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!

Petoskey stones and a lighthouse beach wedding today were the big topics of conversation.  Over 200 people signed the guest book and we know another 75 probably slipped by without signing.  The afternoon closed with a beautiful, formal wedding on the beach.  Non-stop tourist traffic from 9:45 am until 5:00 pm...and people are still out on the beach and on the grounds watching the last of the sunset.  We finally feel we have a good tag-team system for running/balancing the gift shop, site maintenance and dramatically directing tours;-)  No lie...it's work and we feel our aches at the end of the day, I will tell you that! 

   

Michigan sunsets are spectacular.  A huge red freighter was gliding across the horizon as my friend Janet and I walked along her beach, overlooking Sleeping Bear Dunes in Glen Arbor last night.  I snapped a quick shot to remember the moment.   She KNOWS how to find Petoskey stones and I filled a tumbler full.  Never, ever found so many.  Since I had to be at the lighthouse by noon today, it was wonderful to have a restful moment with friends nearby the night before.  This morning I drove through leafy, hilly roads and wound around lakefront scenery, tempted by roadside stands and ended up in the bustling Traverse City Cherry Festival tourist scene for a quick stop before taking the scenic wine-country route to the lighthouse.    Met up with Jane and we spent the next few hours getting a crash course of the duties from our happy, but weary predecessors so they could hit the road home to Grand Rapids.  I was happy to see so many people on the grounds snapping pictures, making rock cairns, walking the grounds, stopping in the lighthouse to shop or tour.  More action than December, for sure.   Jane and I launched into tour guide mode, making up answers to the crazy questions asked about the lowered water levels, the presences of ghosts, the reason for glacial shifts, coral turned into Petoskey stones, the best wineries to hit and if babies were ever born in the lighthouse.  Visitors signed the book from Virginia, Georgia, Maryland, Texas, Colorado, Rhode Island, Poland, Florida, and more States I can't remember right now because I'm tired!  Jane is updating our lighthouse keepers daily journal in bed but I think she fell asleep.  We worked hard today, but were able to end it with a good dinner (after cleaning the lighthouse top to bottom...and balancing the gift shop receipts) with a lovely sunset over the stone cairns.  When the skies darkened I noticed that my timers are still working on the lighthouse from December!  The museum has changed a bit, and we hear there are plans for more improvements, which will be welcome.   The weather was sunny and high 70s today....much nicer than down-State we heard. Gotta quit because it will be busier tomorrow!

Glen Arbor/Sleeping Bear Dunes Freighter Glide

Eastern View Winery Overlook

Lighthouse Ladies

Sand everywhere!

This is why we are here....

Back for More!!!

Heading back up to the 1860'a lighthouse life in two days with my plucky good friend Jane of Petoskey!  Jack thinks she'll never speak to me again after these next few weeks, but WE know better, don't we Jane?  We're packing our bags, food, bug spray and anything else we can think of for our stint.   Unlike December....the last week of June will be full of tourists and HOT!  It's Michigan's State-wide LOG CABIN DAYS with lots of festivities in the historic Hessler Cabin on park property.  All a benefit to the lighthouse.  Great fun.  Not sure what to expect....mouse-catching, for sure (we know where they are....see below)....but raising the flags at sunrise, checking the perimeter, gardening,  sweeping the ever-drifting sand off the decks and carpets, running the shop and tours, chasing bugs out of the lens room....and maybe playing a part in a surprise wedding proposal!  We got wind of some out-of-State friends who might be choosing the lighthouse in early July to pop the question...so stay tuned for pictures of the moment.  Our vintage costumes are ready (along with old clothes for lighthouse drudge work).....so come along on a virtual tour with us to see what happens!  Stay tuned...

Checking for mice in the basement last year..

