Stuck in trunk?

BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich. -- When we were transferring our suitcases and the stained-glass windows from Tricia's SUV to our rental car, her friend Ron noticed a glow-in-the-dark handle inside the trunk that made us laugh. The handle is something you pull if you get trapped inside the trunk, which is not something to laugh about. But it's the scene depicted that seems funny. Are we sick to find this humorous? You decide.

Day 12: Albany, New York, to Lynn, Massachusetts

I am dubbing the final leg of our journey the "academic tour." Sure, we traveled through beautiful scenery, but we also saw the campuses of many well-respected schools.


A hint of the fall color in New England

The first school was the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY, which is across the Hudson River from Albany. We were skirting Troy to get to U.S. 2, and the route we wanted to take was closed. We ended up on a road that passed what looked like a very large estate with a stone wall and wrought-iron fencing surrounding it. There were large stone buildings on the grounds and it looked gorgeous. We wondered what we were seeing and we finally saw a sign: The Emma Willard School. According to the school's Web site, it is a prep school for girls. Never heard of it before today. I wonder how much it costs to attend?

Leaving New York, we entered the final state of our journey -- no, not the state of exhaustion -- Massachusetts! And we immediately saw a sign telling us we were in the Berkshire Mountains. Winding roads through forested hills took us to small towns like Williamstown and North Adams. Williamstown is the home of Williams College, which is, according to Steve, one of the top-ranked liberal-arts colleges in the nation year after year. Like Emma Willard School, I had never heard of Williams before today. The campus has very beautiful stone buildings and a charming commercial district.


Williams College campus


Fun shop name in Williamstown, Mass.

The Mohawk Trail
The winding road now began to climb and soon we were at the top of a summit overlooking three states, New York, Vermont and Massachusetts, and the North Adams valley below. This part of U.S. 2 is labeled the Mohawk Trail. The highway follows much of the original Native American trail, which connected Atlantic tribes to those in upstate New York.


Scenic viewpoint from Wigwam Western Summit on U.S. 2


Deb thinks about the trip while resting on the banks of the Deerfield River along U.S. 2 aka "The Mohawk Trail"

Bridge of Flowers


Bridge of Flowers in Shelburne Falls, Mass.

In Shelburne Falls, Mass., an old trolley bridge spanning the Deerfield River has been converted into a lovely garden. We had to stop and literally smell the roses! This was a lovely place to stop to stretch our legs and to get refreshments. The town was quiet and quaint. It's well worth the stop.

On to Northampton and Amherst, two cities at the ends of a beautiful valley. I wanted to stop at Emily Dickinson's house in Amherst. We passed through Northampton first and drove around the commercial district. What a charming area. Lots of neat shops and restaurants with foods from around the globe -- very typical of a college town.

Speaking of colleges, in the eight miles between Northampton and Amherst, there is Smith College, Amherst College, University of Massachusetts and Hampshire College. The utility companies should harness all that brain power to keep the cities' lights on.

In Amherst, we drove to the house of poet Emily Dickinson. The guidebook said it was open until 5. Wrong! The sign out front had been changed with a piece of tape to show new hours: open until 4! Arrrggghhhh! We looked at the clock: 4:01 p.m. Darn! Darn! Darn! Oh well, I will have to wait until another day to "meet" the Belle of Amherst.


Emily's Dickinson's house in Amherst, Mass.

Poem by Emily Dickinson
To make a prairie it takes a clover and one bee,—
One clover, and a bee,
And revery.
The revery alone will do
If bees are few.
(Thanks to Rose for reciting this to me when I told her we were in Amherst.)

From this point on, our drive was akin to a horse heading back to the barn.


Downtown Boston on I-90

We were ready to get to Steve's house, which we finally did at about 7:30 p.m. Just in time for a beautiful sunset glow on the water off King's Beach on Lynn Shore Drive.


View of Swampscott, Mass., from King's Beach in Lynn, Mass.

