Fall Trip to Mackinaw and Points North–Day 2

This is day 2 of our trip and was a great day of touring the immediate area of Mackinaw City. We visited the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse and Fort Michilimackinac. We also enjoyed some time shopping and a nice dinner at Nonna Lisa.

Remember: you can double click any photo to see a larger version!

We continue to enjoy the driving capabilities and friendly services of our driver, Marvin Thomas. He has been a lot of fun to tease and we consider him as part of our group.

 

Our first stop was to visit the old lighthouse at Mackinac Point. It isn’t a very high lighthouse but enjoyed service well into the 1950s.

We toured the Keepers Quarters and learned some of the history about this facility. Several of us took the trek up the spiral stairway and ladder to the top.The last five photos above were taken from the top. The next to last photo above is the passenger ferry to Mackinac Island. The last one is looking across to the Mackinac Island and you can see the Grand Hotel in the center of that photo.

Next, we did a little shopping and had lunch. Nancy and I had a famous Michigan Pastie. It is a very good rendition of a pot pie that can be eaten with your fingers without a mess!

After lunch, we went to Fort Michilimackinac. This area saw its first garrison in the late 1600s. Later, a better fort was built and occupied through the Revolutionary war. Then, the fort was burned and the soldiers went to the fort on the island. The current structures are replicas of the original based on archeological findings.

The photo above is inside the chapel.

As the day came to a close, we had dinner at Nonna Lisa. The décor of this place was very rustic with many stuffed animals.

Here are a few examples. Can you tells which is the turkey?

Tomorrow, we visit Mackinac Island and the Grand Hotel.

Fall Trip to Mackinaw and Points North–Day 1

We are finally on our way! We left Dayton this morning a little before 8AM, ahead of schedule! I like it when things get off to a good start. At least we started but we did lose a few people before starting. We have 33 fantastic people on the trip and a driver who is doing a great job.

Today, we spent the entire day on the road except for rest stops and time for meals.

The drive up was very good except for an unusual amount of roadwork. The area is starting to show some fall color. Hopefully, I’ll get some better photos during the week. I’ll be using something better than my phone camera, too.

We stopped in Gaylord, MI, about an hour below Mackinaw City and ate at PJs Restaurant. Actually, it was a Buffet but was a very nice one. Everyone seemed to enjoy the food and the environment was nice, too. It was one of the best buffets that I’ve seen. I would recommend it to anyone in the area! The gentleman to the right in the photo of the buffet line is our driver, Marvin Thomas. He’s a great driver and a very nice guy.

We’re staying in the Court Plaza Inn & Suites in Mackinaw City and we’ll make this our jumping off point for the week. Tomorrow, we’ll spend time close to here.

I plan to make daily updates to this blog, as appropriate. So be sure to follow us here, and be a partner of our adventure!  See you, tomorrow.

September 9, 2014 Luncheon–Spittin’ Image

It’s September so it must be Spittin’ time! Spittin’ Image, I mean. Brian and Blain Swabb (Identical twins) joined us at Young@Heart, once again. That means we will be seeing fall colors, soon, because I think they always seem to come in the early fall.! They’ve been performing for us for eleven years! They started coming here before I was here and our people really enjoy them.

All photos can be enlarged by double clicking!

But before we get to them, we started with other music! Grace Averitt, piano, and Nancy Jensen. organ, did a nice piano and organ duo! Later, Grace did a Piano Solo. You can hear the piano/organ duet HERE and the piano solo HERE! (NOTE: The organ sound didn’t come through on the recording very well)

Of course, we know you all want to see and hear more from the twins. Brian and Blain are loads of fun with their music and comedy. Perhaps the funniest part was when they had 2 men and 2 ladies join us up front as various farm animals. Nancy was one of the ladies, as a roaring lion, which sounded much like what I hear if I wake her a bit too early! The audio for the Spittin’ Image is HERE! Listen and enjoy!

Perhaps it is interesting to note that both of the guys are newcomers. Hopefully, this won’t scare them so they won’t return. Fortunately, they seemed to be good sports about this.

Lisa Poe and the kitchen and dining room staff prepared an excellent meal. I’m prejudiced but this is the best seniors luncheon in the Dayton area! I’ve included a few dining photos below which illustrate the importance of our volunteers who served. Be sure to thank the volunteers. They’re all awesome!

Next month, Chris Thompson with join us to perform more good gospel music and perhaps tell a few stories.

La Comedia–“He Keeps Me Singing”

Our Day Trip for September was to see the musical, “He Keeps Me Singing” at La Comedia. 24 of us made the short trek to Springboro to enjoy this great Gospel Musical.

This musical is a sequel to Smoke on The Mountain with the Singing Hatfield clan from somewhere south of the Ohio River. This one finds the family involved in a Tent Revival. There were a lot of good old hymns and choruses that would have been sung in the early 1950s.

We’re not supposed to take photos during the program, so the best that I could do was a couple of the performers in the greeting lineup after the show. All of the Adults could also play instruments, including, Guitar, Mandolin, Banjo, Fiddle, Accordion, Harmonica, Piano and Organ. There were also a couple of 4th grade girls singing and playing the Tambourines.

I’ll give this performance a very high rating for good music, performance, and story line. Go see it!

Of course, everyone always enjoys the food at La Comedia. Some of the items on the buffet line are unique to them.

Next month we’ll enjoy more good food and gospel music at Scioto Hills Camp while also enjoying a nice Fall Ride and plenty of color. Join us, if you can keep up, for this trip on October 9!