COLD

You know it's cold when Mackinac Island cancels school! How cold was it you ask? Well, it was we-won-the-contest COLD. Just in case you can't read the graphic - Mackinac Island had the coldest windchills in the entire state of Michigan today, coming in at -34 degrees F (about -37 C).

In case you're wondering what -34 degrees looks like, here are a couple photos I took today.

No risk of anyone swimming today, I can assure you.  According to the NOAA monitoring station in Mackinaw City, the water in the Straits of Mackinac is about 33 degrees F (about 1 C) today. When the lake water is significantly warmer than the air above it, it evaporates and then instantly condenses in the much colder air - that's the steam you see right above the lake.

I only managed to get a couple pictures because it hurt to have my hand out of my mitten to use my phone!

Hopefully, it will warm up a little next week - it looks like the high next week will be in the teens (about -11 C.)

Filling Up

In case you are grumbling about the price of gas in your neighborhood...

This winter, gas on Mackinac Island costs $7.30 per gallon. Last week, we paid about $39.00 to fill up one of our snowmobiles. Please know - I'm most definitely not complaining about that price; I'm thrilled to have gas available on the island. Thank you Rock Hardware!

We can get about 60 miles on a full eight-gallon tank, so we only need to fill up every couple of weeks or so. We just drive our snowmobile out onto the Coal Dock, and fuel up. 

We've had such mild winters lately, but this year is turning out to be much more like the winters of old - snowy and cold. (I think the high today was 11 degrees F (about -12 C.)  We have two snowmobiles, since Allen and I both work and regularly need to be in two different places during the day. People are often surprised to find out we only have one car. About once a summer we end up wanting to be at two different places (off the island) during the same weekend, but that hardly necessitates paying for two cars all year long. Our car sits in the parking lot more than we drive it! The snowmobiles really are our daily transportation...

Done

It was cold on Mackinac today; so cold we had to have indoor recess. That doesn't happen all that often, but when it happens at the same time the ferry boat announces they "will resume service when conditions allow," we start to get our hopes up. Every one of us is quietly wondering - will we get an ice bridge this year?

Long time island residents tend not to talk about the ice bridge much - we don't want people to think that we encouraged anyone to go out onto the ice. Each and every time anyone ventures out there they are risking their lives, so please know: even though I may talk about looking forward to an ice bridge, my choosing to cross the ice should never be taken as an assurance that it's safe - it isn't. 

Lachance Cottage, Circa 1907-1912

Even though it doesn't have a date, I love this Mackinac Island postcard. It is a card for Lachance cottage, but it is signed by L.J. Metevier, presumably a relation of the Market Street Meteviers (after whom the Metevier Inn is named.)

The card reads: 

Mackinac July 17

Madam:

In answer to your inquiry for rates per week 2 persons in rooms, our rates are 14.00 & 16.00 per week including meals front rooms being the more expensive. We would be pleased to have your reservation and are sure we can make your visit to Mackinac pleasant & enjoyable. Trusting you will favor us by notifying us of time of arrival and price of room desired. 

Yours truly,

L.J. Metevier

I guessed the card's date to be from the early 1900s, but I wasn't sure so I asked AI, specifically Google Gemini, for its input. It had several interesting "thoughts:" I copied everything in blue text directly from AI.

Estimated Date: 1907–1912

• The Divided Back: This is your most precise physical clue. Postcards with a vertical line on the back were produced between 1907 and 1915. Before 1907, the back was for the address only, and messages had to be written on the front. 

• The Signature (J.L. Metevier): Joseph Louis Metevier was a well-known island figure and Civil War veteran. His management of the property fits perfectly within this pre-WWI window. 

• The Price ($14–$16/week): This price reflects the peak of the "Cottage Era" on Mackinac. By the time the postal rate changed in 1917, inflation from the war began pushing these rates toward $20–$25. 

• Postage Rate ($0.01): The "one cent for domestic/two for foreign" was the standard until the temporary war tax of 1917. 

• The Spelling ("Lachance"): Using the lowercase 'c' is consistent with early 20th-century records.

I'm not a huge AI user, but every now and again I do find it quite helpful.