We left Drummond Island at 7:55 on a very calm sunny morning. We cruised 42.6 miles to Hessel. We had a leisurely trip at 9.5 MPH and arrived at 12:30. The majority of the trip was cloudy but then, a nice sunny welcome when we arrived with 2 dockhand gals in blue shirts waiting to take our lines.
Settled in and then took off for a coffee shop - the Liberty Bay Cookie Co. was very close by and located in the E. J. Mertaugh Boat Works Building. I got an iced latte (yay...they have the maple flavor), Mark had ice cream and we bought a HUGE (dinner-plate size chocolate chip cookie - this will last a few days, but oh so yummy)! On Mackinac Island we'll find the same cookie company which just opened this summer - yeah!
It's been many many years since we were in Hessel (we think in 2003)? ....pop 2,324 and 326th largest community in the state of Michigan according to Google!
While Mark worked on a boat project, I walked downtown (about 1 long block) and checked out the one and only shop - "Pickel Point" - unique 2 story house that had a bit of everything. Holy moly............never saw so much stuff - a little bit of this and a little bit of that! Their t-shirts say "No Hassel in Hessel". The clerk was so friendly - said Bonnie, the long-time owner is still going strong at 93.
Kept on walking and found the Catholic church which we're planning for tomorrow at 9. So many beautiful flowers around the church (Our Lady of the Snows).
Craig and Sue on their PDQ, "Last Arrow" came over to visit - Mark loves loves visiting with other boaters, especially PDQ folks!!! He and Craig chatted non-stop. And then it was time for us to get ready for dinner. Sue and I had a good visit - their 3 kids are the ages of Drew, Davis and Liam.....
So this little village of Hessel is home to the Les Cheneaux Culinary Institute - we heard it was a must place to dine as the students are preparing wonderful food before their graduation in August., It is a 1-year school. London from South Carolina was our server and explained that the kitchen crew is where the students were doing their thing(future chefs). She and all the other servers come from all around the country, but they are strictly servers, not involved in the culinary school.
Our dinners were excellent - Mark had a Manhattan steak and I had the Green Curry Whitefish with peanuts, herbs, vegetable, green chili crunch. It was a delicious experience!
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