Day 28: Shore Day in Port Huron

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September 6, 2021: We spend Labor Day taking it easy.

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I woke early, as I usually do, and immediately started my quest for coffee that didn’t involve a Keurig K-Cup. There were several restaurant options that supposedly opened at 7 AM. But it was the Monday of Labor Day weekend and I knew all about our luck finding places open on Mondays.

(Or Tuesdays, or Sundays. Or sometimes Wednesdays or Thursdays.)

In search of breakfast

Calling brought no answers. But then again, what business answers its phone before it’s open? It was a nice enough day so I grabbed my iPad and went for a walk.

Long story short, I wound up at The Raven, a coffee/bar cafe on Military Street. The inside was a cozy mess with bookshelves completely filled with books. (And signs that said “Do not interact with the books.” Go figure.) I ordered quiche and a large latte with three shots of espresso. I told her I’d eat it outside — Capt Paul keeps reminding us about COVID dangers so I try to eat outside whenever possible — and went outside to wait. It was pretty chilly; the restaurant and its tables were on the shady side of the street. I wanted to eat inside, where it was warm. But I stayed outside.

The server brought my food and coffee. The quiche was good, but the coffee was somehow weak. Ugh. I took the to go cup with me anyway.

Afterwards, I headed back to Nano. I was just starting to cross the 7th Street Bridge when I heard a voice through an intercom system say, “Young lady with the coffee! Would you like come cookies to go with that?”

I looked around. I was the only person around. I looked at the drawbridge tower across the street. The voice had obviously come from there. I waved up at the tower.

I saw a shadowy figure up there wave back. Then, a moment later, the door at the foot of the tower opened and a skinny man holding what looked like a Big Gulp cup stepped out. I walked over to him.

“They’re home made,” he said. He pulled the lid off the cup. Inside were a stack of chocolate chip cookies with tiny pieces of wax paper between them.

I reached in and took one. “Thanks.”

“Take two,” he implored.

I declined. “Do I look like I need two?” I asked.

We chatted for a while. The drawbridge was his summer gig. When the season was over, he headed south to Florida. This is how he was spending his retirement. I could think of worse things to do.

I told him a little about my boat trip and how I planned to buy a boat and cruise the area.

He suddenly realized what time it was; the bridge was supposed to open on the quarter hour. “I didn’t bring down a radio,” he said. “I have to go. Take another cookie.”

I took the cookie. He disappeared back into his tower. I continued walking back to Nano. The cookies were excellent.

Here’s a look up the Black River from the 7th Street Bridge just after getting my second cookie.

Italian Ice and Antique Shopping

I was back out again at around 10 AM. I went out in search of a convenience store I’d seen on Google. I found it but it was empty — it looked almost as if someone had cleaned it out overnight.

Not wanting to go back to Nano, I walked up and down Huron Avenue (the extension of Military Street), trying to find out what was open or would be open later in the day. The answer was, not much. It seemed that a lot of shops and restaurants were normally closed on Mondays and others had opted to take the holiday off.

Downtown Port Huron was pretty dead at 10 AM on Labor Day morning.

The ice cream shop would open at 11 AM, however, and so would a very large antique shop farther up the road. I found a place to sit in the shade — now it was too hot in the sun — and read a book on my phone. I was the first one in the ice cream shop when it opened. I had an Italian ice — a real Italian ice, but without the paper cup — for the first time in at least 25 years.

Afterward, I wandered over to that antique shop. It was the typical monstrosity — an old, large, empty storefront converted into 10 x 10 spaces for people to sell old junk. This one was particularly large, with a main floor and basement from several storefronts that had been joined together by opening walls between spaces. There was a lot of stuff and some of it was nice. There was a curio cabinet that I would have snatched up in a heartbeat if I’d had a way to get it home. The price was right and it was in excellent condition.

I contented myself with looking for sterling silverware, which I can (theoretically) use to make jewelry. I have a few pieces in my shop at home — as well as two complete sets of silver plate — but at $25 per piece, I’m very hesitant to start cutting them up. Still, if I found another sterling piece at the right price, I’d buy it. It was a futile search but it did manage to fritter away an hour of my day.

Here’s Nano, midday at its slip in Port Huron.

Chores and Dinner in Port Huron

I spent the rest of the day doing chores, writing, and reading.

I discovered that they had a washer and dryer in the back room of the marina office that was available for boaters at the marina to use. So I took a shower, put on clean clothes, and threw all of my dirty laundry into the washer.

I fetched my laptop from Nano and found a nice spot in the shade to sit and write. The marina had a big covered area with concrete floor, roof, picnic tables, and propane grills around it. It was wonderfully cool in the shade with just a light, pleasant breeze. I managed to write the Day 24 blog post, even with a stop to move my clothes into the dryer.

This is Jessie, a converted tugboat. The owner, who is a really nice guy, offered to give me a tour of the inside, but I told him I’d come back with Capt Paul (who he’d also offered a tour to) so he wouldn’t have to do it twice. Sadly, we didn’t get back over there until the owner was gone for the week.

When my clothes were done, I stuffed them back into a bag and brought them to Nano, where I dropped them on my bed. With Capt Paul doing laundry and Dianne watching something on her tablet, I set off alone to find a place for dinner.

I wound up at Wings Etc on the river. They sat me outside on a Adirondack chair with a low table, tucked away in a corner of the deck. It was perfect for me, but the server almost didn’t see me there. I ordered a burger with onion rings for dinner and 10 boneless wings to go — I like to have something substantial in the fridge back at Nano for times when restaurants aren’t within walking distance. Service wasn’t fast, but I didn’t mind. I had my iPad with me and was reading. The burger was good but lacked the bacon I’d asked for. When I mentioned it to the waitress, she was very apologetic and took the whole burger off my bill. Silly me; I just didn’t want to be charged for the bacon.

On the way back to Nano, I stopped at the ice cream place again. This time I was one of their last customers for the day. I had a cup of very chocolate ice cream and ate it at a table at the curb.

I got back to Nano just as Capt Paul returned from laundry duty. I folded my laundry and settled down with my ebook. Dianne went in search of a lemon for the tabouli she’d made that day; she wouldn’t get back until after 10 PM when both Capt Paul and I were tucked into our beds.