Throughout August, our friends and co-workers kept telling us, “Just wait for September. It is going to be so slow and wonderful.” By this time in the season, we were all growing a little weary of peak tourist season. Lucas and I both looked forward to this “Slow September.”
Before we could judge September for ourselves, we got to move into new living quarters. The four college students, who had previously occupied a private apartment in Mission House, returned to school and Adrian gave us the green light to move in. We packed up our bins and bags and moved across the porch to the East Wing. We now had our own bedroom, bathroom and kitchen all in one spot! It was a major upgrade but we did miss the soldiers and their antics from our old hallway.
Now settled into our new place, it was time to power through the Labor Day weekend with “Slow September” in sight. Friday, Saturday and Sunday of that weekend were busy, as expected. Labor Day itself was slow on the island. Labor Day in Northern Michigan is the one time of the year that Mackinaw City and St. Ignace are the centers of attention, not the island (not that I’m biased or anything). These cities host the annual Mackinac Bridge Walk, where thousands of people walk across the 5-mile bridge that connects Michigan’s upper and lower peninsulas.
My wonderful friend, Marguerite, invited me to join her; her two kiddos, Duke and Hank; and her parents, Kathleen and Howard, as they took part in this Michigan tradition. The bridge walk was on Kathleen’s bucket list and I was pumped to join in. I took the ferry to Mackinaw City the night before and stayed at their hotel, just a short walk from the start line. We got ourselves in line just before 7 a.m., which was an amazing feat for a group that included two small children. There were already thousands of people in line but it was all very well organized and we made it to the beginning of the bridge by 7:30 a.m..
I enjoyed the entire walk and our whole party did a great job! The most unexpected part was how the bridge would move under our feet. One minute, you are walking normally and then all of the sudden you’d feel like you are drunk and stumbling as the bridge subtly shifts under you. Bridge walk veterans (you better believe that’s a thing, there are even patches!) told us that this movement was nothing compared to previous years with lots of wind. We finished our walk a few hours later and celebrated with lunch on the beach. I headed back to the island that evening and the Johnsons/Davenports headed downstate a few days later. It was such an honor to be included in Kathleen’s bucket list trip!
Ok, now let’s get this “Slow September” started! Post Labor Day, the fort starting closing two hours earlier but surprisingly, our visitor traffic didn’t really slow down. The large turnout was largely impacted by an unusual increase in cruise ships and bus tours visiting the island (buses were left on the mainland) this year. Another factor was the amazing weather. It was a crazy beautiful September for Northern Michigan. We were wearing t-shirts and shorts weeks into what is normally sweater weather.
The beautiful weather was very much welcomed over at our second jobs – Sip N’ Sail. They had cruises scheduled all month long, including a handful of weddings and special events. Lucas continued to get more hours behind the helm towards his captain’s license, while I continued to work as crew and crew director, depending on the event. We had a few sporty cruises with some big waves but the crew and guests handled it with style and grace.
We contributed to island fall traffic by hosting a few more visitors, including Lucas’ parents. Mike and Susan came up to the island in late September to celebrate Mike’s birthday and spend time with us. Susan and Lucas had arranged a surprise cannon firing for Mike, a lifelong cannon enthusiast. He was pumped and nailed it on the first pull. We had a lot of fun showing Mike and Susan some of our favorite parts of the island, including the mysterious abandoned car. A few days later, Andrew and Alyse, friends from UT that we hadn’t seen in years, stopped by for a quick visit to the island.
Since our time on the island was coming to an end, we made sure to do some of our favorite activities, including another group bike ride around the island. We also took our hammock up to our favorite trail and spent a magical afternoon enjoying the view along the Tranquil Bluff Trail.
Golf was the September surprise activity for me. Despite coming to the island regularly over the years, I had never played golf there. Taylor, our friend and boss at Sip N’ Sail, invited me and Lucas to play with her at the Grand Hotel’s Jewel Course in early September. We had an amazing time and the course was stunning. Neither Lucas nor I embarrassed ourselves too much. Later that month, Taylor invited me to play in the Island’s Larouge DD Cup – an annual women’s golf event for island locals. The event was so fun! Our team played great and much to our shock, we took home the hilarious trophy (you can see where the event gets its name).
Looking back, we never did get our “Slow September” but we had an amazing month. I can’t believe it was our last full month on the island. Time really does fly when you are having fun.
Now we need October and November to be fully caught up.