We have Plans, On To Mackinaw

Yesterday afternoon I searched on the computer and made several calls just to see if anything was open for us to tour within a 45 minute drive, and all museums and historical building tours were closed for the weekend or holiday, or closed for renovations.  Some of the Dow buildings just aren’t open Sunday or Monday of any week.  Anne-Marie got the slow cooker a cooking and set the timer for 3 hours, and we took off for a drive around town, here in Midland, Michigan.  We found the Dow gardens and it was open, but we didn’t have any interest for a garden walk, even if we really both could have used the exercise.

We found that the city has some very  good signs around town indicating schools, parks, museums and other attractions, and we followed one to the Alden B. Dow home and Studio.  This was on the end of a narrow residential street.  The end of the street had a gated driveway, and a sign pointing to the side, saying Tour Parking .  The parking lot was behind this brick building , with a bell tower.  The building was an old school or church, and it looked interesting, and I thought that it must be a part of the home or studio or both.  We parked in the paved parking lot out back, and I walked around the neat old building taking pictures.

When I walked out to the road, still taking pictures of the brick building, I looked over the gate to the home beyond, and noticed a sign next to the house pointing Tours.  I felt a bit silly for taking pictures of the wrong building, but it was interesting also.  The home and studio were behind the gates and they were closed for the long weekend.  There are enough places to explore for a two weeks stay here, but we just landed at the wrong time.

Today is a travel day for us and Mackinaw is the destination, we plan to spend a few nights here, and hopefully tour this side of the bridge a little.  During past visits to the area, we have stayed at St Ignace, and toured Mackinac Island, but we want to what the other side has to offer.  We are then positioned for two days of travel across the upper peninsula of Michigan to reach Duluth, Minnesota, and our mail.

We haven’t had a mail delivery since mid August, so we had to decide where to be for a few days, with the option of extending our time if needed.  We decided to try Duluth Minnesota for a mail delivery.  This is three days of travel for us from here and when our mail service in Hood River sends our package of mail to us in Duluth, it should arrive Friday/Saturday, but if the system doesn't deliver till Monday, that’s fine too.