Twelve days, more than 3,000 miles of driving, looking and sleeping. It was fantastic and this country is truly America the Beautiful!

Home in Lynn!

We got home from the journey last night about 7 p.m. Ruby (our basset) piddled all over the place and let out squeal after squeal. Ya hadta be here.

Sorry I haven't been as diligent on the blog here, but I'm trying to get caught up. I need to be up at 5:30 tomorrow morning, in to Boston for an 8 a.m. rehearsal. For what? For Boston's bid to hold the Gay Games in 2014. For more information, and news on how to help, volunteer, donate, etc. go to: www.boston2014.com or you can become a friend on Facebook. Stay tuned, the announcement will come on the 29th! Say a good word for us to your spiritual leader!

Day 11: Batavia, New York, to Albany, New York

It may not seem like we covered that much distance today, but, oh, we did. We wandered down into New York's Finger Lakes region to check out Ithaca and Cooperstown.

When we mapped our route for upstate New York, I asked Steve if it would be OK to dip south to stop in Ithaca. I always wanted to see the town and the campus of Cornell University because that is where my parents lived in the early 1950s and where my oldest brother, Chris, was born. (Actually, it was Geneva, N.Y., which is not too far away.) Steve was cool with doing this.

Ithaca is at the south end of Cayuga Lake, which is a very skinny and long lake carved by glaciers eons ago. There are other lakes like Cayuga in this area, so the region is called the Finger Lakes.

We drove south on Route 96 and then down Route 89, which are on the western side of the lake. The countryside was filled with farmland amid beautiful rolling hills covered with deciduous trees. You could see a hint of autumn in the trees. I can only imagine the stunning fall foliage that will be seen in a few weeks. I'm sorry I missed it. But that's another trip, right?


Farm near Cayuga Lake off Route 89


Bellwether Hard Cider
Near Trumansburg, N.Y., we saw a sign for a cidery with a tasting room. Steve loves hard cider, so we stopped. The place was small and quiet and Steve had the tasting table all to himself. While he tasted different ciders under the Bellwether Hard Cider label, I chatted with another employee about life in Ithaca. She's the one who told us to be sure and stop by Taughannock Falls park just a few miles down the road on our way to Ithaca. Thank you! By the way, Steve bought three bottles of the Bellwether cider. (We have since tasted the Black Magic variety and it is tasty.)
http://www.cidery.com/index.html

Taughannock Falls
These falls are tall and in a very picturesque place, but unfortunately we saw them one day after being at Niagara Falls and they seemed very dinky by comparison. We realize that anything would seem dinky after Niagara, so we tried to imagine what the falls would look like in the late spring when the runoff was higher. They probably are very pretty.

The park was very pleasant, with a lovely picnic area, except when a bunch of motorcyles with loud mufflers drove by. Steve & I don't understand the need for such loud bikes, especially in such a serene setting as Taughannock Falls.
http://www.taughannock.com/

Ithaca
What a beautiful city! There's a quaint downtown commercial district called the Commons, and the Cornell campus sits on top of the hill above the downtown core. I looked for a shoe store called Cosentini Shoes, but it isn't there any longer. The proprietor was the godfather of my brother and I was hoping that maybe I would find a family member and introduce myself. Alas, this was not to be.

The streets were quiet, being that it was Sunday, which was good for us as we tried to find our way around. I was surprised to see such steep and curvy roads as they wound their way up to the campus. I didn't realize how hilly Ithaca was. I tried to imagine my dad walking around campus in his Army uniform on his way to teach ROTC classes.





Deb quote while driving past a sign for Waterloo, N.Y.:
"I have to go to the bathroom."

The Erie Canal and Cooperstown, N.Y.
Next up, the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame. We left Ithaca on Route 13, aiming to pick up Route 20 again, but we missed and had to settle for the interstate near Syracuse.

