The Lady Jane

Recently the folks who work at City Hall were invited for a cruise on the Lady Jane. Richard and Jane Manoogian, the owners, often invite groups of people out on the boat. Since Allen is the director of the Department of Public Works and had a "plus one," I got to go, too. (Lucky me!)

We spent the evening on the water near the Island, finally anchoring by British Landing so people could swim.

It was a delightful evening, on a gorgeous boat, with wonderful people. Thank you, Jane; it was lovely to get to meet you!

Moving to College: Mackinac Style

This year, both of my children are heading off to college. When you live on Mackinac, you can't just pop out to the driveway to load the car - there is little bit more planning and organization required. Starting the day before. 

The day before Move-in Day, we were up early to load the luggage cart. It had to be ready for a 7:00 am pick up. (We didn't choose that time - that's when the dray was available.)

The driver hooked up the cart and hauled it down to the dock for us. For those of you who are curious, the fee for that was $45.00.

The dray delivered the cart to the dock and the ferry shipped it across to the mainland (no charge) where the cart waited for us until my husband got off work. Since the kids wanted to have their bikes at school they road down to the dock while I rode on a taxi with the few items they forgot to get on the cart.

Once we got to the mainland it was time to Tetris the back of the car. It took some finagling, but everything fit! Luckily my son's roommate was bringing the fridge and microwave, otherwise each kid would have had one of those items on their lap. (The car is a Ford Expedition Max, if you're wondering.) We like to go up to Marquette the night before and get an early start moving in. Campus is much easier to navigate on Move-in Day when you sign up for an 8:00 am move in time!

Once we arrived at Northern, we unloaded into two separate bins and each kid went their own way. K to Maple West and S to Magers Hall.

Mr. Second Year had absolutely no interest in help setting up his room... none.

but K, asked for help, so we spent some time unpacking and helping her get organized for her first year away from home.

Then Allen and I hopped in the car and headed home. Well, we actually stopped at Meijer first to pick up groceries and then we headed home. Home to an empty nest!

Calm and Quiet

Today was a foggy one on Mackinac. Which is fine because it meant I got to hear one of my favorite sounds in the entire world - the fog horn. Foggy days on the Island tend to be a little cooler and a little less crowded, so if you're a tourist don't let a little fog change your plans!

Perfect Day

Both of my children will be heading off to college in a couple of weeks, so I have been really trying to spend time with them before they leave. It's been a challenge because we're all working and those schedules don't always make time together doable. Today the stars aligned and I was able to catch up with both of them. 

I started my day by having breakfast with K at the Chuckwagon. It's K's favorite, so it was no surprise she suggested we get a late breakfast there. Plus, she absolutely loves their corned beef hash.

 

S, on the other hand, wanted to eat dinner at the Carriage House, the restaurant at the Iroquois. His dinner of choice is two orders of escargot finished with lemon meringue pie. In between bites of garlicy deliciousness we contemplated life, the universe, and everything and it was a delight. 

I'm so excited for both of them as they prepare to head to school; year two for S and year one for K...

The Long Walk Home

Things didn't go the way I planned today. The front tire of my bike had a hole in it, so after leaving my bicycle at the bike shop for repairs, I had to walk home. As irritated as I was, I made a conscious choice to enjoy my walk and even took the long way home - through the woods. It was wonderfully cool and mostly silent. You'd be surprised how loud the sound of the wind through the treetops can be when everything else is calm. Today, it was exactly what my soul needed.