We have now been back in the world of employment for a few months, so I thought it would be fun to talk more about our many jobs and then outline a typical week in our Mackinac Island life.
So first, a summary of our jobs:
Emily’s Jobs
Alternate Lead – Guest Service Representative (GSR) Team
My state parks position is really cool because as the alternate lead, I get to cover for the other leads on their days off. This means that I’m working somewhere different every day, which is something I’ve always enjoyed. This does make it hard to explain my job to people, it can best be broken down into three different shifts – lead, visitor center and ticket booth.
Lead Shift
During this shift, I’m covering for the lead GSR, also named Emily (who is awesome) on her days off. I start work at 8 a.m. and work until about 4:30 p.m. Every morning, I start with office work processing the previous day’s proceeds. This entails counting cash, preparing the bank deposit and processing various ticket paperwork. Once the office work is done, I get to run around Mackinac Island helping my team. Sometimes they need change or need help troubleshooting a tricky issue. If I’m well organized, I’ll go up and down the big hill at the front of the fort three times a day. If I’m unorganized or things are a little spicy that day, I’ve done the hill as many as five times a day. I finish this shift around 4:30 p.m.
Visitor Center Shift
The state park’s visitor center is right in downtown Mackinac Island. It is often the first place people stop after arriving by ferry. When I work at the visitor center, covering for Liz, the wonderful downtown lead and store clerk, my day starts at 8:45 a.m.. I’m often greeted by a line of people waiting for me to open the doors (and bathrooms) at 9 a.m. Throughout the day, at least one other staff member and I, answer questions and run the gift shop cash registers. The most common questions are related to the various carriage tours and tickets that we sell for the state park’s historic buildings. When there is a lull in visitor traffic, we clean and stock the store. My favorite interaction is when people come up to the desk, often looking a little overwhelmed, and ask, “I’ve never been here, what should I do while I’m here?” I really enjoy helping people figure out how they want their Mackinac day (or days) to go. Every week, we talk with visitors from all over the world, many first-time visitors to the island. As you can imagine, we get some pretty off-the-wall questions, which always makes the day more interesting. I finish this shift around 5:15 p.m.
Ticket Booth Shift
On days when the other leads are also working, I’m typically assigned to work in a ticket booth. My favorites are either of the two ticket booths at the fort. These days start at 9:15 a.m. I first count my drawer in the cash office (it used to be the fort’s hospital building and was built in 1860) and then head to my booth. During the peak season, Fort Mackinac opens at 9:30 a.m.. Depending on the day and booth, I might have a steady line at the ticket booth all morning, this really makes the time fly. Last admission at Fort Mackinac is 6 p.m., so we work the ticket booth (with breaks) for that entire time. It isn’t unusual to admit more than 1,000 people each day at each ticket booth.
Crew Director – Sip N’ Sail
I usually work one or two cruises per week for Sip N’ Sail. Me and my co-workers typically report to the boat at 7 p.m., which gives us time to prep the boat for the 8:30 p.m. sunset cruise. My responsibilities vary depending on the cruise but I’m there to help the captain/crew and make sure the guests have a good time. We start boarding about 30 minutes before we leave, this is a busy time as we check people in and serve the first round of drinks. Once we have left the dock, the cruise lasts for about an hour and a half. We usually take our guests under the Mackinac Bridge and turn around just as the sun is setting. The boat returns to the dock around 10 p.m. We get everyone safely ashore and then clean up the boat. We’re typically done around 11 p.m.
Lucas’ Jobs
Lead Fort Worker – Fort Mackinac
As lead worker, Lucas opens the fort every morning. This means, for the first time in our relationship, Lucas has to wake up before me to get to work. His shift starts at 7 a.m. His first job every morning is to disarm the various alarms protecting the fort and to unlock 36 doors throughout the grounds. This process usually takes about 45 minutes. On the weekends he covers for the janitorial staff and cleans the fort bathrooms and another public bathroom just outside the fort walls. If there’s any time left before visitors start coming in at 9:30 a.m., Lucas will work on any bigger maintenance projects that are hard to do with visitors milling around you. Throughout the rest of the day, Lucas is troubleshooting various issues that come up in a historic fort and performing weekly and monthly tasks such as emptying/repairing the telescopes, boardwalk repairs, minor landscaping, murdering mice, recycle/trash, lightbulbs, checking for exhibit issues and setting up for events. Sometimes he supports issues or activities outside the fort, every day is a new adventure. Lucas’ fort work day ends around 4 p.m. and he typically takes about 25,000 steps throughout his workday.
There has been some confusion based on my previous blog post that I need to clear up. Much to his disappointment, Lucas is not responsible for shooting off the cannon to open the fort. That is the job of the historical interpreters on staff. Visitors to Fort Mackinac can pay to shoot off the morning cannon. On days when no guest has signed up to fire, sometimes employees are allowed to do it. Lucas has gotten to help shoot it off a few times and I did it once in July.
Head of Maintenance – Sip N’ Sail
Responsibilities with this position really vary depending on the day. Sometimes Lucas is rebuilding one of the boat toilets, other days he is creating spreadsheets to track preventative maintenance activities. Earlier in the summer, Lucas helped the team get Sip N’ Sail’s two boats ready for their annual coast guard inspections. At least twice a week, Lucas pumps out the black water tanks on the boats aka the sh**tter tanks. This process involves a forklift, an external tank, lots of hoses, an extension cord, a couple of pumps and some latex gloves. He tried pumping at various times in the day but we’ve worked it out to have him pump immediately after a sunset cruise. That means he usually joins the cruises that I’m working on, riding along or helming in the pilothouse, gaining hours for his captains license. At the end of the cruise he pumps out the tanks while the rest of the crew and I are cleaning up the boat. Then we can walk/bike home together while holding hands – win/win!
