there are people in the Grand every day and every night to ensure there are no problems.   Twenty-four hour a day security is maintained throughout the winter.  I shudder to think about being in the hotel in the dark in the middle of winter, with only a flashlight for illumination. 

After listening to Bob, we walked back through the hotel for the last time this year.  The doors to the ballroom were now closed, and the furniture in front of the entrance to the room had been covered with white linens, as had much of the other furniture.  Tomorrow after the last guest leaves, the remaining pieces will be covered.

Tuesday morning at 9 a.m. the Musser family will gather in the lobby of the Grand and ring the bell signaling the end of the season, as has been their tradition for many years.  The guests will check out at 10, the employees will finish the last minute closing details and turn in their uniforms, and there will be a grand exodus from the island.

But the Grand lady on the hill will remain.  She will rest, for she has worked hard this season.  She opened her doors earlier than ever this year – April 30.  She slept 132,918 guests in her beautiful rooms.  She cooked, among other things, 5,088 pounds of prime rib, 12,720 pounds of ham, 93,255 pounds of potatoes, 28,681 pounds of strawberries, and 5,529 pounds of pecans.  She planted 2,614 geraniums in the 260 planting boxes that line her great porch, after filling those planters with seven tons of potting soil.  And she planted one ton of bulbs this fall. 

She will sleep as the gales of November howl, and as the snows of winter fall.  And she will dream of spring, when once again the Grand lady on the hill will open her arms, her heart, and her doors to her guests. 

 

 

 

What is the deal with Fridays in October this year on the island?  Beginning October 2 with our Girls Night Out in a gale, every Friday this month has had outrageous weather!  And this past Friday was no exception.

I mentioned last week that we (Jill, Diane and I) were going to hear Don Piper and Jennifer O’Neill speak to the Win-Some Women’s Retreat at the Grand on Saturday morning.  When I left the condo to walk down to the Grand, it was raining, cold, and the wind almost knocked me off my feet.  I had on a turtleneck long-sleeved top, a sweater, a zip-up fleece jacket, and my rain jacket/hood.  Over the hood I put my earmuffs (to hold the hood on my head).  Then rain gloves.  Everything was protected except my jeans from mid-thigh down (where the rain jacket ended).  They were soaked by the time I got where I was going.  Jill and Diane were already there, having biked up – they were totally dry because THEY HAVE RAIN PANTS!  Believe me, I have an L.L. Bean catalog all marked with rain gear I want for Christmas this year. 

We made our way upstairs to the conference room where the speakers were presenting.  There were a thousand women already there, and we found three seats in the back of the room on the far left side.  It didn’t matter – there were huge screens set up around the room, so even if you couldn’t see the speaker directly, you still had a close-up view.

We had our schedules wrong, and we had missed Jennifer O’Neill, but Don Piper (90 Minutes in Heaven) was fabulous.  His story is one of the most inspiring and miraculous I have ever heard, and I will be reading his book when we get home.  It is always amazing what God can do, but when you hear up close and personal a true miracle story, it  is an awesome experience.  And to have that “miracle” – who was pronounced dead at the scene of an accident, stayed dead for an hour and a half, had two limbs severed, was impaled on the steering wheel,  and had serious head injuries – stand in front of you on a stage walking and talking, with both his own arms and legs attached and working just fine – well, it just  makes your heart soar.

Win-Some Women waiting to go into their luncheon. All of these ladies had to get from the Grand to the ferry docks and off the island in the stormy weather.

After Piper’s presentation, all the Win-Some Women were going to a luncheon.  We weren’t attending that, and Diane had to leave to get to work.  Carleton’s Tea Store at the Grand was selling box lunches which included cups of soup, so Jill and I picked up a couple of those and went up to the Cupola to eat and watch the – by then – serious storm that had moved in.  You know how I love to watch bad weather, and although this one lacked thunder and lightning altogether, it was big on rain and wind.  To experience that in a room four flights up, surrounded by windows, was totally awesome, and I loved every minute.  It also gave us a birds-eye view of what was taking place below us.  

