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Downtown Hessel
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Hessel's compact, intimate scale is one of its most attractive features. A very wide variety of people interact here and have a lot in common - a winning feature of the Hollyhocks and Radishes cookbook, in which Julia Chard, who has a farm stand outside Hessel, shares her recipes and wisdom with the summer people from metropolitan Cleveland. Here, as in so many small places, the very best place to see the widest variety of people under one roof is the Catholic church. Mass is at 8:30 a.m. Sunday at Our Lady of the Snows on the east side of town, on Island View Road between M-134 and Hessel Point Road along the water. Just north of it, a sign announces Hessel's "Historical Indian Cemetery" in a valley behind a fence. The red, white, and blue ribbons on the crosses of military veterans suggest the degree to which Native Americans are overrepresented in the United States military. Honoring veterans with ribbons is one retirement project for parish and tribal member John Andrews, a Korean veteran himself. Keeping ATVs out of the cemetery is a constant struggle, he says. He's working to clean up the overgrown cemetery and keep it secure.
Downtown points of interest are arranged from M-134 to the water.
• WOODS & WATER ECOTOURS OUTDOORS SHOP. Tour operator Jessie Hadley draws on her many years of experience leading area tours, working for The Nature Conservancy, Whitefish Point Bird Observatory, and the DNR in buying for her store, which stresses personal service. Here are quality, tested camping gear and accessories: binoculars, natural insect repellent, dehydrated food, solar showers, camping supplies, field guides, Lake Superior wood blankets, Petzel headlamps, Granfors Bruks Swedish axes, apparel, car racks, and more), kayaks and canoes (Current Designs, Valley, Wenonah, Venture), mountain bikes (Cannondale and KHS bikes), Faber Canadian showshoes and Alpina skis. The store also does bicycle repairs.
RENTALS. Kayaks $55/day single kayak, $65 tandem with safety accessories. Youth kayaks, too. Wet suits $15 extra. Must demonstrate understanding of basic kayak safety or take a one-hour kayak safety course ($45/person). Canoe rentals $30/day. $5/boat delivery in Les Cheneaux. Cannondale mountain bikes: $30/day, $15/half day. Car racks available. Snowshoe rentals (aluminum or wood and rawhide) $10/day. Cross-country ski rentals: $10/day, family rates available. Multiple day discounts on rentals. Sales of used equipment in October. In the cheery red house, 20 Pickford Avenue at M-134. (906) 484-4157. Open year-round. From Mem. Day–Labor Day open Mon-Sat 10-6. Other times may be closed while Jessie leads a trip. Call ahead. Wheelchair accessible: entrance lip.
• THE VILLAGE IDIOM. This delightful bookshop of well-chosen used books is light and airy, with the ambiance of a library and home. Oriental rugs on the floor do most of the trick, helped by lots of art and a big red Welsh dragon honoring the owner's Welsh ancestry. The screened front lets in light and air. Wicker furniture and more books out front encourage customers to sit and read or chat. On S. Pickford Ave. just south of M-134. (906) 484-3533. Open from mid-May into Sept. From Mem. Day weekend thru Labor Day open daily, Mon-Sat 10-5, Sun 2-5 and by chance. In spring and fall open by chance and by appointment. Wheelchair-accessible.
• PICKLE POINT 'FUN THINGS TO DO' SHOP. Having this tiny, year-round shop has pushed Bonnie Stewart Mickelson to be extremely creative and selective in buying and displaying her stock of things she always wanted to be able to buy here but couldn't during all the 40+ years she has spent the summer in Les Cheneaux. Games; field guides; books on gardening, fishing, and hunting; puzzles; puppets; children's books, and other toys - they are all about intergenerational fun for the whole family together. At the same time Bonnie's fun things to do reflect the culture and values of Les Cheneaux and mesh with cottage life and small spaces. Each diversion has to supply repeated fun and not devour space. Nature investigation is a big theme. Doing hands-on projects is another. Lots of kits get beginners started. Journals can collect thoughts and visual impressions in watercolor or colored pencil. This is an ideal place for rainy-day projects. But come before it rains - it's hard to fit more than six people into the space at once.
Every level of space is used. Kites, a "butterfly pavilion" for hatching caterpillars, and mobiles hang from the ceiling. Handsome baskets sold here display merchandise and can serve multiple storage functions at home. Here are Daniel Smith art supplies for making colored pencil sketches and watercolor sketchbooks, and knitting needles and beautiful yarns from Mountain Colors, Classically Yarns, and Cascade yarns. Some everyday items are meant to enhance the looks of life on a boat: cutting boards, teak tables, luxurious towels. Some items are practical discoveries, like muck boots that let your feet breathe and the super-comfy handmade leather rocking chair. With a bit of advance notice Bonnie can inscribe own Hollyhocks and Radishes cookbook. It makes a wonderful wedding gift for couples in the Upper Great Lakes because of its carefully tested seasonal recipes for everyday and casual entertaining. Recipes use fresh garden produce like rhubarb, mint, and tomatoes ripe and green, and fresh fish, some game, wild greens, and other regional ingredients. 247 Pickford Ave. (906) 484-3479. Open year-round. From Mem. to Labor Day open daily except Sunday 10-5. In the off-season probably open at least Friday and Saturday and sometimes by appointment. Call to confirm hours before making a special trip. Wheelchair access: no.
• HARBOR MARKET. Hessel's classic small-town grocery is back to being a carefully edited, well balanced grocery-deli and a gas station, too. Here are fresh deli sandwiches and salads, pizza from a wood-fired stone oven, and in summer ice cream cones. There's beer, liquor, and a bigger grocery section, including frozen convenience foods. Pickford Ave. at Lake. (906) 484-2435. Summer hours: 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily. Off-season hours: daily 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Call to confirm winter hours. Wheelchair-accessible.
• HESSEL MARINA. A gazebo and the unusual number of wooden boats make Hessel's harbor an interesting place all summer. It's the center of the July 4 fireworks display. Check www.lescheneaux.org for occasional concerts. In July and again in August there's a low-key local powwow with information and demonstration of various arts and crafts (sometimes including herbal medicines), sales of handmade items, and a lot of storytelling, we're told. Mertaugh's, the nation's oldest Chris-Craft dealer, is on the east side of the marina.
• HESSEL BEACH. Just past Lakeview Cabins, the small, sandy Hessel public beach enjoys the same fine view down the West Entry, with six islands in the distance. Here are a newish bathhouse with showers, as few benches and picnic tables, and a sand beach that includes a hardened boardwalk for wheelchair access. On Lake west of Pickford Avenue.
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