We headed east on I-90, still listening to Broadway show tunes on Sirius XM radio in our rental car, getting off in Mohawk, N.Y. It was here that we finally caught a glimpse of a section of the Erie Canal. We saw signs along the interstate that we were in the Eric Canalway Corridor, but nowhere did we see signs for further information about the canal or where we could go to see it. Thumbs down from us. Or maybe we should have done more research before we got to New York?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erie_Canal#The_route

Speaking of research, our guidebook said the Baseball Hall of Fame museum was open daily 9-9 with some exceptions. Well, I blew it. The exceptions included September, which meant we got to the museum too late and it was closed. Darn! Darn! Darn! Steve & I couldn't understand why the town thinks September isn't baseball season anymore. It's playoff time!!! Sigh....


Daily baseball game scoreboard outside the Hall of Fame

We did see the inside of Doubleday Field, which instantly made me think of the film, "Bull Durham." I closed my eyes and could hear Susan Sarandon's character, Annie Savoy, saying, "I believe in the church of baseball."


Doubleday Field

We also saw two wonderful bronze statues on the museum grounds, one commemorating the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and one capturing a scene from the final game of the 1955 World Series and featuring Brooklyn Dodger catcher Roy Campanella. While looking at the "Woman At Bat" statue, I could hear Tom Hanks' character in "A League of Their Own" yelling, "There's no crying in baseball."


"Woman at Bat" by Stanley Bleifeld


This bronze cast sculpture by Stanley Bleifeld outside the National Baseball Hall of Fame captures a scene from the final game of the 1955 World Series.

We shopped and wandered Cooperstown's Main Street -- there is a store called Rivalries which is dedicated solely to the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox -- while catching glimpses of beautiful Lake Otsego on the edge of town, then drove to Albany where we stopped for the night.

Happy Birthday to us
We grabbed a bite to eat at the hotel's restaurant, which was crowded with what we assumed were students from the University of Albany across the highway. While we were eating, people started singing "Happy Birthday." Steve & I looked at each other, as if to ask, "Is this for us? Did you have anything to do with this?" Well, the song wasn't for us, but rather for one of the young women there. As we were leaving the restaurant, we went up the woman and wished her a Happy Birthday and told her it was our birthdays, too! It was a great moment!

Favorite town names:
Romulus
Ovid

Crop circle?


Farm on Route 28 to Cooperstown

Day 10: London, Ontario, to Batavia, New York

O Canada

I have to admit there's just a different sensibility in Canada, but it's difficult to explain. Everything seems more cared for, there's an awareness of their surroundings and appearances. Even very, very modest homes have well-tended gardens, the roads aren't littered with trash, and people in general are appreciative and courteous. Not universally, but it seems more prevalent. What up with that, eh?

10-4 Good Buddy

In any case, we entered the highway (Route 401) in London to start the day and were immediately aware that the entire righthand lane was populated with every kind of semi truck and trailer you could mention: cabs alone, freight liners, doubles, etc. At first we just thought it was an anomaly, but then we realized they all had their flashers on, and after several miles of this, we knew that this was more than a coincidence. Our speculation ranged from funeral procession to protests of gas prices. It finally ended with the lead vehicle - a police car. Hmmmmmmmm.

It's only now that we are learning that it was a fundraiser for the Special Olympics. That would not have been one of our first 30 guesses. More info at: http://parisstaronline.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1757972

Jazz 94.7

Finally we approached Lake Ontario, our final lake of the Five Greats. At the tip is Hamilton, Ontario, and at this point I have to give props to Jeff's favorite radio station: WAVE 94.7 Jazz. Listening online, he has found so many fabulous artists we never get to hear in the States. Tune in at
http://www.wave947.fm/. As we turned away from Hamilton, heading along the south shore of the lake, we could see Toronto's skyline in the distance.

ARGH! Matey!

As has happened throughout this miraculous journey, events and locations - along with the outrageously beautiful weather - seem to coincide with amazing synchronicity. Knowing we needed to dip our toes and fingers into Ontario to complete the cycle, we searched for an appropriate stop and AHOY! up popped a shipwreck across the highway. Pirate ship? It HAD to be. After all this was International Talk Like A Pirate Day! Coincidence? We think not.



