Countdown! Twelve . . Eleven . . Ten! 5/1/2013

Ten days until we leave.  One box packed to ship.  Nothing else done.  I’m thinking this is the way I should have been doing this for the last five summers instead of turning packing into a month-long marathon!

What’s different this year?  Yes, we are putting the condo on the market – but when Ted and I bought the condo, it had been on the market more than two years.  If it sells in one summer, we will both be in shock – so we are planning on being there from the middle of May until at least the end of October – and enjoying every moment – just like always.

What’s different this year?  I have such a peace about what lies ahead that it seems my usual excitement is being tempered by almost a sense of tranquility, a slow-down of my normal pace in getting ready, an attitude of, “Oh just throw a few things in the suitcase, and if I missed something, I can get it there.”  That is NOT my normal self.  Y’all know that.  I will ship everything I own so I don’t have two of anything.  Why haven’t I been like this before?!  Sooooo much more relaxing!  I know a bunch of you are out there laughing right now, saying “We’ve told you that a million times!”

What’s different this year?  We’re another year older, and this winter, as usual, I’ve become a couch potato. All plans to stay active for the last six months have gone by the wayside.  I know I’m going to struggle the first two weeks on the Island – just like I always do.  I’m dreading that . . . . . but I’m also looking forward to it – the getting back in shape part, not the part where every muscle will be screaming by day three on Mackinac!  You’d think one day I’d learn.

Ok – enough about me.  You’re here to read something about our magical Island!

Mackinac has come alive in the last two weeks.  The snow’s melted – well most of it anyway.  Shops and restaurants and hotels are opening every day, with more to come in the next week or so.  Here’s a few news items:

• The Spirit of the North Yoga Boutique has moved into the lower level of the Lilac Tree Hotel, and yoga will be offered all summer.  The instructor is Lisa Knaffla, a registered yoga teacher and certified Health & Fitness Coach.  So if you are into yoga – or want to be – you can sign up by calling Lisa at (231) 818-3001.
• Sadie’s, the new ice cream parlor at the Grand Hotel, opens May 3.  I wonder if Ted will let us stop the taxi on our first trip up the hill to get a Jersey Mud . . . . probably not.  I don’t know though – he’s pretty crazy about Jersey Muds!
• Stu Stuart, who has been making visitors to the Island laugh for many years, is moving his comedy show from the lower level of the Lilac Tree Hotel to the Eagle Point Cave Room in the Conference Center across from Mission Point Resort’s Main Lodge.  Stu will have you laughing out loud about all things “Mackinac”, and is a must-see during your Mackinac visit!
• So sad to report that Marc’s Double Oven Bakery will not be open this summer. Marc and his fabulous baked goods will be missed by one and all!
• A new business – Sail Mackinac – opens this summer.  It will offer sailing lessons on a racing sail boat and special sails for island events like the 4th of July fireworks.  More information here:  http://sailmackinac.com

Awesome boat!

It’s so funny how fast news gets around on the Island.  The realtor we purchased our condo from six years ago called us this week.  He’d been coming across on the ferry, and one of the island residents – who is a blog reader – said to him, “You knew Brenda and Ted were planning on selling their condo, didn’t you?”

He called to see if he could show it that afternoon!  All I could think about was how we leave that place every fall.  Bikes are stacked everywhere on the inside, along with deck chairs and tables.  Bathroom floor mats are off the floors and kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors are wide open to let heat in so pipes won’t freeze.  I’m sure whoever saw it thought, “Oh my goodness, what a mess!”

The tulips are coming up at the Grand . . .

. . . and the red carpet is rolled out for the Friday, May 3 Grand Opening! (Photo credit for this and above photo: Grand Hotel)

The first Shepler Ferry of the season arrives at the Island early this past Monday morning. (Photo: Caddywampus)

The lights of town shrouded in fog. (Photo: Clark Bloswick)

The first Adirondack chairs are out at Mission Point. The grass is still a little brown, but it won’t be long before it turns that unmistakable Mackinac green. (Photo: Mission Point Resort)

Oh my goodness! This year Doud’s is baking, and donuts will be available warm and oh-so-yummy every morning!  (Photo: Sonnet Quinn)

It takes a long ladder to reach the flagpole on top of the Grand Hotel’s cupola. But when the flagpole needs painting, they find a way to make it happen! (Photo: Clark Bloswick)

Patrick Conlon starts us off with another season of sunrises. BEAUTIFUL! Can’t wait to see one for myself . . . oh wait, I’m never up that early!

Little Luxuries on Mackinac is open for a new season, and the store is now twice as big! Over the winter they expanded into the space the Yankee Peddler occupied for many years. You all know it will be one of my first stops after we get unpacked!  (Photo: Little Luxuries)

A tug and barge headed for Soo Ontario under the light of a full moon. (Photo: Clark Bloswick)

Lake Blackshear News

We boarded Bear and Maddie two weekends ago while we went to see the grandkids.  A week later, around 2:30 on Sunday morning,  Bear woke us up coughing and retching so badly we thought he couldn’t get his breath.  I have never heard a dog cough like that.  He finally calmed down and went back to sleep, only to awake around 6:30 a.m. with the same symptoms.  When I got in touch with the vet before noon on Sunday, she diagnosed him over the phone, “He has kennel cough,” she said.  She knew that Bear had gotten all his shots, including the kennel cough vaccine, a month before, and I told her the kennel is adamant about their clients providing records from the vet that the dogs have been vaccinated.

“Doesn’t matter,” she said.  “The kennel cough vaccine is not 100% effective, and we think we’re dealing with a new strain, or a particularly virulent strain that the vaccine doesn’t cover.  We are seeing it pop up in every boarding kennel in the area.”

Geez.  We started Bear on meds, and he is doing great, but today Maddie started coughing.  Yikes!

Off to a wedding this weekend near Athens, GA.  We can’t board Maddie or Bear because of their cough, so Ted is doggie-sitting, and my good friend Dawn is going with me to the wedding.  We’re turning it into a girls road trip and spending the night in the historic Fitzpatrick Hotel in Washington, GA.  We’ll get there in plenty of time to have lunch and look around this sweet little Georgia town before the 6 p.m. wedding.

Then it’s back home on Sunday for a going-away party at Booger Bottom that lake friends are throwing for us that afternoon.  Busy, busy weekend!

Hmmm . . . maybe I’ll start packing on Monday. That will give me five whole days before we leave.  Sure – that’s enough.  Right? Right?