Checking Out the Competition -- a day of reconnaissance

July 1,2013 -- Our half-day off.  We decided to check out our closest competition and drive about 90 miles around the Grand Traverse Bay (past all the TC Cherry Festival hoopla)  to the very grand Grand Traverse Lighthouse.  (see map above)  We were instantly impressed, but had to remind ourselves that this lighthouse has been a museum for 29 years, and ours has only been open to the public for about 8 years. 

Plus the Grand Traverse Lighthouse never closed -- or lay abandoned, losing artifacts or records which makes a HUGE difference.  Another plus is it resides within a Michigan State Park and not a county park.  However, after talking with the very efficient lighthouse keeper (she even gave us her card) and listening to everything she and her husband (from Rochester, Mich and serving their 10th year)had to DO, along with another couple on duty....Jane & I both felt we had a better deal.  Those keepers even have uniforms!  She let us in free, which was nice -- keeper's solidarity!  In addition to running the tours and gift shop....and doing minor repairs and cleaning....she pointed out the (beautifully clean) window toward a 15 ft x 15 ft pile of dirt and said, "see that pile of dirt....my husband I have to spread that around the gardens tonight too."

 Well, to qualify that statement, she also said the other couple had the day off today, so they were doing double duty.  Yikes.  Too much work...and they pay more than we do to work there.   But there is MORE to do there -- that's why it takes two couples to run it.  She was a delight and obviously loved what she was doing...and did it very well.  Her husband was running the gift shop in large remodeled stable down the sidewalk -- tons of merchandise (my favorite sweatshirt is below) but chuckled with us as he became flustered with the cash register (just like we do).  We resisted the urge to jump-start their stalled AV system in one of their outbuilding museums, but things probably fall by the wayside, when it falls to one couple to do everything. 

 The up side of GT lighthouse is the gift shop receipts at the end of the day do not have to be balanced/counted, etc...which for us is a nightmare.  The husband-keeper smiled and said, "No, there is an employee who comes in every night to do that, thank goodness!"  We heartily agreed.

We came away with lots of ideas to share with the manager of Mission Point, to help the peninsula township folks improve their little lighthouse, which Jane & I both agree is completely charming.  Who knows....maybe when next I go up (when it is closed!) I can paint scenes in the lens room like the GT lighthouse, illustrating "the view" out the windows.  We thought that was a sweet addition...along with instructions on how to get DOWN the ladder...which at MP lighthouse would save us from going over the "watch your head!" part every time!

      

WHAT LOG CABIN DAYS? You never told us about that!!!

June 30th LOG CABIN DAYS -- Yikes!!!.
We worried about this day.  Jane & I were prepared for an onslaught of tourists because of the State-wide recognition of Log Cabin Days, but we were pleasantly surprised.  By 9:30 am the grounds were alive with volunteers, Civil War re-enactors, local crafts persons (quilters/hook ruggers), musicians, kids craft tents, etc. and our Hessler Log Cabin was opened and manned for the very special one day a year -- it was completely delightful and everything benefitted the lighthouse.  So...at night's end we locked up the front door and squirreled ourselves in the back room by 5:30 pm to count about $1,000 worth of gift shop sales so we could split for our dinner OUT at the Jolly Pumpkin.  Hiding in the back room, window open, curtains closed.....I heard a familiar voice say from outside, "Tudi, are you in there??!"  It was my friend from down State, Jill Doughty!  (See photo)  What fun!  She and her husband Dave were visiting on the peninsula so we had a quick visit and made plans to see them the next night.  We've seen friends and family members on this stint as lighthouse keepers but it's been pitiful....we have about two seconds to hug, smile and whisper hellos....then it's back to work!!!  Ah, life as hostesses of the tourist trade of the great UP NORTH!!!

 

Exhausted Lighthouse Keepers Take a Break....

I appreciate and understand now the story about the last keeper at the Mission Point Lighthouse in 1933 (when it was decommissioned) refusing the offer to buy it from the State for $1....he said, "No thanks, I've had enough" and could not leave fast enough!  It is serene, to be sure....and beyond beautiful, but maintaining a tourist paradise at a historic site takes work.  And we had less to do than he did!  But I don't think he had to run a gift shop and balance a cash register and credit card machine (of which both I feel are haunted!) I have the UTMOST respect for people who work in the brisk tourist trade now, more than ever.  My friend from Petoskey and I were an excellent team and extremely conscientious about getting EVERYTHING done on our long list of duties.  With a salute.  Hah! But after two

A quick wipe of the tables before opening....

A double check upstairs by Jane

days, we realized we had not even enjoyed any of the stunning views (no time!), or taken walks along the wooded trails or beach front ( no time!), had good long conversations with each other (no time!) or a long meal together to enjoy all the food we lugged up there (no time!)...or a trip to a local winery (no time!) so it began to wear on us.  We figured we worked from 8 am to 8pm so that left us very little free time.  We would fall into our little twin beds at night and talk like roomies in the dark, until one of us dropped off.  Those were our best talks, however brief!  I think the key is to prioritize what really needs to get done, let some of the things drop off the list and pace yourself.  Not everything has to be perfect.  So when we got a half hour OFF on a day when we thought about 300 people had gone through the lighthouse, we walked the wooded paths north of the lighthouse to the beach and found a cool rock cairn with a floral wreath around it....beautiful.

A romantic rock cairn found on our 1/2 hour break-walk!