 Sunday - Day 4 (Part 2) We had lunch at Johnnie's on 2, a bar & grill on US-2 west of St. Ignace. We ordered whitefish dip, onion rings and two orders of whitefish bites. The cold whitefish dip made an attractive presentation with crackers and toasted bread that went well with the dip. Because of the bread, this was my favorite smoked whitefish spread of the trip. Unfortunately the whitefish and onion rings were significantly over cooked and only some of the whitefish bites were worth eating.
The Mackinac Bridge Authority has been advising people to avoid crossing the bridge southbound during the middle of the day on Sundays, so we turned the other direction and drove north about 80 miles to Tahquamenon Falls. A little over a year ago a foot bridge was added to Lower Falls Island which separates the two sides of the Tahquamenon River and Lower Tahquamenon Falls. It has been possible to rent a row boat (still available now) to cross to the island, but few people did and the bridge is a real game changer. It provides access to the left falls (which could only be seen from a distance), provides new vistas and gives many people a chance to wade or swim. That last one is a mixed blessing. People were having a lot of fun in the water, but I miss being able to get more photos without people in them. While the Upper Falls is still much more dramatic and impressive, the changes make the Lower Falls more of an attraction than it was in the past. Where we might have spent a about 30 minutes there in the past, we were there over twice as long this time.
We intended to visit the Upper Falls as well, but my cousin Lynn, whose trip to Mackinaw City was overlapping ours, called to say they had arrived in town, so we headed back to see her and Dennie. They are staying at their favorite motel, Lighthouse View, which is also independently owned and just across the street and the other end of the block from Riviera Motel. The wind had shifted since this morning and the haze was gone from the Straits of Mackinac by the time we returned. Lynn & Dennie joined us on our balcony and we had several hours of getting caught up before we went to supper at Darrow's Family Restaurant, which is another of the four restaurants where we always eat in Mackinaw City. It is a great place for whitefish, salads, soups, pasties, onion rings and pies. Linda had a whitefish sandwich, while I had a whitefish fingers basket. Both tasted great and the fingers is a right sized serving for me. We shared a slice of excellent Dutch apple pie. I would post a picture of the pie, but the server was too helpful and had cut it into two servings. We finished the evening enjoying our balcony. |
