 | | Downtown St. Ignace stretches along State Street for nearly half a mile. Here a focus is formed by Book World, Bentley’s Cafe and ice cream shop, and the Colonial House B&B with its charming bayview coffeehouse and deck. Extra parking is behind State Street shops. | Downtown is one of those places that looks confusing to passing motorists but can be quite pleasant once you get out and walk. The central business district here consists of the inland side of State Street, facing the various ferry docks and parking areas. Downtown starts with the post office and extend half a mile north to City Hall. The harbor is always within view.
Downtown has gained greatly from continuing improvements made to the boardwalk and harborfront parks. St. Ignace has basic functional businesses (drugstore, large supermarket, etc.), not to be taken for granted in small towns based on tourism. Alas, the Justrite Bakery remains empty, and no other bakery has set up shop. Tourist shops are improving, especially with the advent of the Pavillion shops.
Noteworthy points of interest are arranged from south to north. (The Museum of Ojibwa Cuilture and its top-notch shop are described as separate points of interest.)
• THE PAVILION. The site of the old D&C variety store is now a beautiful arcade of shops, with an open-air fountain and seating at the street and a brick center aisle with chairs and tables. It's a perfect set-up for customers sipping cappuccino and other espresso-based drinks and sodas from the COFFEE SOCIETY in back. (The coffee bar used to be at owner-developer Elizabeth Brown's Colonial House Inn just down the street.) Smoothies, tea, and pop, plus coffee beans and teabags and leaves are also available. Its hours: daily from Mem. Day weekend thru Labor Day 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; thru Oct. 15 daily 8-6. Call for winter hours.
Other shops include a baby store for newborns through 24 months and THE WINERY (regional and international wines and beers plus gourmet jams, sauces, crackers, etc.) Wine gift baskets while you wait. Its Michigan wine section grows with every passing year. Hours the same as Coffee Society's, but open at 10 a.m. The DOCKSIDE GALLERY (906-643-9475) is based on David and Jamie Holland's custom framing business. It also offers nautical and other limited edition prints (often by Michigan artists), handmade jewelry, and fine American collectibles and crafts such as Arthur Court's detailed aluminum pitchers, trays, and bowls, and Craig Weatherby's handblown glass bowls, vases, paperweights, and more.Open year-round. In summer daily from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., in early fall daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. From mid Oct. into May Wed-Sat 10-5.
The Pavilion is on S. State St. across from the Star Line dock, north of the post office and Colonial House. Open 10-10 July & August. All shops wheelchair-accesible.
• BOOK WORLD. This well-stocked general book shop, part of a chain based in Appleton, Wisconsin, has a good regional section, strong nature and children's books, and the best magazine selection in town. For those hooked on The New York Times, it's "a godsend," says one summer resident. 52 N. State. (906) 643-7569. Open year-round. Summer hours Mon-Sat 9-8, Sun 12-5. Sept to Jan: Mon-Fri 9-8, Aat 9-5 Sat, Sun noon-5. Jan thru May: closes at 6 weekdays. Handicap accessible.
• THE EMPORIUM. Antique lighting and furniture, rewired, repaired, and ready to go, are the specialties at this large, general-line antique shop. Unlike most U.P. antique stores, The Emporium is not about primitives. Many customers come for upholstery fabric by the yard, and at attractive prices. The shop's upholstery work is way booked up. 110 N. State. (906) 643-6565. Open year-round, Mon-Sat 9-5, and by chance or appointment. Wheelchair access: one step.
• FORT de BUADE INDIAN MUSEUM. The city of St. Ignace is taking over this private museum in a large downtown building. Here were displayed, in a haphazard way, the late Lansing dentist Donald Benson's noted collection of Great Lakes Indian artifacts. They are from the time before European contact, through French and English trading eras, into the period of American settlement and cultural dominance. Weaponry of Native Americans, French, English, and Americans is also part of the collection. There were nearly 7,000 square feet of exhibit space.
This was not the site of Fort de Buade, the French fort/trading post built at St. Ignace in 1671. ("Buade" rhymes with "Maude.") The actual fort seems to have been somewhere around City Hall, or so a historic marker says.
The collection is being reorganized and interpreted by a local person who's an authority about this era of Great Lakes history. 334 North State. (906) 643-6622. Usually open from Memorial Day weekend through September. Hours have been 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. $5/adult, ages 16 and under $3. Call to confirm. Wheelchair-accessible.
• INDIAN VILLAGE. A classic of picturesque tourism. "Neon and wooden teepees attract motoring tourists to this colossal souvenir warehouse," writes Kathryn Eckert in Buildings of Michigan, her monumental survey of Michigan's historic buildings. "The long metal building is faced with cedar bark, [and inside] wallpapered with birch bark decorated with pictographs of arrows, animals, canoes, and headdresses." This building from 1977 resembles the 1927 landmark which it replaced. Inside are longtime staples of the tourist trade: Minnetonka moccasins and sandals, cowboy hats and Indian headdresses, cedar boxes, dreamcatchers, crystal figures, and sweats and Ts with designs based on eagles, Native Americans, and wolves.499 N. State, across from the Ojibwa Museum. (906) 643-8980. Open from early May into late Oct. Hours from 8:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. and later, cutting back to 7 or so in Oct. Handicap accessible.
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