Waves kicked up from the high winds crash into Round Island on Friday.

Same here – waves, rain, and wind.  That’s the Gatehouse in the left foreground and the school in the right foreground.

Occasionally there would be a person or two walk up the hill (or down).

Even with the rain curtains down, the taxis were pretty wet on the insides - but much better than no protection at all.

The driest way to get from Point A to Point B that day was in one of the Grand's omnibuses, which you can barely make out in the photo. They are fully enclosed.

 

If you look closely, you can see the waves crashing over the breakwater beyond the marina.

 

While we were sitting up there watching nature at its wildest, the logistical nightmare unfolding on the island was at full throttle.  There were a thousand women trying to get off the island after their luncheon ended.  There were around 500 people trying to get on the island for the ballroom dancing weekend at the Grand, beginning Friday evening.  Reports began to trickle up to the Cupola, and by 2 p.m. the word came that both Star and Shepler ferry lines had stopped crossing.  Winds were reported as 26 mph sustained, with 40 mph gusts.  I should mention here that Arnold is the only ferry line with the big catamarans (“cats”) that can handle really rough water.  We heard that one Arnold catamaran, full of passengers coming to the island, was stranded in the Straits, with a Coast Guard boat alongside as backup if they couldn’t get started again (they did-about 2 hours later).  There was also a little matter of a ballroom dancing floor coming over on a cargo ferry that was no longer running.  It had been taken apart and was now coming piece by piece on passenger ferries.  (At the end of this post, before the “NOTE”, I’ve posted a short video clip someone on one ferry took of another ferry crossing to the island.  I believe it was the Huron, the Arnold Line cargo ferry, they photographed.)

 

THEN Arnold stopped running their ferries either way to Mackinaw City. 

The passage from Mackinaw City to the island is a lot further and in more open water than the passage from St. Ignace to the island.  Therefore, in weather like we were having, it was just safer to cancel the ferries to Mac City.  So the Arnold cats were carrying people off the island to St. Ignace.  Which was fine if you had come to the island from St. Ignace.  If not, you were arriving where your car was not.  So shuttles were carrying people across the Mackinac Bridge to their cars in Mac City.  There was another concern that the bridge would be closed, but that never happened.

Add to all of that the logistics of getting 1,000 women to the ferry docks from the Grand and 500 people from the ferry docks to the Grand.  Taxi service has already been cut because it is so late in the season, but the taxis were hauling as many people each trip as they possibly could, and the Grand horse-drawn omnibuses were doing the same.  We watched as taxi after taxi and bus after bus came and went from the Grand.  The drivers, even with rain gear and rubber blankets, were drenched to the skin, but I never heard one word of complaint.  The Grand porters stood in the rain and unloaded and loaded people hour after hour – no complaints. 

A soaking wet Grand omnibus driver, delivering his passengers.

 

Passengers still had to make it to the door from the bus. None of these photos do justice to the force of the wind that day.

 

This dray driver's tarp had blown off, and someone on a bike had stopped to tie it back on. The dray driver, of course, could not get off and leave the horses unattended.

 

 

3:30 p.m. - School's out, and children were going home.

 

 

Taxis bringing passengers from the ferry dock. That's Anna in the green rain gear.

The Arnold Line did an exceptional job insuring that everyone that needed to get off the island got off, and everyone who wanted to be on the island got here.  There were some who chose to come back to the Grand after seeing what the water looked like on the Straits that day.  But many safely crossed.  As for me, I waited until a taxi pulled up that still had passengers left on board, after everyone else had gotten off at the Grand.  I would ask, “Are you taking someone to the Village?” Usually the answer was no, but finally Jeanine pulled up with two passengers who were going my way.  I climbed aboard and made it home around 4 o’clock.