We walked the plank of opportunity, taking pictures and dunking our feet in the water at the nearby marina. For more on the history of this 1914 vessel, visit http://www.cliftonhill.com/falls_blog/2007/01/02/lovable-niagara-landmark-or-a-highway-wreck-few-options-remain-to-make-use-of-the-old-pirate-ship-in-jordan/

The Falls of the Niagara Empire

Onward, closer and closer we drove to Niagara Falls, signs here and there and then

BAM

there it was! Yikes! All that water and spectacular natural splendor! It really took our breath away. We looked at each other, the same thought on our minds: I have to go to the bathroom. Then we realized that Niagara was much more than what we expected.

Although the Falls dominate the activity, the right hand side of the street was overshadowed with skyscraper hotels, the Hard Rock Cafe, Hershey's Kisses, Monster Attractions, Wax Museums, etc.



And the amount of people walking the sidewalks was astounding. As we searched for parking on the far end of town, we realized that we weren't suddenly in a passing rainstorm but that the spray from the Falls was crossing the road and raining down on us. What fun!

The next 4 hours were incredible. Deb had heard that the best viewing of the Falls could be had on the Maid of the Mist, a ferry boat holding 600 people which travelled right to the very base. (DEB: A big shoutout to my coworker Jon Ehret for this tip.) After an unneccessary wait of 45 minutes (the lines on the other side of the ticket booth had a 5-minute wait; live and learn), we got our blue rain slickers and boarded. I'm not sure I can accurately describe this experience. I hope the pictures and video give you some idea of the magnitude of this ride, and of the power and beauty of Niagara Falls. One of the additional pleasures was seeing all the rainbows the Falls created.

DID YOU KNOW? The amount of water flowing over the Falls is regulated by two hydroelectric plants, with higher flows during the peak summer tourist season. What you see is not the full flow. After being so close to the Falls in the Maid Of The Mist boat and hearing the roar of the water, it's difficult to imagine what it would be like with the river running at its fullest. Yowza! It would be crazy! For more Niagara facts: http://www.niagarafallslive.com/Facts_about_Niagara_Falls.htm

Those annoying tourists were still stalking us

Simon says
You know how sometimes things happen for a reason? Well, we had one of those times when we went to buy tickets for the Maid Of The Mist boat ride. We were walking toward the ticket booth when we saw the line to buy tickets snaking down the sidewalk and around a raised garden. There were probably 100 people in the line. A family got in line behind us and the gentleman asked if this was the line to buy tickets. This was the beginning of an entertaining, yet short, acquaintance with Simon.

Simon was at the Falls with his wife, sister and nephew from New Zealand, and his two daughters. Simon and his family live in Toronto.

When Simon learned that Steve was an artist, he asked Steve question after question about his work and the stained-glass windows we were transporting across the country. This is when the comedy routine began with Simon and his wife. She warned us about Simon's incessant questions and then in the same breath thanked us for keeping Simon occupied so he wouldn't bother her and the rest of the family! It was like a George Burns/Gracie Allen sketch. Steve, of course, joined in the fun.

Simon also offered up many fun stories like this one: When he came to Canada from Hong Kong, he went to a McDonald's and ordered an English muffin with no butter. Simon described the McDonald's employee who took his order as the stereotypical English schoolteacher in Hong Kong -- very stern and businesslike. She shouted out his order, " English! No butter!" Simon didn't understand that this was her way of abbreviating an order and it confused him. He responded, "Chinese! No sugar!" Everyone in the restaurant laughed! The McDonald's manager thanked Simon for brightening the day of all the customers by giving him a free breakfast!

As we got closer to the ticket booth, we learned that there were other lines, much SHORTER lines, to the booth. As much as we lamented the fact that we could have spent 10 minutes in line instead of 40, we appreciated that those 40 minutes allowed us to meet Simon. We wouldn't have traded that time with him and his family for anything.