I had forgotten to tell you all about the delightful, amazing WINERIES up here on the Mission Peninsula in Traverse City!   Our fav is Brys Estate Winery (did I tell you about that?) they are the ones who grow all (or 90%) of their grapes right here on the peninsula.  They are the authentic choice of the locals, and now....the nationals.  I will tell you why, but it is a secret.  Charles Shaw of Trader Joe's fame, and a Chicago visitor to the area, is VERY interested in Brys Winery producing a new swish high-end wine for a new direction of his winery activities.   We delighted in a tour of the winery and a sampling of their wines....exquisite.  So, my blog has not ended! 

I had lunch at the very amazing Cafe Muse in Royal Oak (I highly recommend!) with friends from South High today, where I worked for 25 years until I retired in June of this year.  Half of my teacher friends had followed our lighthouse blog, which was delightful to hear.  The other half had not....but all were were curious....thinking we were CRAZY to do this, but then in the next breath asked us how and why did we get into this?  I told them that in March of this year (it is now December) we answered a classified ad in our local paper (The Grosse Pointe News) advertising "Lighthouse Keepers Wanted".  Funny thing was....I don't subscribe to the paper, and picked it up at Rite Aid on impulse.  At home I just turned to that section (I never read the classifieds) and it was like a tractor beam to my brain.  Hmmmmm....what could possibly be more intriguing than that (I thought).  So, I kept waking Jack up in the night....elbowing him saying, "I think we could DO this!".....then the next night...."Why not??? We could do this!"    I clipped the ad and taped it to the refrigerator where it would stare at us every time we opened it, which is often,fortunately.   Still working at the time...it became one of the several factors to force my hand into the decision of retirement.  BUT...I must say, you don't have to be retired to be a Lighthouse Keeper.  Absolutely not.  Some do it for a weekend...others for a week, a couple from Texas do it for the entire month of August (I don't blame them -- I'd want to "exit stage right" from Texas in August too.)   The rest is history....Jack agreed it would be an adventure, we applied using the surprisingly lengthy online application, acquired our three letters of recommendation, wrote a "why I want to be a Lighthouse Keeper" letter from each of us, supplied confidential info for voluntary police checks...and waited for the "tap" to serve.  It came about four months later in a phone call from Sonja, the Lighthouse Manager via a telephone interview.  On a speaker phone we answered her questions enthusiastically....and were IN.  We selected what available dates remained (December) and booked into 2013.   What I did not know is the elite group we had agreed to join....a group of plucky, fun people with a sense of adventure and spirit.   We are still deliberating on WHEN our next weeks will be.....I may do a stint with a crazy (but dependable) girlfriend during the busy time (June/July) and reserve the quieter time (Dec/Jan) to do it again with Jack.  That's more his speed!  Any takers out there for the summer?  Let me know!

Here is roadside view as readied ourselves to say goodbye to our Lighthouse adventure this morning.  The Lighthouse Manager Sonja and her husband Brett stopped by to say goodbye to us before we left for home today.  Brett really does look like my brother, and I told him so.  In addition to caring lovingly for the logistics and political advocacy of the lighthouse, they also run Harbor View Lavender Farm on Old Mission Peninsula and brought us bath salts and soaps...along with delicious cookies.  I don't know how those two do everything they do....and raise a beautiful family on top of it all.  We have met so many wonderful, hard-working people who call Old Mission Peninsula their home.  From retirees who love the isolation and beauty of peninsula life, to the winery owners who are struggling to grow the best grapes possible on the very desirable 45th Parallel for national markets, to the farmers who work two extra jobs just to keep their little piece of heaven and a maple syrup stand out front..to the wanderers who look for meaning from a crazy, busy life in the complete quiet of the shores, the winery tourists, the hiker, dog-walkers and the lighthouse junkies who show us their checklists of most of the 129 Michigan lighthouses they've visited & photographed.  They've all whispered in our ears and we've listened and become better people for it.  The highlight of our parting today was getting our official national U.S.L.H.S. golden pins for 2012 and a Certificate of Appreciation from the Peninsula Township Council.  The United States Lighthouse Service pins are minted yearly and given to lighthouse keepers who serve with efficiency (whew!).  What an honor,truly;-)  It was like a little unexpected graduation ceremony as were were packing up and doing double-checks of things we were likely to leave behind.  A nice surprise.  I hope the timers go on as scheduled tonight without my eager face looking out the windows....and Jack hopes he remembered to close the hatch of the lens room.  This week, a couple from Jacksonville, Florida arrive to take over our duties until the end of the month.  We left them cheat sheets about the mice and cash register.  For now, our blog may morph into "Lighthouse Keepers Keep Busy Until They Go Back There Again!"  

