Excursion: Cut River Bridge

Last summer we spent an afternoon

skulking around here.

Somehow I never got around to

posting about it...

It was a neat place to spend an afternoon.

You can walk across the bridge and then go explore

the river down below.

We walked along the river down to the lake and

then headed for home.

If you're driving along US-2,

it's worth a look...

Delightful

Although we live in one of the most beautiful places in the world, we need to get away every now and again. Yacht Races on Mackinac Island is a crazy, I mean very busy time - the perfect time to head here for a few quiet days.

We cabined,

 

fished from a pontoon boat on Mullet Lake,



canoed,

tubed,

and enjoyed a wonderful  few days with family visiting from Indiana.  I love getting away occasionally, but my own bed felt so good last night!

Keep Calm and Fish On

We think Papa's Father's Day present brought him good luck when he went out fishing the other day. He brought back a 34 inch (about 86 cm) salmon. As he was cleaning the fish in the kitchen, our cat - Sushi, immediately became his best friend. For several days after cleaning that fish, every time he walked into the kitchen, she would follow him just in case he had more scraps for her.

We feasted on salmon that night, again last night (11 of us,) and there's still some left. I really like how my husband cooks fish. His secret is this mustard:

Here's how he does it:

Panko and Mustard Salmon
(Not an original recipe, but The Hubby can't remember where he found it.)

Salmon (or other fish)

Inglehoffer stone ground mustard

Panko bread crumbs

Olive oil or butter

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (about 205 C.) Spread your fish fillets (he usually cut them into individual portions at this point) on a baking sheet and squeeze a healthy squirt of mustard on top of  each one. Use the back of a spoon to spread the mustard all over each piece.

Next, sprinkle a layer of panko on top of the mustard. Don't worry if some of it ends up on the baking sheet. Drizzle olive oil (or butter if you prefer) on top of the panko. Allen doesn't really measure it, he just uses about a regular size spoonful on each piece.

Bake for about 12 minutes. If your pieces are thick, you may need to bake the fish for a bit longer, but be careful - over cooked fish isn't too tasty. I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do!

My husband and his dad are out fishing right now and I'm hoping another salmon (or two) will be coming home with them tonight...

Maybe?

 

One of our "songs of the summer" this year is Call Me Maybe. You know what I mean, don't you. Those songs that the kids ask to play again and again and again. I know lots of people find it really annoying, but my kids love it, and it's grown on me... a lot. My husband isn't what you'd call a fan, so he's been having lots of fun finding spoofs for the kids to enjoy.  These two take the cake. I can't even begin to imagine how much time the Star Wars one took.

 

If I had to choose a favorite, my vote would go to Cookie Monster. How about you?

Other songs the kids have added to our summer play list:

• Girls Just Want to Have Fun (Cyndi Lauper)
• Dynamite (Taio Cruz)
• Party Rock Anthem (LMFAO)
• Do-Re-Mi (Sound of Music)
• Dancing Queen (ABBA)
• Re: Your Brains (Johnathan Coulton)
• King of Spain - (Moxy Fruvous)
• Hakuna Matata (Lion King)
• Hola Lola (Dear Edwina)
• Pollywog in a Bog (Barenaked Ladies)
• Abcosaurs (Most Amazing Dinosaur Songs)
• Defying Gravity (Wicked)
• Anything & everything sung by a Muppet

Happy Birthday Grand Hotel

 

The Grand Hotel turned 125 earlier this month and it was time to celebrate. So, last night at dusk (which is about 10:15 or so up here,) we gathered at the shoreline near the island school and waited...

 

The fireworks were spectacular. 

 I'm so glad we decided to keep the kids up and go.

There's just something about fireworks that seems to put everybody in a good mood. Despite being exhausted and running on vapors, my two little ones almost ran the mile or so, up hill, to get home. 

Now I'm just wishing I could find a way  to have fireworks for my birthday...

Counting Mackinac Style: Three

This was on the side of a snowmobile
parked near Grand Hotel.

It's was such an odd winter this year; it feels like we walked just as much as we rode snowmobiles. Despite the fact that my feet didn't appreciate the mild winter, my pocketbook sure did. Gas on the island is expensive...

Summer Fun

I'd like to introduce you the newest member of our family: my husband calls him "The Kid Wash."

The best part about him is that he's tall enough that the kids can ride their bicycles right through the delightfully chilly water to cool off on the really warm days we've been having.

I know 85 degrees (about 30 degrees C) may not seem hot to you, but on Mackinac Island, 85 is a hot day! Thank goodness our predicted high for today is 79 (about 26 degrees C)  - yahoo!

Waugoshance

We spent our weekend out on

Waugoshance Point.

Wait, that isn't very helpful. Here, this one's better:

We stayed in a nice little cabin

 

 built in the 1930s by the CCC.

 

We brought friends

but  while we were out 

stalking the local wildlife, 

I mean walking,

 we quickly made more -

quite a few more.

 

Though I don't think this guy appreciated

our company very much.

We let him go and continued on our way.

 

 

We had a wonderful weekend together -

full of swimming, hiking, fishing,

getting water from the hand pump,

cooking over the fire and enjoying the outdoors.

 Wilderness State Park definitely goes on the

"visit again" list...