Allow me a pity party for a paragraph. As much as John is earning buckets of money for us and for our retirement, his weekend calls have been infringing on our time together. Like I said, it's a complete pity party, because my logical mind reminds me that I should be happy he's making so much money, but my heart feels rather lonely at times as I reminisce about trips we have taken that we don't have time to take again.
I love John. I don't need him around all the time, but I find that the best quality time with him is when he doesn't have other distractions like work, and call, and hospital credentialing.
Anyway, I guess that was two paragraphs, and I don't need to take it any further than that, because I don't want the body of this blog post to be about me and my loneliness.
I've been wanting to go to Mackinac Island for two years now (I can hardly even believe that it's been that long since I was there). With Lake Michigan getting colder and the 2024 season coming to a close, I figured that I would just take myself to Mackinac. I wanted to ride a bike around the island and eat too much fudge and see the colors on the trees...and just be. So when The Grand Hotel sent me yet another email claiming they had a deal (I find this is a farce 99% of the time), I checked it out and sure enough, on Monday, October 14, the nightly rate for a room was $441 (it's usually $800+) AND the rate was for the room (and not per person) AND it included breakfast. Every other night was back to the regular rates, but evidently nobody wanted to visit Mackinac on Monday, October 14.
I reserved the room.
Thankfully, Gordon is once again super busy with work and studying so Glo was willing to come with me. She has been to Mackinac more recently that I have, seeing that her honeymoon happened there just over a year ago, but she has never stayed at The Grand.
There was a touch of sadness that I would be away from John, but I really needed to get away, so I packed my bags Sunday night.
Unfortunately, Monday morning, John was attempting to sleep in on a post-call day (first time this has even been offered) when he got a call that he had patients waiting. Yep, another screw-up with the scheduling person and his office. It didn't bother me that he needed to go in, but he had promised me that he would take care of the house and the animals while I was gone. So while he flew out of bed and gave me a kiss goodbye, I was about to load the car when I was saddled with making the bed and getting the animals situated for the day.
I put Mochi on the back deck with water (and hoped that someone would feed her later in the day), but when I went to lock up Hootie, I couldn't find him anywhere. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, but the guys who are doing our renovations consistently leave the doors open (despite posted signs on neon green paper on every door), and Hootie takes any available opportunity to head outside.
Glo and I then spent the next 45 minutes looking for him. There was so much frustration and anger on my part, and feelings of blame being felt by Glo and yelling by her at me, that by the time we found him, we pretty much didn't want to go at all.
And I broke down crying. I have so many feelings of being left to pick up the pieces and being left alone and being overwhelmed, and it just came to a head. Couldn't someone else allow me to go do something that I've wanted to do for a very long time?
We got in the car, and there was silence for a good while, but Glo doesn't like harboring any bad feelings, so she had us talking eventually. Once she feel asleep, I was happy to just drive and admire the beautiful trees in all kinds of autumnal colors. They were just stunning.
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| This from taken from the car while I was driving down the highway. |
By the time we got to Shepler's, I was feeling better. We bundled up because I insisted we sit on the top of the ferry in the fresh air. Too, the sight of the Mackinac Bridge never gets old.
It must've been about 40 degrees. It was overcast, but not raining. There is nothing like fresh air to buoy the psyche. We just rode and talked and relaxed. I honestly think we both needed the break from life and from our men. We needed the salve that getting away to a beautiful place offers.
We returned our bikes right before closing time, and the other guy suggested we try Yankee Rebel for dinner. I had my heart set on The Gate House, but after we made a run to Sander's (with our 15% off coupon that the bike place had given us), Yankee Rebel was around the corner and it was a no-brainer to try it.
BEST FOOD I CAN REMEMBER HAVING FOR YEARS!
The guy had said the steaks were *kiss*, and he was not wrong. I threw caution to the wind and ordered the $50 fillet mignon, served with risotto, broccoli and gorgonzola sauce. Glo wanted to order a "shareable" so she got naan topped with hummus, tomatoes, avocado, cucumbers, olives, onion and a balsamic vinaigrette.
Even I liked the shareable! When my plate was completely clean, Glo looked at me, and said, "Wow Mommy." Yeah, I left no regrets on that plate ;-) (And obviously I was distracted because I took no photo at the table except of Glo.)
We then walked back to The Grand Hotel. Glo has never stayed there before, so she didn't know what to expect, but knowing her, I knew she would love it. All that history hanging on the walls--I couldn't get her to the room because she was so interested in reading everything.
We ended the evening by eating our fudge and watching Netflix.
The next morning, Glo needed to exercise so that she would be hungry for breakfast. The Grand recently built a whole swimming complex which we've never visited because we can't ever afford to stay there during the summer months which also houses a new fitness center. According to Glo, it's really nice.
After Glo showered, we left our luggage outside the door for the bellhops to retrieve and put on the ferry, and we headed down to the buffet breakfast included with our rate. The Grand Hotel's dining room is about the size of a football field, and the buffet is about half that length. Glo obviously got a good workout in because she had fried potatoes and bacon and sausage and eggs, and I stuck to oatmeal and yogurt and croissants ;-). During breakfast, it started to rain, and I could hear several other guests lamenting the fact that they couldn't go outside. Obviously they aren't from Michigan!
Glo and I left breakfast and went out to "the longest front porch in the world" to just sit in the rocking chairs and take in the view of the Mackinac bridge. Even thinking about it now, my pulse rate goes down along with my blood pressure. It was so serene and beautiful that I didn't want to leave, but I needed to be sensitive to how easily Glo feels cold, so we went back inside.
Glo continued to look around and read things on the walls. I showed her the trophy room with Sadie, the Westminster terrier who took top prize in 2010 (and who is owned by a woman who lives on Mackinac Island). Battleship was sitting there, so we played a game (I won). We then did some window shopping in the shops within the resort and bought a magnet. We then left to catch the ferry back to the mainland.
Once there, I wanted to visit the Double Decker ice cream shop in St. Ignace (despite it being 38 degrees outside), so we crossed the Mackinac Bridge and paid the $4 toll. We waited past the posted opening hours with no luck. No ice cream. We doubled back and paid another $4. Ugh.
One of the other reasons I had wanted to come north was to visit the Skybridge at Boyne Mountain resort. I bought the tickets the night before....and drove right by it on our way back south. Thank goodness I could get a credit to use the tickets within the next year.
We took some last-gasp photos...at the REST STOP. Seriously, everywhere is beautiful in Northern Michigan when the leaves are changing!
Finally, we stopped at Zehnder's for their fried chicken dinner. To be honest, it reminded me of many a meal at Furr's cafeteria in Lubbock. Cafeteria-tasting food. I guess you go for the experience, or because you've never had an actual tasty homemade meal in your life. I mean really--give me an hour, and I can make something better!
Despite the setbacks though, I returned home a bit more recharged than when I left which was the ultimate goal, but I'm still hoping for more time with John.
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