St. Ignace, Michigan, and why we are still here…

Well we certainly didn’t plan on staying in St. Ignace as long as we have but since sever thunderstorms were predicted to roll through for two days straight we changed our plan. We asked our host at Tiki RV Resort about staying longer and he said we could stay for $34 bucks our next night then could revert back to the Passport America rate the next two. With bad weather coming I really didn’t want to be under so many trees so we checked a few other parks in the area and settled on the Kewadin Casino just a few miles north of where we were.  They offer 50 amps and water for $10 per night and have an onsite dump station . So we pulled into the casino and parked in site nine. Sharon went to check in and came out smiling because since we have never stayed here before they were running a promotion and gave us four nights free. In addition when you stay here you can also use for the fitness room, indoor pool and hot tub, Score!  And as it turned out we were right about moving as the weather came through with fierce winds and those at the Lakeshore RV Park weren’t as lucky as us as falling trees damaged several RV’s there.

Being able to weather out the storm away from all the trees at Tiki RV Resort was a relief and even better we now have the added bonus of saving some bucks by having four nights free. Even better, we thought, as there is a Fish Festival this weekend that we would now be able to attend. This part of the great lakes takes pride in their smoked fish as well as other fish such as whitefish, lake perch and walleye. We even bought some fresh whitefish filets at the Mackinac Straits Fish market and baked them with a topping of mayo, panko and ground almonds which was so good we will buy more fish to have it again.

Between storms we have been simply enjoying the little town of St Ignace. It is a coastal town along the Straits of Mackinac and as such it has a nice boardwalk along the shoreline, the Huron boardwalk. We have enjoyed taking long walks there whenever the weather allowed us to. There are a few sights to see as well such as the St Ignace Marina where not only do they host many beautiful sailboats, they also are a venue for free Wednesday and Thursdays evening concerts. Not to mention there are several nice bar/restaurants near the water for the occasional happy hour…

There are several parks scattered along the boardwalk as well but our favorite one is the Chief Wawatam Park. Chief Wawatam was an honored Ojibwa man whose namesake was also given to one of the powerful rail ferries used to keep the Straits of Mackinac open year round during the winter months. It operated from 1911 to 1984, carrying as many as 26 railcars per trip between Mackinaw City and St. Ignace. It also served as a traditional icebreaker and helped open other shipping lanes and ice-bound ports. The Chief Wawatam  was one of the only icebreakers on the Great Lakes until 1944 when the U.S. Coast Guard finally commissioned the icebreaker Mackinaw.

Near this park we also walked around the small Wawatam Lighthouse  to watch the more modern ferries zipping by as they take guests to the Island. The park also is home to a small waterpark (splash pad)  for the kids where it is always fun to watch their expressions and antics as the water pulsates, squirts and bubbles up from the concrete below. There are also a few museums here one of which we visited called the Museum of Ojibwa Culture. Being part Native American myself I am fascinated with the Indian culture. The museum depicts life during the 1670s when not only the Ojibwa and Huron were in Saint Ignace but also the French missionaries.… The museum was pretty small but worth a look and there was even a wedding happening in the green space out back when we visited there.

Saturday we were pretty excited about the fish festival. So much so that we forgot all about the farmers’ market and man we really could use some fresh produce. One of the problems with retirement life is we never really know what day it is. Later in the day we went down for a walk on the boardwalk again and then walked over toward the fish festival. Man is the water clear here! We walked along the marina since it was adjacent to the festival giving us a preview of what it was all about. Sadly it looked pretty disappointing as I couldn’t see any band setup (as advertised) and in its place was a DJ… strike 1… Then we noticed that even as small as it was there was an entrance fee despite not having live music… strike 2… But worst of all was that there seemed to be only two vendors serving fish at the FISH FESTIVAL!!!! Strike three!!! So we went back home after buying some “snotty beer™” and made our own whitefish filets along with some wild rice and a nice green salad… Life is pretty grand when you have choices…