Thanks Simon! Maybe we'll meet you again someday.

Niagara weddings
There is a beautiful park on the river parkway that has lovely gardens and a stunning view of the American Falls. During the 30 minutes we were there, we saw the end of one wedding and the beginning of another. What a magnificent site for such an occasion. I wonder how many weddings take place there each year?


Wedding No. 2

Scooby-Doo in Batavia
We found U.S. 20 and headed east. It soon became apparent that this stretch of the route would not have any accommodations for the night, so we headed north to I-90 and found ourselves in Batavia, N.Y.

We checked into the Quality Inn and found ourselves in a room with a beeping smoke alarm. We called the front desk to report this, and the receptionist gave us her best Scooby-Doo impersonation, saying, "Ruh-roh." We laughed out loud! We ended up in a different room and with a wonderful memory of our stay in Batavia.

Alex serves us dinner
If you are ever in Batavia and want a good meal, go to Alex's Place for ribs, steaks and seafood.. We decided to treat ourselves to a nice meal on the eve of our birthdays and we got one here. We walked into the restaurant and we were immediately bombarded with the sounds of boisterous laughter and conversation. It was packed! This place was the place to be on a Saturday night. The food and service were very good, and the atmosphere was very sociable and welcoming.

Clever t-shirt that made us smile
There is a ruler and a rock, both drawn with eyes and arms and legs.
The ruler is saying to the rock: "You rock."
The rock is saying to the ruler: "You rule."
We saw this shirt at Niagara Falls.

MORE TO COME, including:

• America's crack problem
• Tourists's behavior leaves much to be desired

Rock, Paper, Scissors

Perhaps the most adorable thing on the planet. Jeff's great-nephew, Will, is too young to understand the concept of 'Rock, Paper, Scissors' so his uncle Mike taught him this unique variation. The Snidely Whiplash 'scissors' part at the end just cracks us up. This went on between Will and Jeff for hours.

Jeff also taught Will to say, 'Who da man? You da man! Me da man!'

Little Britain

Steve and I met in the fall of 1977 at Wroxton College in England. Today, when we drove through the countryside of Ontario, we thoroughly enjoyed seeing place names that were very familiar: Charing Cross, Blenheim, Windsor & London. We'll post pictures as we continue our journey through Ontario tomorrow.

Speaking of Charing Cross Road, I highly recommend the book "84 Charing Cross Road" by Helene Hanff. The film version, starring Anne Bancroft and Sir Anthony Hopkins, is quite wonderful, too.

Jimmy Hoffa and the "Michigan Turn"

We found Jimmy Hoffa!

OK, we lied. But we did stay in the town where he once lived, Lake Orion, which is now a northern bedroom community of Detroit. It is near Auburn Hills, where The Palace sports arena, home of the Detroit Pistons, is located. We passed The Palace on the way to our hotel.

Lake Orion is also where we first experienced the Michigan U-turn, which is this bizarre way of crossing major multi-lane boulevards. Instead of having four-way intersections with left-turn lanes and appropriate traffic lights, oh no, you have to proceed through the light for a short distance and then do a U-turn to return to the intersection where you can turn right onto the street you passed just seconds earlier. And some of these U-turns have traffic lights. So tell me how this is a smarter or more efficient way to handle traffic????? It's so weird that it warrants its own Wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michigan_left

Interpretive Post

I know I can't be the only person for whom this is an annoyance: since when did every piece of information, explanation, direction, and knowledge become 'interpretive?' The Interpretive Center, Interpretive Signage, Interpretive Photos, Interpretive Porto-potties (I'm exaggerating here). Information Centers, Histories, Photo Journals, all have become Interpretive Signs. Are they being interpreted from Old English? From the original Ojibwa? I know that if you look it up in the dictionary you can make a case for any explanation being 'interpretive' but the connotation of that word has traditionally been from one language to another (whether the language is verbal, written, or visual). Seeing a roadside sign with picture of Lewis and Clark in a canoe doesn't seem to be interpreting anything for me; it's informing me, it's enlightening me, it might possibly be entertaining me, but I can't reconcile myself to it being interpretive. Someone, please tell me I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Who makes these decisions anyway, and who do I call to have all the signs in the country changed? I could put lots of people to work, and help the economy.