Great coincidences have abounded on this 10-day adventure.  We have found that about half of the people who venture up to the lighthouse,  come in to take the tour and walk up to the lens room. The other half just stop in to talk or look around the first floor, which is free.  It is so true what has been said about talking long enough to a stranger -- you eventually find out you have shared ties.  If not, their interesting information is added to our list of neat places to visit or things to do.  We have had avid lighthouse fans with great stories of visiting Michigan lighthouses (there are 129 in all) at Whitefish Point in the UP, or Big Sable Point in Ludington, Point Betsie in Benzie County or Forty Mile Point in Rogers City.  There are real lighthouse junkies out there folks.  It's a vacation lifestyle;-)  A world we never really knew about, until you start talking to the people who walk through our lighthouse museum door.  Another visitor called his 50-something retired teacher mom who has been a lighthouse keeper in five lighthouses, to talk with us about how she found the various historical societies who run the places.  For us, this might just be a one-time thing...we don't know.  You really have to carve out the TIME from your regular life to be able to DO this kind of thing.  But if you can it's pretty glorious.  In retrospect, we both feel now this has been the best 10 days we've spent in years.  To be alone together or even with this chance to be alone with yourself, it is a rare opportunity of quiet and recharging from the overload of today's technology-filled life.  Sounds stupid, I know but it's true. We looked out into the fog today and were surprised at how many people wander the rock piled (cairn) strewn shoreline...but this place, for this area is one of the special spots....the Land's End."  A great place to start a new beginning.  While here I finished up all of our Christmas Cards, writing a little note to our family and friends about where we were.  One card arrived to a friend's house 200+ miles away, who immediately phoned her cousin (coincidentally, a long-lost family friend of ours) but who happened to live just four miles from the lighthouse.  He jumped in the car and rushed over to surprise us.  What a rare treat. We enjoyed a wonderful evening and agreed it bordered on magical.  My cousin called from Billings,Montana -- fascinated with the idea of being here today.  Okay, so enough with this sensitive, mushy stuff......it's at an end now and tomorrow we return down the crazy freeway to city life and the realities of ringing phones, rushed schedules and serious responsibilities.  I would urge any of you out there to consider doing this, if you can eak out the time...which as we all know is precious.  Take care everyone, and thanks for journeying with us!  We'll post again if we expand this to freighter-watching on Lake St. Clair!

December 14, 2012

Happy Birthday Jack!  Had a total of 10 visitors today, but we are told that is par for the course on Fridays in December.  You should have seen us....sitting, ready....all the lights on, videos going, walks swept, costumes on with nuthin' going on!  Jack finally had to go up stairs two flights to turn OFF the VCR that has a looping video with background music that sounds like the alma mater from Animal House.  Although that's one of our favorite movies, the music is too much after 200 times, even for music lovin' Jack!  We were about to SWITCH the video to something more 'hoppin...but that might not be historically, hysterically significant so we restrained ourselves.  But we had an influx of interesting visitors once the sun went down and the lights lit up (yea timers) a fellow and his folks from Alaska, people from Illinois, and others from down State.  Sonja, the Lighthouse Manager, and her husband brought over delicious Welsh cookies from their daughter's school world holiday presentation as a birthday treat for Jack -- delicious!  We could not ask to be surrounded by nicer people up here.  A watercolorists dream-muted sunset today.....a Godly wish for a more peaceful day tomorrow throughout our United States after such a terrible day in CT...even here at the lighthouse we feel the sorrow and hug our families close.