September 30, 2009

This morning when we awakened, the wind had died, the lake was smooth, and the sun was shining. Quite a change from the last couple of days!

When we left Mackinaw City, we headed west to McGulpin Point Lighthouse. The lighthouse lies on the Mackinaw Straight about three miles from Mackinaw City. The lighthouse was built in 1868 and was decommissioned in 1906. It was sold to a private owner in 1913 and remained in private hands for over ninety years. During that time the lantern room was removed and a roof was built over the opening. The property was put up for sale and stayed on the market for several years before it was purchased for $750,000 in the summer of 2008 by Emmet County. Since then, a new lantern room has been installed along with other repairs to the building. A trail has been built to the beach and several trees have been removed between the lighthouse and the beach. The residence part of the house is being returned to its original look and will house a museum dedicated to the lighthouse and the McGulpin family land claim.

Our next stop was the Legs Inn (second photo) in Cross Village, MI for lunch. Legs Inn was built by Polish immigrant Stanley Smolak who settled in Cross Village in 1921. The restaurant offers authentic Polish cuisine, and American dishes. We both had the Pierogi (Polish style dumplings steamed on the grill and filled with your choice of lightly seasoned ground sirloin, potato and Farmer’s cheese, or sauerkraut with mushrooms), and it was delicious.

We finished our meal with their “Old Fashioned Polish Berry Szarlotka” (third photo), …very big and very good!

After leaving the restaurant, we ventured into the Cross Village Rug Works which is opposite Legs. This enterprise was established in 2007 and has 30 Artisans. Wool is sheared from local sheep, cleaned and dyed. Rugs are then woven from the yarn (fourth photo). They can produce commissioned rugs and punch needle tapestry.

Our sign of the day was spotted near Marquette, MI. Too many rocks!

Tonight we are in Traverse City, MI. Tomorrow we will be headed to the Cherry Republic and The Sleeping Bear Sand Dunes. We promise to eat a few cherries for you!

T&C