Day 9: Lake Orion, Michigan, to London, Ontario, Canada

The Great Escape



Today we said goodbye to our trusty Ford Escape. She served us well for nine days across eight states. Before reuniting her with her owner, Tricia, we gave her a well-deserved bath. Lots of bug debris and dust. We killed a lot of grasshoppers as we crossed the Plains and upper Midwest. Tricia was glad to see her "Silver Lady" again.

It was a lot of fun, too, to travel across the United States with a car that has the license plate "Whoo 4 Famous Potatoes"! And it's not a vanity plate, can you believe that?

Our replacement vehicle is a rented cute blue Ford Focus sedan with ordinary Illinois plates. An unexpected option is satellite radio in the car. Steve immediately tuned it to the Broadway station. We've been listening to it ever since. We can hear you all saying, "Of course you are. Duh."

Cranbrook Academy of Art

The car exchange occurred on the campus of the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, where Tricia is a second-year graduate student. What a treat to get a tour of her world. She and her friend Ron graciously showed us their studios and departments and guided us around the grounds. What a beautiful campus! There are sculptures everywhere, in fountains, in pools, on staircases, in the middle of grassy areas. I have to admit that before meeting Tricia I had never heard of Cranbrook, but I will be more aware of it now.

On our way to Cranbrook, we got lost, thanks to Google Maps directions that used one of those "Michigan turns" (see the separate blog post) that I understand now but didn't at the time. Arrrrggghhhh! Getting lost turned out to be very interesting, though, because we got lost among the mega-mansions of Bloomfield Hills. Oh. My. God. I have never seen such large houses before. They all had sweeping lawns and long or circular drives, and the lots were probably about 2.5-3 acres. Interestingly, where we were was not a gated community. Which was a good thing, because we were able to stop a jogger to ask for directions to Cranbrook.

http://www.cranbrookart.edu/Pages/History.html

Motor City



Being back in a big city for the first time since Seattle felt a little crazy, especially since we had to navigate the streets of downtown Detroit while looking for the U.S.-Canada border crossing. As we drove down a wide boulevard into downtown, we saw beautiful buildings and sculptures in civic plazas and, luckily, signs for a tunnel to Windsor, Ontario, Canada. YAY! I couldn't believe how easy it was.

The border crossing was unbelievably quick and easy, unlike the crossings I have experienced on my way to Vancouver, British Columbia. The customs officer didn't even ask for IDs, was very friendly and even tried to help us plan our journey to Niagara Falls!

Once on the streets of downtown Windsor things got squirrelly. The street we needed to turn onto was closed for repairs and detour signs were not immediately seen. We took a guess and drove toward the Detroit River, which turned out to be a good idea. We had stunning views of Detroit and the Windsor side was very beautiful with a riverfront greenbelt dotted with sculptures.

We eventually found our chosen route, Hwy 3, that would take us along the edge of Lake Erie to London, Ontario.

So long, Detroit!

Oh, Canada!

We were so excited to see another batch of wind turbines in the countryside between Wheatley and Port Alma, Ontario. In the late-afternoon light, these tall machines looked almost elegant to me. I want to know more about them, things like how much energy they produce, if they make noise and why some towers have their blades spinning and others don't. Do you turn them on and off?

Tomato capital of Canada



Highway 3 through lower Ontario goes through the town of Leamington. In the surrounding area, we saw many fields of tomatoes and acres and acres, or hectares and hectares, of greenhouses. I told Steve that I have seen similar greenhouses in the delta south of Vancouver, British Columbia, and I wondered if maybe Leamington's greenhouses had tomatoes growing in them. I checked our guidebook and learned that Leamington is nicknamed "Canada's tomato capital." Tomatoes became a major crop when the H.J. Heinz company opened a plant in the town in 1908.


