a little piece of paradise

I miss going to Mackinaw Island

     Jackie and I would go up there at the end of the school year.  We would stay two or three nights in a bed and breakfast on the island...the Metevier Inn.  The last year was the year after I retired.  I enjoyed a special bottle of wine that I got as a retirement present on the porch of the inn.
     We would ride our bikes around the island.  After the MS set in, Jackie would sit on the porch while I rode my bike around the island.
     I discovered if you approached the Grand Hotel from the side, you could actually sit on the porch and rock, even though the hotel was restricted to guests only.
     One year we went to the luncheon buffet at the Grand.  If I remember it was $30 or $40 a person, but that included a tour of the hotel.
     We went into the dining room and I swore I thought I was in heaven.
     There was a football field's length of food!  A fish table, a meat table, a salad table, a fruit table..... a table for any kind of food imaginable.  And it was good food.  The fruits were fresh, the breads crisp and light, the meats done to perfection.
     I had already eaten too much when I discovered the dessert table....with 9 delicious offerings available.
     One dish looked particularly scrumptious, so I asked the two Sweet Young Things serving to tell me what it is.
     "Terra and Sue," I heard.
     "That's what the dessert is called?" I clarified.
     "Terra and Sue, sir."  I heard.
     "OK, let me ask again.  What is this dessert?"
     "Terra and Sue," was the reply again.
     Now I am not a connoisseur of food,  so I blundered right ahead.
     "OK, Terra and Sue, I really don't want to know your names....although I am flattered.  I just want to know the name of the dessert."
     They looked as if they had never seen an older guy with a hearing problem that for all they know was trying to hit on them when all I wanted was a slice of the damn cake.
     "Sir, those are not our names.  The name of the dessert is tiramisu."
     "Oh," I said.  "I would like a piece, please."
     There were 9 different desserts on that table, and I had 7 of them.  But the terra and sue was absolutely the best.
     I could barely walk back to our inn.  And I did not eat dinner that night.
     I would love to go back there, and not just for the desserts.  I loved sitting on the porch at the inn, having a cup of Earl Grey, and listening to the horses as they clip-clopped down the street.
     I even enjoyed the smell of the stables from across the street.
     Ttruly an amazing place.