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Rocky Enfield 1 year, 8 months ago.
My son, Ian, was selected to be part of the Governor’s Honor Guard at the fort on Mackinac Island. This constituted a long day for us but we left the house at 5:10am to begin the 5+ hour trip to Mackinaw City for the ferry drop off.
We stopped in Schoolcraft, Mi (about 45 minutes from out home in Elkhart, In0 at MarJo’s for breakfast. I have eaten here several times over the years. I had the MarJo Omelet. It was huge stuffed with sausage, swiss cheese, potatoes, onions and covered with sausage gravy. Along with a side of whole wheat toast and it was a satisfying meal. Kathy, my wife, chose the breakfast sandwich on an English muffin with eggs, ham and cheese. It was so full of ingredients that she could eat as a sandwich she had to use a fork and knife. Ian, as always, chose a very big meal. The sampler, two scrambled eggs, ham, bacon, sausage, hash browns and 3 pancakes. He finished it all.
We successfully dropped Ian off at the Boy Scout loading area. After an hour of everybody arriving, loading, etc. we gave him goodbye kisses and hugs and started to head back south. Kathy was napping as I drove and drove and drove. I realized that something had gone wrong and I should have turned a long time ago. Kathy woke up and asked where we were and I informed her that we were sort of lost. She mentioned that she was getting hungry (it was now 1:45pm and the big breakfast was a long time ago). I told we would get off at the next exit. It happened to be Grayling, Mi.
We had no clue as to what restaurants might be there. As we were coming into a busy area of town Kathy noticed a sign painted on a building, Goodale’s Bakery turn right 1 block, Hot Lunches. We did as instructed and turned right. It was 2:00pm and this little bakery was packed. They had a meat case where you could order fresh made sandwiches on a variety of their housemade breads and buns, they had a selection of hot dishes, they had cases of fresh made pastries, cookies and donuts.
I settled on the beef pasty w/gravy and a side of mac and cheese. Kathy got the pulled pork on a housemade Kaiser roll. While I liked the filling of the pasty very much I wasn’t thrilled with the dough/pastry part of it. I guess, having lived in England for 3 years, I am a purist when it comes to pasties. I like the harder, flaky crusts and this one was soft and doughy. The mac and cheese was very tasty. Kathy really liked her pulled pork (especially the bun). We picked up some excellent chocolate chocolate chip cookies for the road. I would have liked to spend a lot more time and $$ there but we had to get back on track and headed home.
If you are ever traveling on I-75 near Grayling, Mi I would recommend a stop at Goodale’s Bakery. I am sure you will not be disappointed.
Pasties in the L.P.? Hmmm… given that they’re more associated with the U.P. I’m a bit skeptical.[;)]
Goodale’s has a Facebook page:
https://m.facebook.com/pages/Goodales-Bakery/157034281004203 https://m.facebook.com/pages/Goodales-Bakery/157034281004203
Interesting timing. This past Saturday night we were having dinner (at Hollyhock Hill) with one of my friends and his wife and she told us how her brother lives on Mackinac Island.
When you make the return trip to pick up Ian perhaps you can “accidentally” stop in Grayling again:
https://raysgrayling.com https://raysgrayling.com/
Cool day. Great honor. Ian eats like I do. That would have been my breakfast choice!
What a fun day. Your son, your accident and your food. I liked the story as much as you probably liked your day.
It’s great to make a find accidentally like that.
It usually doesn’t work out for my wife and me when we try a place we just happen across without having looked into it in advance.
You brought back an almost 60 year old scout memory. Rather than eat much of the food that we cooked, a few of the adult leaders would always sneak off to some place for a snack. We would call the places that they preferred “Roadfood” places, but the name had not been invented yet.
One of the places, Black and White Grill, in Spencer, Mass is still there, although it is more upscale than in those days.
A happy accident
You rarely go wrong with a pasty in Michigan… esp if you’re in the UP-EH!
You found a good one in the “mitten”!
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