Canadian corn, eh?

Lake Erie
We chose Hwy 3 with the hope that we would find a lovely spot on the Lake Erie shore so we could get our feet or hands wet and check off seeing Great Lake No. 4 out of 5. Houses and farms lined the shore and we didn't see any signs for public access. We decided to check out Rondeau Provincial Park, which was 6 kilometers off Hwy 3 and on the lakefront. Uh-oh, we spied a booth at the entrance to the park. Would there be a fee to get in? Yes. $15! Yikes! We told the park officer that we only wanted to take photographs, not camp. She told us that we could pay her and then she would give us our money back if we came back within 30 minutes. Uh, no thanks, we said.

Bummed, we decided to head back to Hwy 3 on a different road so we wouldn't have to backtrack. Lucky for us, this was a great decision. About one mile up the road we came upon a small public beach. Yay! No one was there and it was exactly what we wanted.

One more Great Lake to go! Ontario, here we come!




Steve quotes of the day:
-- "Look at the cannas!" as he flung his arm across me to point at a row of beautiful cannas growing beside a shed. I replied, "You are so gay!"

Facts are facts. Nothing you can do about it.

-- "Eating cheese & crackers while listening to Broadway tunes with my best friend. Can it get any better than that?" Aw, isn't that sweet?

More humor on the road

Saw a great bumper sticker in the gift shop at Devil's Tower:
'I went to Devil's Tower and all I got was abducted.'

Hey, Boo Boo!

I'd like to think that Yogi Bear would be the one attracted to my "pic-a-nic basket" but I think I'd be wrong. Very wrong and probably very dead!

We saw signs like this more than once in northern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I think I'll stick with night crawlers.

So long, Mary Travers

Steve & I learned tonight that Mary Travers died. Both of us grew up listening to the music of Peter, Paul and Mary. For me, Mary Travers' voice was one of comfort and beauty. Her harmonies with "the boys" were magical. I am sorry to learn that she will sing no more.

Day 8: Manistique, Michigan, to Lake Orion, Michigan

Peninsula Pointe & Manistique, Michigan

As we mentionened in the posting from yesterday, we found a wonderful little hotel in the quaint lake town of Manistique on the Upper Peninsula (U.P.) of Michigan. A former Holiday Inn Express, it was bought out by a guy who remodelled the place, adding all sorts of homey touches, including a piano, popcorn maker, coffee (Seattle's Best!!!!) and homemade cookies 24/7, great service, everything in the room WORKS, right across from the lake, and all for $79/night. They had CHOICES of pillows on each bed: soft or firm. It's full of little touches like that, so it's on the top of our hotel list.


The sitting area in the lobby of the Peninsula Pointe Hotel

Before we left the town, Deb and I went for a peaceful walk along the beach and boardwalk across the street.


Lake Huron
Looking at the map, we decided that the Michigan town of Pinconning would be a great place for us to easily get to the shores of Lake Huron. Great Lake No. 3 out of 5 coming up! We got off I-75 and headed east. We drove down a small town road for about three miles, not really knowing whether the road would take us to the lake. Soon enough, we saw a dead-end sign and the entrance to the town park with a boat ramp to Lake Huron! Amazingly, no one was there and we had the whole park to ourselves.



Little did we know at the time that Pinconning is "The Cheese Capital of Michigan" because it is the home of a cheese called .... Pinconning. According to Wikipedia, "Pinconning Cheese is an aged yellow colby-style, semi-soft whole cow's milk cheese. It was developed by Dan Horn in 1915 as an aged version of Colby. Currently, Pinconning Cheese is produced at several plants around Michigan and the United States. Pinconning's flavor and texture are unusual, rich and creamy with an open texture. It is typically eaten instead of cheddar and Colby, and serves well in macaroni and cheese or in souffles. Other products made from Pinconning Cheese are cheese spreads in many flavors."