Arcade Machine Technician – Carousel Arcade
Carousel Arcade is owned by the Grand Hotel, which has hired a third-party gaming company, Family Entertainment Group, to manage the arcade. Lucas is the Family Entertainment Group’s on-call island person, so if a machine breaks, the arcade attendants call Lucas for help. Sometimes it is an easy fix and sometimes it is more complicated. If he hasn’t been in the arcade in a couple days, Lucas goes in to play the games and check for any issues. Sometimes, I go in with him to test out the machines while he is fixing something. Recently, we’ve been helping with inventory on all of the game prizes too. On average, Lucas works this job two to six hours per week.
Now that you have a better understanding of our jobs, let’s review a “typical week” on Mackinac Island.
The Kizer’s Week
Saturday and Sundays:
Lucas works 7 a.m. – 4 p.m. at the fort
I work from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. as lead at the fort
Most weekend days, our breaks align for us eat lunch together at the fort. Our favorite lunch spot is on the front porch next to the fort’s Tea Room Restaurant. I usually pack our lunch because Lucas has to get up first.
After our parks job, I usually have an hour or so to get ready to work a Sip N’ Sail cruise. Over the past few weeks, I have been working the Saturday sunset sail. We eat a quick dinner and then I head to the boat. Sometimes Lucas will work for a bit at the arcade before joining me on the cruise. He then pumps out the black water tank at the end of the cruise. Home by 11 p.m. and in bed by 11:30 p.m. (unless we get to chatting with friends on the porch).
Monday and Tuesdays:
Lucas works 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the fort
I work from 9:15 a.m. – 6:15 p.m. in a ticket booth
It is harder to coordinate our lunch breaks if I’m in a ticket booth because my break times vary by the booth assignment. We still get to see each other a lot though because things break in the booth that we need Lucas to fix (ex: staplers) or he needs to bring more maps or brochures.
After work, we fix something for dinner and often hang out on the porch with our co-workers. Sometimes there are events organized like a house potluck, trivia at one of the downtown bars or a group bike ride; other nights we just chill in our room or on the porch.
Wednesdays:
Lucas works 7 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the fort
I manage the downtown visitor center from 8:45 a.m. – 5:15 p.m.
These days are pretty hectic for me, in the summer, the visitor center is usually hopping. We answer a lot of questions throughout the day, sometimes the same question 100 times. That gets a little tiring after a while but overall I really enjoy this shift. When I dreamed of working/living on Mackinac Island, this was exactly where I wanted to be working. Lucas usually comes down the hill to join me for a packed lunch on the visitor center’s patio.
After a day in the visitor center, I typically work another sunset Sip N’ Sail cruise in the evening, which means a quick turnaround between jobs. This transition is made easier by St. Anne’s Church, which usually offers a free dinner for island employees and residents. Lucas and I, along with some co-workers head to the church together and I eat a quick meal before biking downtown to the dock.
While I’m on the cruise, Lucas and our parks co-workers head back up Fort Hill to the Scouts Barracks. Fort Mackinac is lucky enough to host a different scout troop every week as a part of the Governor’s Honor Guard. Throughout the week, the scouts volunteer at the fort, directing visitors, answering questions and helping with fort operations (raising the flags, getting mail, etc.). Over the years, some of the troops have created a fun tradition of hosting a dinner for parks staff, typically on Tuesday or Wednesday evenings. We’ve had some delicious dinners so far this year, which we really appreciate. After eating with the scouts, there is usually a kickball game, scouts v. fort employees/scout leaders (aka 50 children v. 20 adults). Our success rate as a team depends on how well-organized the kids are; if they communicate with each other at all, the adults are screwed. The game usually lasts for about an hour and it is a blast. After the game, Lucas heads back down the hill to wait for me to finish on the cruise. After I get back to the dock, Lucas bikes down to pump out the black water tank again.
Since we typically have Thursday and Friday off from parks, Wednesday night has become our “going out” night over the past few weeks. It just so happens that our “Friday” coincides with the island’s “Booty Night” downtown at one of the bars. We have officially been to “Booty Night” twice this summer, once with Lucas’ cousin Nellie and once with a large group from parks. It is a blast – basically a DJ night for mostly island employees. Booty night officially starts at midnight but we arrived early on our first night. We were shocked that at 11:30 p.m. the bar’s average age was 55 but by 12:15 p.m. the average age plummeted to 22. And yes, we did dance our booties off.
Thursday and Fridays:
Our “weekend”. We typically have these days off from all of our jobs, although sometimes Lucas has to do some work at the arcade or Sip N’ Sail but he tries to keep that to a minimum. After sleeping in (to recover from Booty Night), we do our laundry and clean up our room/kitchen. There are wonderful, new washers and dryers in the basement of our house, so this chore is much easier than when we are living on the boat. If we need to go grocery shopping, these are the days to do it since an off-island Aldi trips takes 5 – 7 hours.
We’ve had some family and friends visit us on Thursdays and Fridays this summer, which is always fun. If no one is visiting, we like to have pretty chill days off. Sometimes we’ll go for a bike ride or hike, other days, we will just chill out on the front porch.
Friday night is another free dinner at Mackinac Island’s Bible Church, which is just a short walk from our house. We’ll go as a big group to enjoy a nice meal and then walk home again.
And just like that, the week starts over again.
