Les Flâneurs: Melissa and a friend visit Michigan, a fish boil in Shelby, and our travel update

Monday, June 28, 2021

Melissa and a friend visit Michigan, a fish boil in Shelby, and our travel update

The past several weeks has seen an uptick in activity for us here in West Michigan. Earlier in June our niece Melissa flew in from Alaska for a short visit to see her dad in Muskegon and her grandmother, my mother-in-law, who is at Pilgrim Manor. She rendezvoused with her friend Nikki from New York — the two originally planned to meet up last year for Mel’s graduation but it never happened — and they spent a couple of nights in Muskegon with her dad and stepmom.

On Saturday June 12 Susie and I drove gram up to Muskegon for Melissa’s birthday party and after a lightning round of the Bernice game , the five of us drove back to Grand Rapids. The girls had an early flight out the next day so they opted to stay with us so I could do the airport transport.

That evening I prepared sloppy Joe’s and the five of us spent the little time we had together pretty much laughing the entire time. A welcome respite from the past year with little to laugh about. It was a most welcome visit for us to be sure.

And speaking of visits, the other evening we hosted dinner at our home for Bernice and we were joined by Steve Schaap and his son Ben, our nephew. It had been more than a year since they had seen Ben’s grandmother so it was another welcome visit, especially for Bern. And to top it off we had hamburgers on the grill with homemade buns by the French Tarte!

And speaking of family, we had the great and good fortune to spend some quality time with that other Melissa, Susan’s cousin Melissa Loaney from Missouri. We caught up with her, husband Jeff and daughter Megan out at Clear Lake where we wormed our way into a delicious dinner prepared by Melissa’s sister Jen and her husband Scottie G.

The other big event for us involved a drive up north to just west of Shelby, in Oceana County (a county that is in fact not on the ocean but on Lake Michigan) to Cherry Point Farm for an old-time fish boil. Lest you think this is not terribly appetizing, I’m here to set you straight. As you can see by the photos to follow, you begin with a large cast iron pot over a serious wood fire, once it comes to a boil you add a basket of whole potatoes (little reds) and whole peeled onions. After a short while you then add, well they added, some six pounds of salt and lastly a basket of Lake Superior Whitefish fillets. The salt reportedly pulls the oil out of the fish rendering “fishy-nessless.”

The event involved some 50 or so people altogether and we were part of a group of 16, Susie’s friends from high school and college days. Everybody brought their own beverages, table service and the like. Besides the fish and veggies the farm provided cole slaw, bread, and dessert as well as coffee. Since you’re dying to know, yes the fish tasted quite good — but then it’s hard to go wrong with Lake Superior Whitefish. A good time was had by all and we were on the road home well before dark.

As a side note: we were just short of the Whitehall exit off US 131 when my low tire light came on. I pulled off the highway and a block from the exit was a Wesco gas station where they had an air hose and it was free! FREE!! I thought those days were long gone but not in the greater Whitehall area. We were back on the road in no time at all.

In other news, we expect Dick and Dorothy back here this Tuesday. Dick’s 50th high school school reunion is later in the week and we’ll arrange for Bern to be here for dinner at least three nights.

Lastly, a travel update.

We holding off on going to Europe this year and instead will head up to the wilds (and I means wilds) of the Michigan Upper Peninsula. (Just so you know, we live in the lower peninsula, which, unlike the Upper is never spelled in upper case letters.) We had already arranged to meet up with her old friends in mid-September for her 50th high school reunion (postponed from last year) and so we thought, hey we’re already up near Ludington, after the reunion let’s take the ferry across Lake Michigan to Wisconsin and meander our way to the UP. So, after a night in Sturgeon Bay, WI, we head to Munising, MI for a couple of nights. Our focus will be getting a boat cruise on Lake Superior to see the Pictured Rocks.

From Munising we head east to Newberry for two nights and hope to take the Toonerville Trolley and riverboat out of Soo Junction to see Tahquamenon Falls from the river; the next day we plan to drive to the falls and see it from above.

Before we leave we also hope to get to the Great Lakes Shipwreck Museum at Whitefish Point. We’ll then head south, over the Mackinac Bridge and stopping for the night in Gaylord, for no particularly good reason other than to say we did. And then it’s back to Grand Rapids.