Mackinaw or Mackinac?

We know it's a question on everyone's mind, and we're proud to be able to give you the definitive answer. Regardless of spelling (Mackinaw or Mackinac) it's always pronounced mack-i-naw. It's an old Native American word that the French pronounced "aw" but spelled "ac." The British heard it pronounced "aw" so they spelled it that way. So just take the easy way out and pronounce it all the same. C'est la vie.

The Cross in the Woods Shrine
Driving south on I-75, we read in one of our AAA tour books about a shrine in Indian River, Michigan, that purports to have the largest crucifix in the world and a museum of nun and priest dolls representing every religious order around the globe. Steve & I looked at each other and said, "We're going there!"

Well, we couldn't find the museum, which totally bummed me out. The cross, however, did not disappoint. It is gigantic!

The cross is made out of a redwood from Oregon, and it is definitely the biggest one we have ever seen. The figure of Christ is a bronze sculpture that was cast in Norway. There is a wonderful history with photos of the installation online at http://www.crossinthewoods.com/


There is a gift shop at the shrine where you can buy all kinds of Catholic religious items. Now, I don't know who came up with the idea for this item: a shot glass with a picture of the cross on it! When I saw it, I couldn't help but giggle. I pointed it out to Steve and he started laughing, too. Of course, he had to buy one! When the clerk rang up the sale, she asked Steve if he wanted a bag, and he said, "No, thank you. I am going to start drinking now." I laughed quietly. The clerk didn't seem to get the
humor.No caption is necessary.


Chillermania!

We saw billboards along the road advertising this tourist destination, not thinking much about it. However, on our side jaunt to The Cross thingie, we stumbled upon this, uh, um, 'unique' attraction. That last word is also written with some degree of rhetoric. It was a private home decorated with an abundance of horror/macabre/monstery illustrations, on the house, the barn, the RV, and any other surface on the property. The big sign said 'World Headquarters for Books By Jonathan Rand!' Deb and I exchanged puzzled looks. There's an author we don't know? Eager to learn more, we Googled Mr. Rand, finding that we had missed his book signing at a local bookstore the day before. As it turns out he writes very entertaining children's books, from what we can tell on the website: http://www.americanchillers.com/

Has anyone ever heard of him? Is he just a local phenomenon? Certainly, his local advertising guru knows how to plug him. Take a look at the website, though, and download the first few chapters. Let us know what you think!

Pasties
What is a pastie? We saw shops selling them all over the northern Great Lakes region. We decided it was time to stop and find out at Suzy's Pasties on U.S. 2 just west of the Mackinac Bridge that connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas.

A pastie is a meat-and-vegetable pie with a very thick crust to keep the filling hot for quite a long time. We bought a turkey pastie and didn't eat it for a couple of hours and it was still warm when we ate it. Amazing! The filling was a hearty mix of turkey and potatoes and only a little sauce, making the pasty kind of dry. The crust was very thick, which added to the dryness. This pastie tasted good, although bland. Both of us thought it could have used some spicier filling.

Has anyone else out there eaten one? Are they always kind of bland?

The clerk in the pastie shop told us that this food originated in the mining region of Cornwall, England. Pasties allowed miners to take a hot meal with them into the mines. In the upper Great Lakes region, there is a lot of mining, and the pastie became a popular food with miners in America, too.

P.S. Do NOT call it a 'pay-stee,' which is something else entirely (you can check on that yourselves). We do know that spelling it pasty always refers to the food. Spelling it pastie can refer to the food or the other definition.

Signs, Signs, Everywhere Signs
-- Birdbath & Beyond (business selling outdoor statuary)
-- Three Seasons Cafe (this says it all for when they are open)

Billboards with clever & weird Web addresses
-- www.poopycredit.com (car-loan business)
-- www.dumpmyspouse.com (a divorce lawyer)
(These made us laugh while driving on I-75)

Weird town names
Zilwaukee