The Duck Pond

Trail's Best is now a thing of the past, and The Duck Pond is very welcome with open arms. What a transition! I was only here twice before when it was a dingy bar, and one of those times I literally opened the door, got grossed out by the cleanliness of the bar and old creepy locals, and turned around and walked out. Now it is a total transformation! The bar is clean, trendy, and attracts all different types of people. I was here out of season for the U.P., but there is also a "beer garden" which in the nicer months offers a fire pit, stage for local bands, and a TV for sporting events. The menu, although not huge by all means, gives you a wide range of options such as smoked whitefish dip, to pizza, to BBQ sandwiches.

My husband and I stopped here on a very rainy gloomy day and were starved. We ordered a half order of boneless wings coated in the Honey Red Adobo sauce. They were cooked to perfection, had a sweet note with the honey, followed by a great kick with the pepper and adobo.

I ordered the Canvas Back sandwich for lunch. It was packed with smoked ham, turkey, perfectly cooked bacon, lettuce, tomato and a garlic mayo. The garlic mayo made this sandwich be elevated to an entire new level. I also ordered the sweet potato tots instead of fries for a side dish and they, as odd as this sounds, were adorable, and of course tasted delicious.

The restaurants in this area all might as well disappear if the Duck Pond can keep up the great work. No offence to the casino or to Foggy's....but there is no comparison as far as I am concerned. This place has fresh, great quality food that tasted as fresh as the ingredients are. That really doesn't compete with mostly frozen foods with jacked up prices. I look forward to watching this place take off even further!

The Duck Pond, Main Website

Spikes Keg 'O' Nails

While on the way back from lower Michigan heading to the U.P., my husband and I stopped in Grayling for some lunch. Before even reading on the history or the menu of Spike's Keg 'O' Nails, the outside looked like such a dive (in a good way) that we took a chance that paid off. For a brief history, it opened on May 29, 1933 the day after prohibition ended and the name was picked out from a contest. Famous baseball stars and boxers were customers of that time, and he was a pillar of the community. Be sure to read more information of him on their main website. This little building definitely has some history behind it. (Who would have thought by looking at it?)

For an appetizer we ordered one of my favorites, which if you're a cheese addict like me, is always cheese curds. They were amazing, like cheese curds usually are. The breading was crispy, the cheese was squeaky and melted, and was even better dipped in ranch dressing.

There were many options on the menu that looked amazing, such as the pulled pork, but my gut (literally I suppose..) was telling me to go for the 'Spike's Patty Melt'. I had upgraded to the pretzel bun, but the waitress apparently forgot because when it came out, it was on rye bread. A mistake well made because the rye bread gives this sandwich an extra flavor that would have been missing with the pretzel bun. It was topped with grilled onions that were soft and almost caramelized, and melted Swiss cheese. This is one of the best patty melt's I have ever had. My burger was cooked perfectly, the onion rings that I got on the side were amazing with really thin fried batter on the outside. Whatever dip they give you (I can't for the life of me remember) to dip the sandwich and rings in is the perfect match.

Spike's seems to be one of THE places to eat in Grayling. We arrived and there were only two tables filled, but by the time we left, every seat, including the bar, was packed. If we lived closer, this would definitely be on the rotation of places to eat!

Spike's Keg 'O' Nails, Main Website

387 restaurant and beer parlor

Well, since Sydney's had been purchased by new owners and renamed, "renovated", and had a complete menu change, we had high hopes that it would be a better place to eat in Munising, Michigan. We first stopped here last spring in late May, and after having a not so spectacular experience, we decided to give it another try last month for Valentines Day. Both experiences were less than memorable.

For an appetizer, or as they call them "shareables", we ordered the boneless chicken wings. Now, correct me if I am wrong, especially by looking at that picture, but those are chicken tenders. They also have chicken tenders on the menu as a "shareable" so I am thinking maybe they just got our order confused. They weren't bad mind you, but all they were was deep fried chicken pieces with a side of ranch.

For lunch, my husband ordered the Whitefish Platter, which comes with a roll and choice of side dish. He said the fish wasn't bad and seasoned pretty well, but the mashed potatoes and gravy left something to be desired.

