Time Travel

This weekend found me doing a lot of reminiscing because we had an antique car show in St Ignace ( that's' across the bridge). The cars ranged in time between the late forties till the eighties. The cars that went by the motel were incredible and took me back to a time of mini skirts and go-go boots, my teen years. I saw a 66 Lemans, a 64 Mustang,a Malibu, 67 Nova, several early sixties Chevrolet convertibles and of course Dune buggies! My very favorite was the 66 GTO. When that one went by I could still, in my mind, hear the Beachboys belting out "little GTO...wha, wha..GTO...".
Those muscle cars, as they were called earned there name from the power under the hood. Just thinking about all that power made the bottom of my right foot start itching to tromp on an accelerator. I could picture my teen years with all the cruising cars, polished to a brilliant shine, cruising through an A & W, with an occasional gunning of the engine and then a screeching of tires. The great sound of power reaching the pavement would leave evidence of black tire marks. We would enjoy the loud sound of the engines and smell of burning tires over a rootbeer and hamburger and think this was a great time.
Now back to reality...darn! My foot doesn't itch when I look at my mini van. I look at my varicose veins and think that it is a good thing that I retired my mini skirts and go-go boots. I still have fabulous memories of my teen years and beyond and that will be enough!

We've Come A Long Way

Several guests ask me how many loads of laundry I do a day, so I thought I would tell all of you. I will do any where between 10 to 18 loads a day during peak season. There are days when the temperature is 90 degrees plus with high humidity, that the laundry room temperature exceeds 110 degrees. On those days I cheat...I load up the van with all the laundry and head for the local laundry mat. I usually finish all the laundry in about 2 1/2 hours. I am very grateful for modern day appliances, I do not use the utensils below. I really don't know how we ever did without electricity!I probably would have to either beat the laundry on the rocks in the straits or carry several buckets of water from the straits and boil it over a fire then scrub on a washboard. NOT!




Laundry utensils at Fort Mackinac

I Played Hookie

Yes you read correctly...I did play hookie. Tammy, our head housekeeper, and I went to Mackinac Island on Wednesday. I wanted to go and see all the beautiful lilacs while they were in full bloom. I was not disappointed. They were unbelievably beautiful. We walked up to Fort Mackinac, across the back of the island to the Grand Hotel and then deciding that we needed nourishment, had a wonderful lunch at the Gate House. The Gate House, (formerly the French Outpost), overlooks the Grand Hotel and is across from the Little Stone Church. We ate outside despite the fact that it was only 54 degrees with a chilly wind. Others around us were putting up their hoods and putting on gloves. It didn't seem that cold to us. While we ate, carriages would pass on by and we enjoyed the sight and smell of all the beautiful lilacs on Grand Avenue. After lunch we walked to the northern most point of the island to Mission Point Resort. It is a beautiful place overlooking the waters of the Straits of Mackinac and the Round Island Lighthouse. We walked through a small tunnel of Apple Trees in full bloom, to arrive at the main doors of Mission Point Resort. It smelled heavenly! After walking through the gorgeous log lobby, we headed towards the Sheplers dock for the boat ride home. Along the way we stopped at the Butterfly House behind St Annes' Church and enjoyed the sight of many beautiful butterflies from as far away as South America. According to Tammy, there was not one lilac bush or butterfly that I didn't take a picture of. We had a great day out and I want to share some pictures of our day on the island. I hope you enjoy them.






The beautiful, fragrant lilacs were everywhere.


One of many beautiful butterflies we saw at the Butterfly House



A view from Father Marquette Park of Fort Mackinac


High atop Fort Mackinac the view is fantastic

We waited and waited but superman was a no show

Whoops!

Last night after Lynn and I had covered the pool for the night, made the coffee and straightened the lobby, I told him that it was his night to go to bed early and that I would close up for the night. I asked him to wait in the lobby while I went and locked up the laundry room. I walked out the back lobby door and was greeted by the sound of laughter and talking from our guests on the second floor, I glanced up and noticed that it was dark up there....humm... I went back into the lobby and told Lynn that two light bulbs were out. He grabbed a couple new bulbs and headed out to change the bulbs. He came right back in and told me that the bulbs weren't blown. I asked what the problem was and he said that all I had to do was turn the lights on! Now let me explain. Last year when we redecorated the lobby we changed all the light switches. The old ones had labels so that we new which switch was for what area. The labels will not stick to the new switch covers so I got mixed up and didn't turn the right lights on. I went out and told our guests "let there be light". We all had a good laugh, and everyone took it in stride. There is always something to laugh about!