Even though we have been on Mackinac Island for two seasons, there are still many days when I learn something new about living here.  Friday was a learning day. Is this the easiest place to live and work?  Absolutely not.  But there is such a pride here in getting the job done in even the harshest conditions – and getting it done using the means at hand – horses.  Watching everyone pull together Friday to pull off a monumental task made me so proud to be part of this community.  Through it all, people worked together to assure that the problems were solved, the visitors were taken care of, and never once was the integrity of this special place threatened.  People take care of each other here – in business and in their personal lives.  That’s one of the reasons I love it so.  There are many more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYplmKIqczI

Note:  A light moment during all the drama Friday afternoon was watching these four cute little girls discover a phone booth for the first time.  They had never seen one!  Talk about making me feel ancient!

  

Our next to last Friday.  I need to start packing and cleaning, but I’m not doing that until at least Monday of next week.  This is going to be a full weekend, and I refuse to even think about beginning to clean out dressers and closets until Monday.

The Win-Some Women are at the Grand Hotel Thursday and Friday, and Jill, Diane, and I are going tomorrow to hear the two speakers.  Win-some Women is a group of interdenominational Christian women who meet every fall at the Grand, and ladies who live on the island have been invited to join them for the speakers and music sessions.

This year’s speakers are actress, author, and former model Jennifer O’Neill (I will always remember her in Summer of ‘42).  Her presentation is entitled “From Fallen to Forgiven”.  The other speaker is Don Piper, author of the bestselling book, “90 Minutes in Heaven”. 

On Saturday morning, Ted is doing the Great Turtle 5.7 Mile Run & Walk, and I will be there to take photos and cheer him on.  On Sunday, we will be electronically able to track, via internet updates, our daughter Julie and her husband Matt as they run the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C.   They have been training for over a year for this event, and we are so proud of them.  They fly to Washington on Friday.

After the Win-Some ladies leave this weekend, the Grand is having a special “Close the Grand” event on Monday and Tuesday, with a special presentation on what is involved in closing the great hotel down for the winter.  I hope to be able to attend that.

I walked to town this afternoon to run some errands and then get my hair cut.  Downtown seems so different now.  Nearly everyone you see on the street is someone you know, and people stop on the sidewalk to talk about what they’re doing over the winter and where they are going (or not going).  From what I have heard, the island really slows down in November.  Islander men all leave to hunt for two weeks, and islander women go visit friends and relatives, or just relax and hunker down for the coming winter.  Many islanders will continue working through the long, cold months ahead.

Liz, my teacher friend, was having her hair cut at the same time I was today.  I asked her if the flu had affected the island school.  Schools all over Michigan have been closing this week because of high absenteeism due to the flu.  Cheboygan’s schools closed yesterday while I was there.  Liz said that so far, the little island school has not been hit hard.  Sometimes the isolation of the island works for the good of its residents, and this might be one of those times.

I hope you are not growing weary of the fall photographs, because I took some more this afternoon.  I know in the next few days, it will all be over, and the leaves will be on the ground instead of on the trees.  I have GOT to get up to Ft. Holmes before that happens.

I photograph this area near the Wings of Mackinac Butterfly House so often, but it changes every day.

 

This goose had wandered away from a group of about 50 to settle in like she was ready for the night. Geese make big messes, but they are beautiful birds.

Another calendar contest entry? Taken half-way down Turkey Hill, looking out across the Grand's Jewel golf course.

The same view, looking a little more westerly toward Little Stone Church.

A gorgeous tree downtown behind the historic McGulpin House.

An almost empty Market Street, from the corner of Market and Fort Streets.

The Island House, the oldest operating hotel on the island, closed for the winter.

The first sign that I have seen of Christmas on the island. The Cottage Inn was putting up decorations. The inn will be open until the middle of February.

Next week will be hectic, but I will try my best to write every day.  Please keep us in your prayers as we begin to prepare to travel home.  Good Lord willing, I will see you all back here Monday morning.  God bless.