I ordered the 387 Specialty Burger, thinking that since it was named after the restaurant it must be pretty good. It is a patty on top of french fries smothered in a white cheese sauce (like Poutine), and topped with sauteed mushrooms. You get a choice of fries so I ordered the sweet potato fries, which were delicious. The mushrooms weren't from a can, thank god, and were seasoned really well. The white cheese Poutine sauce was super fresh, and one of the best cheese sauces I've had in the U.P. The burger, which I ordered medium, was not seasoned, the consistency of shoe leather, and the perfect frozen patty shape. They almost had a gold mine with this one! Why on earth, would you put a crappy burger like that, that literally tasted freezer burned, with everything else that is so delicious!?!?

When we went back on Valentines Day with two other family members and their young one, it wasn't looking so hot from the minute we walked in the door. It was around 5:30 PM and had it not been for the "open" sign, you wouldn't have even realized it was open. We were the ONLY people in the restaurant other than staff. Since we were supposed to get pretty bad weather we chalked it up to that and got seated in the bar area. When we left at about 7PM, there were two other tables that had come in since. That really is not a good sign. Now as for the service....

Other than the main menu, they had a few Valentines specials. Three of us went ahead and ordered the steak and side of pasta, but we all ordered different sides, pastas, and weird combinations. You are supposed to get a soup or salad first, but our waitress asked us all what kind of potato we wanted. We just figured maybe they forgot to put it on the printed out version and it came with the meal, so she took the rest of our order. One of us wanted the steak with a side of pasta with alfredo sauce, and two of us wanted the steak with the lasagna. She came back about 10 minutes later and finally said we were supposed to get a salad or soup, no potato, but that they would still be giving us the potato option free of charge. Two of us ordered salads and my husband ordered the broccoli cheese soup. The soup was the consistency of a condensed soup out of a can and looked terrible. He asked me if I wanted to try it, while glopping it on the spoon and letting it fall back into the bowl, but I opted out.

Our side salads came, and instead of a lettuce mix with veggies in it, or small amount of fresh cut veggies on top of a nice bed of lettuce, we got whole baby carrots, long onion strips and cut up cucumber which was fine, and large wedges of tomatoes. It was more like a veggies and dip tray than a salad but we all picked off of it and ate it regardless.

Finally, our main dishes came out. From the description of what we ordered I'm sure you can already see one main thing that is wrong here. One of us ordered the pasta with cheese sauce, and two ordered the lasagna. Somehow, we all ended up with the noodles but we were already an hour and a half in at this point and didn't feel like asking the waitress to fix it. The pasta sauce wasn't bad, and that was the only thing I ate fully on my plate. The steak cuts for everyone at the table were terrible. If you are going to charge anywhere near $25 for a steak dinner, you best make sure that the cut actually has meat on it. After dodging bones and cutting around fatty areas, I got a total of 5 bites of meat. The gravy on the meat was spectacular, but I think I could have butchered a better piece myself at home and certainly would not have paid over $12 for that plate of food we received.

To sum up 387, I'm not impressed. I'm sure the owners are nice, like everyone has told me, and the staff is nice, but nice people with inconsistent and not that great of food is an uneven combination that will only lead to nice people shutting down a disappointing restaurant. They need to train their staff better, get better ingredients to work with, and after they have fixed those problems, find a way to advertise more to fill the seats in the restaurant. The menu has amazing ideas that sound delicious, but they aren't being executed properly. If they are still open in the future, maybe we will stop in again and try it out but at this point, it is nowhere I would purposely choose to eat at.

387 Main Website

Skipper's Bar and Grill

While hiking Canyon Falls in L'Anse, Michigan, my husband and I wanted to stop somewhere in town that we hadn't tried yet. Skipper's was the perfect place to stop for lunch. According to what I've read and heard, this bar is new (in the past year) and got a complete facelift. The atmosphere was great. The waitress was friendly, and when we asked her what she suggested there was no hesitation on her part. Even at an off time of day, since it was late afternoon, the bar still had a decent amount of people in it. The place was very clean, even down to the bathrooms which I found impressive for a bar.

For an appetizer, we ordered the wings with honey mustard sauce. The wings were cooked perfectly, and must have been finished in the deep fryer because they were unbelievably crunchy. The honey mustard sauce was so good I could have eaten it on a spoon, and even though they dredged the wings through it, they still remained crunchy.

