Isaiah And Darrell Probably Made It To The Buffet In Time!

I bet that our two Nike professionals on tour in Europe right now don't miss their chances for a good meal like I did!  (Both Isaiah Harris and Darrell Hill placed fourth in their initial Diamond League events in europe.)

So I usually have a single tiny focus when deciding where to vacation.  When I went to China, I was there to adopt Daughter the Younger.  But really, we all know that Kung Pao Chicken IN China was a very close second.

This year's goal was the buffet at The Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island Michigan.  I had heard so much about it even 33 years ago while a Resident at Kern Hospital for Special Surgery in Warren, MI.  Everyone had been there and everyone agreed that it was a great place to be.

It was also a chance to visit Gary Black in his solitary existence in the Northern Peninsula of Michigan.  A 12 hour drive in Podd 2.0, my RV got us across the Bridge that couldn't be built and into the woods of the Upper Peninsula.  For a week, we were Yoopers.

We waited several days until Gary could get there, biding our time in Saint Ignace and Mackinac City, which are sorta kinda like Jersey Shore towns with clean, non-smelly water.  There's plenty of fudge, caramel corn and ice cream.  But instead of French Fries, they have pasties, a real plus for someone who grew up with them.

A Yooper pasty.

This living statue in Mackinac City scared the Heck out of Sister the Equal.

Mackinac City dwellers are called trolls.

We managed to take the ferry to Mackinac Island on Independence Day.  It was really crowded, of course, and with more bikes than even in china!  Automobiles are prohibited on the Island.  At least we thought so.  More on that in a bit.

The main street consists of tourist shops, bike rental places and many, many fudge shops. I counted 13 of them.  The island has an 8.2 mile paved road circling the island, and everyone who is anyone rents a bike and bikes the entire route.  Then they go to the shops and buy a "I biked the island" t-shirt and a "8.1" bumper sticker.  Spouse the Better, Sister the Equal and Daughter the Younger all traveled across the ferry with their bikes and rode the island.  Brother the Smarter and I hung back.  I made the purchases of the afore-mentioned t-shirt and sticker, while my brother toured Fort Mackinac.

Ready to bike before the crowds.

Main Street Mackinac Island

Our goal was to meet and walk up to the Grand Hotel for the Lunch Buffet, a $47 feast that is supposedly well worth it.  All was going according to plan.  The crowds were at their peak, bikes, horse carriages and pedestrians clogging the Main Street completely.

And then...     A crash, a scream, and people running away in panic.  I was ahead of everyone else and had turned the corner when I heard the commotion.  There was then a horrible, horrible scream, which gave me immediate goose bumps.  I thought terrorism and was ready to run away when I saw Spouse the Better and Daughter the Younger running full steam to the heart of the pandemonium.

No one else was rendering help, but they both went right to the lone figure laying on the road with a disfigured bike.  She had crashed into another bike and fell over her handle bars.  Her horribly equally disfigured arm was easy to evaluate.  A humeral fracture is one of the most painful injuries you can have, as the muscles contract and cause more and more deformity.  She was bleeding from her scalp and leg also.  I entered a bar and asked the bartender for ice, which he gave me while saying "Happens every day at about this time..."  I believe him.  I tossed him a Jackson for his efforts, which he didn't even try to decline.

Meanwhile, my family members gave what little support they could give to her arm, applied ice everywhere and shaded her from the burning sun.  We waited for the ambulance to come, which seemed to take forever to travel the one block from the Medical Center.  By the time she was loaded for the one block trip, we had lost some of our belongings and had lost our chance to make it to the Grand Hotel Buffet!  (And it was an ambulance with an internal combustion engine.  The ban has its limits.)

Karma does even things up though.  We found a Pub and Grill with a table for 7, which had wonderful food and service.  And when our flustered group was done, we left our credit card behind.  I always tip more than 20% ( I love people who work!) and the server actually took the time to look me up on Facebook and connect with me to return the card.  Turns out she was born and raised in Warren, MI!  I gave them a glowing review and told the boss that she deserves a raise.  (Update: She really did send my card back to me!)

I managed to take a pic of the Grand Hotel as I was leaving the Island on the Ferry...