While watching the parade of porch furniture Sunday,
I began chatting with some of the folks sitting in front of me. We reconnected Monday morning at breakfast and rode the same ferry back to the mainland. They were from California but were with some other folks they knew who were from Michigan. (Typically, I asked them if a man from Michigan is a Michigander, shouldn’t a woman be a Michigoose.) This was enough to prompt a conversation for the duration of the ferry ride during which I mentioned that I’d be staying in Saginaw that night.
Their immediate reaction was wondering why I’d want to stay in Saginaw and suggesting that I stay in Frankenmuth. I told them what I wanted to do in Saginaw and that it was too late for the latter particularly considering that I’d prepaid for the room in the former. They followed that with a suggestion that I at least eat dinner in Frankenmuth and recommended a local restaurant called Tiffany. I was happy with this bit of local guidance because I’d planned a stop in Frankenmuth and, since I prefer patronizing local establishments, I was happily ready to follow their suggestion.
Get stuffed! Or not.
Once I’d gotten off the ferry, collected my luggage, and found my car, I made the very short drive to what I’d expected to be my first stop of the day – The Wacky Taxidermy and Miniatures Museum. Neither Roadside America (RA) nor Atlas Obscura (AO) have many sights to see in Mackinaw City but you can find this museum on both sites. Atlas Obscura has this description,
The Wacky Taxidermy & Miniatures Museum contains well-over 60 dioramas and miniature scenes that feature taxidermy mice, squirrels, chipmunks, and raccoons dressed to match their environment.
And RA calls it “weird but cute”. I found a parking spot on Central Avenue, bundled myself against the chilly misty rainy day and set off in search of the museum which turned out to be a little trickier than I expected. The address led me to envision it as having its front on South Huron Avenue. However, its actual location is toward the back of this little shopping center.
[Street view from Google Maps].
RA indicates that it’s open from May to October. Since two more days remained in October I hoped and expected it would be open. Unfortunately, when I found it, it was closed. Perhaps it only stays open through the last weekend in October or perhaps I arrived too early in the day. I saw no sign to clarify my confusion.
Having spent several minutes in the chill, I walked along Central Avenue to Marshall’s Fudge shop where I hoped I’d be able to buy a cup of tea for the road. Not surprisingly, they only had coffee so I offered to purchase a cup of hot water because I had tea bags in the car. The woman working there kindly gave me one without charge. I thanked her and prepared to leave town. My route out of Mackinaw City included passing this noteworthy spot (at least according to RA) so I stopped to take a photo of the “World’s Largest Spray Foam Hot Dog”. The object’s sculptor, Ron Berman added this information on RA, “The hot dog weighs only a little over 1.5 tons, but is 63 feet long by 12.5 feet high from its base. It was created by artist Ron Berman of Berman Studios in Palmetto, Florida. That would be me.”
With that accomplished, I set off on the roughly three hour drive to Saginaw about an hour earlier than I’d planned. However, I did have another planned stop along the way.
Clam up! Or not.
In addition to possibly stopping for lunch, my RA research had alerted me to one other place to stop on the drive from Mackinaw City to Saginaw. This would be Sea Shell City and its famous Man Eating Clam! Like the Wacky Taxidermy Museum, Sea Shell City had earned a mention on both AO and RA and that was good enough for me. It shouldn’t have been.
You see, neither site detailed Sea Shell City’s hours. AO has no mention and RA simply lists its hours as May – October daily 9-5 (though it also advises “Call to Verify”). Again, since this Monday was only 30 October I thought it would still be open. Again, I was WRONG! I should have taken a slightly deeper dive or simply followed R A’s advice and called because when I rode by the store as I drove south on I-75 it was closed. Research after I got home revealed that it’s only open through the third weekend in October. Here’s a photo of what I missed.
(Photo from mlive.com).
You can see more from Sea Shell City at mlive here.
Have a jewel of a dinner. Or not.
As I continued my drive south, I rode through some intermittent snow showers that coated the grass and trees but had no impact on travel other than requiring the occasional use of the windshield wipers. I reached Saginaw at least an hour and a half earlier than I’d expected but I was able to check-in to the hotel and promptly continue mainly south to the small town of Frankenmuth.
As a non-believer, I had no plans to visit what is probably Frankenmuth’s most famous attraction – Bronner’s Christmas Wonderland that bills itself as the world’s largest Christmas store and, at something over 85,000 square feet, it probably is. It’s located on Christmas Lane and is supposedly illuminated nightly with some 100,000 lights.
Settled in 1845 by 15 German immigrants, led by Reverend August Craemer, a Lutheran minister with the express aim of evangelizing and converting Native Americans, Frankenmuth bills itself as Michigan’s Little Bavaria. The settlers spoke mainly German and had, in fact, pledged loyalty to the Kingdom of Bavaria. (I don’t know how the residents viewed this pledge after German unification in 1916.)
I rode past Jellystone RV Park (making an RA side trip since I was early) before wending my way back to the center of town to wander along Main Street for a bit. Nearby, was this covered bridge that I spotted
on my way to the also nearby and appropriately named Covered Bridge Shop where I bought a pair of gloves because, well, if it was cold enough to snow…
Next I wandered up (or down) to the Cheese Haus where I had to take a picture of the mouse
and bought myself a couple small bricks of cheese to nosh on while I’d be driving about Michigan over the coming week.
One other bit of fame associated with Frankenmuth is its chicken rivalry or, more precisely its inn and fried chicken rivalry. On one side of the street you have
Zehnder’s of Frankenmuth and on the other
the Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn. The restaurants and hotels were (and to an extent still are) owned by the Zehnder Family. The difference is that rather than both being held within a single nuclear family unit they are now owned by cousins. Both have enormous dining rooms serving “World Famous Fried Chicken” but the Bavarian Inn has trademarked its Frankenmuth Style Fried Chicken.
I’d managed to fritter away enough time that I was ready to have my dinner. So I set off for Tiffany, the restaurant recommended by the folks on the ferry. I’m guessing the pandemic must have had an impact on it because the restaurant is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I was hoping I wasn’t being very superstitious and sensing the writing on the wall but I was now zero for three on the day.
I walked my frustrated self up the street to Prost Bar and Charcuterie where I ordered the chicken wrap made with Amish chicken and an Erdinger Weissbier. (The chicken is called Amish chicken because it has never used any electronic devices. Just kidding. The term Amish chickens seems to be shorthand for describing birds that are raised on natural feed with no antibiotics or hormones.) Both the chicken and the beer were fine and it’s possible I would have enjoyed them more had my mood been less foul. My state of mind was so little improved that I passed on driving through the Christmas light display and simply paid the bill and returned to the hotel in Saginaw.
The few pictures from the day that you haven’t seen are here.