The Foggy Week

I thought you might enjoy seeing the Mackinac Bridge with various parts concealed by the thick fog which blanketed the area last week. Enjoy!

Gettin Ready For Summer!

Every year, Lynn prepares the pool for our guests to enjoy. It's hard work, but he does a great job.

Wish You Were Here

This is why...











The "X" marks the spot where you need to be!

A Lesson Needed

The most wonderful thing about owning and operating a motel is the incredible people that we meet. Just the other day I was talking with a couple that were here celebrating their sixtieth wedding anniversary. They had been here before and I am still amazed at what they can accomplish. She is an accomplished quilter, making quilts for the homeless at the rate of one a week. In addition, she makes angel quilts for a local hospital in her home town. These quilts bring a lot of comfort to parents' empty arms. Both of them are very active physically. They are up early and walk to a local restaurant for breakfast. They returned to the motel to pick up their bikes for a 24 mile ride to Wilderness Sate Park. They waved good bye to me as I was planting flowers and promised to chat when they returned. They got back in the early afternoon and I was still planting flowers. They parked their bikes and in a few moments he came and said that he was going to walk to town for a while. He returned three hours later and I was still planting. He told me that it was quiting time...5:00. I couldn't agree more. I was tired. In a few moments she asked if I would be available to chat this evening. I asked what time she had in mind. She said any time as long as she could do her exercises at 8:00!
When we were talking she told me about her friend Alice. Alice was the local librarian for years and was forced into retirement at the incredible age of 92. Alice never married and was living in the house she grew up in. One day she went to visit Alice and was astonished to see that her living room walls had squares of different paper on them. She asked Alice about the walls and this is what Alice told her. Alice said that the walls had about seven layers of wallpaper on them and that it was too expensive to hire someone to take the paper off. She decided that if she did a little each day that eventually all the paper would be removed. She divided the side walls into three foot square sections and the ceiling into one foot sections, adding that it was too tiring and difficult to hold her head backwards to remove a three foot section of the ceiling. Then every day she would remove a side piece and a ceiling piece. Break big jobs down into smaller pieces and the job will not be so overwhelming.
Wow! What a lesson. This wonderful couple will turn 79 next month. Yes, I was tired after planting flowers for nine hours. But they seemed to be perfectly fine after a 24 mile bike ride and several hours of walking . I learned a great deal from them and we feel truly blessed that they took the time to share a valuable lesson about life. I hope that I will be able to do all that they do when I reach their age.

What Do You think?

As I mentioned on a previous post, I drove to Detroit last Friday to do some errands. Along the way I saw a lot of animals that don't know how to cross an express way. There were several deer, possums, raccoons and of course, every ones favorite, skunks. All these animals met with such a violent ending. Then upon my return trip I saw a ray of hope. There were several black feathered turkeys walking single file facing traffic on the shoulder of the road. I thought that turkeys were not supposed to be a very smart species. But then I thought, humm...they are alive on I-75 and all the previously mentioned animals didn't survive I-75. Why? It is a mystery I guess. But I have a thought for you. I think that this might just answer an age old question....
why did the turkey cross the road ? Answer: to show the deer, possums, raccoons and skunks that it could be done! What do you think??

Magical, Mystical Freeway

Last Friday morning at 9:30, I left Mackinaw bound for my home in the Detroit area. The rain was coming down and according to the weatherman, it was going to get worse as the day wore on. I thought that if I left early enough I would miss the bulk of the storms. I got on I-75 and the rain picked up in intensity, the winds were blowing and slapping my van around, and there was lighting and thunder. Great day for a road trip, right? As I continued down the freeway, the rain got heavier and heavier. Then all of a sudden I crossed a magical line and whala....no rain or wind. All signs of stormy weather had disappeared. I was on dry pavement and partly cloudy skies! The rest of the way home was sunny and dry. This was not the first time I had crossed the magical line. This has happened to Lynn and me when we drove north in the winter. We got north of West Branch and all of the sudden we were in a snow globe. The magical lines change with the seasons. It makes driving interesting and challenging.
The magical line also happens when the seasons change. When I left Mackinaw , there were no leaves on the trees,the grass was just turning green and some spring flowers were just coming into bloom. I drove ten miles out of town and the leaves were a bright, fresh green of spring. and wild flowers were in full bloom. It was a gorgeous site. It made me feel like I was Dorothy opening the living room door and stepping into Oz! I have not seen leaves, grass or flowers in a long time. Now for the next 150 miles I could enjoy it all. And I did.