For our main meal, we split the buffalo chicken ranch pizza (small). We got the thick crust, which ended up making this taste almost like a flatbread. It was very good. The pizza was topped with grilled chicken, bacon, ranch dressing, lettuce, tomato and mild sauce. The combination was perfect, and the sauce definitely gave it a good kick that was cooled down instantly with the ranch.

If you haven't had a chance to stop at Skipper's yet or are skeptical that it will be a typical small town dive bar (and not in a good way), let me assure you, it is anything but. The food is delicious, and I haven't heard one bad review on the place yet!

Skipper's Bar and Grill, Facebook Page

Rock Inn Mountain Tavern

The final post for places we ate while on vacation in Estes Park, Colorado is definitely saving the best for last. The Rock Inn was my absolute favorite restaurant in Estes Park. The hostess that greeted us was unbelievably nice, and made small talk and asked if we had a favorite table (even though I could tell by the look on her face that she knew by our accents that we weren't from around here). Our waiter was not only helpful, but bent down while talking to us which you don't see often, and made us feel like people who were regulars and ate their all of the time. The decor was gorgeous. It felt like we were in the middle of the mountains somewhere in a cozy lodge.

I didn't feel like an alcoholic beverage or soda, and water was too boring so I decided to get fancy and order the French press coffee. It was some of the best coffee I have had in years.  My husband, who is a tea person, also said it was delicious coffee.

For an appetizer we ordered the "Devils on horseback", which were dates stuffed with roasted garlic, and wrapped in bacon served with a fresh aioli. The only bad thing I have to say about these are that there weren't enough on the plate! The garlic and dates were so creamy, and the bacon had a perfect crunch on the outside.

My husband ordered the bacon wrapped meatloaf. The meatloaf was very moist and served with a garlic mushroom gravy on top. He also had a side of red potatoes and a carrot salad.

And now, for the best dish that I have had in months, and the best steak I have had in YEARS, is my main course. I ordered the Filet Mignon, bistro style which was peppercorn crusted and served in a port wine sauce. I also had the carrot salad on the side, and ordered mine with creamy polenta. The plate, taste aside, was gorgeous. Mine was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the slices were fanned out. The port wine sauce was rich and creamy and went perfectly with the hot peppercorns. It was definitely not one of the cheaper items on the menu, but sometimes you just have to treat yourself to something decadent.

I highly, highly recommend this restaurant if you are in Estes Park. We ate here on a Saturday and they even had live music. I wish I would have figured out the singer's name so that I could give her recognition on here because her voice was beautiful. The food is to die for, the staff makes you feel like family. If I could pick this restaurant up and bring it back to the Upper Peninsula I would.

Rock Inn, Main Site
Rock Inn, Facebook Page

Cascades Restaurant of the Stanley

My husband and I recently took a trip to Estes Park, Colorado for the Strange Escapes "The Stanley" paranormal convention. We got our tickets early enough that we were able to stay in the hotel. We visited the Cascades Restaurant on two different occasions while we were staying there, once for a late night snack, drinks and dessert, and once for dinner. The service was pretty good, considering the entire dining room and bar area (and hotel in general) were packed the entire weekend and it was very chaotic. There was copper everywhere and it was beautiful; the light practically danced off of it. They also had signed pictures of actors, actresses, politicians, or any "famous" people that have been there.

While in Colorado, I HAD to order my favorite drink of all time, which is a "Colorado Bulldog". Here in Upper Michigan, about 95 percent of the bars I have attempted to order it from had never heard of it and I had to explain to them what the ingredients were. Well, I also try to tell them that if you mix them in the wrong order the entire drink curdles and so I normally don't order it at a bar and end up making them myself. I was expecting like many bars I have been to, that the drink would be over boozed and you wouldn't be able to taste anything else. That ended up being far from the case. I could even taste the splash of Coca Cola that is added. It was one of the best drinks I have had in a long time.

For an appetizer on the first night we dined there, we ordered the Montaditos. You were served three pieces of grilled baguette (which I thought was a very odd number, because usually two people split it), Manchego cheese, Prosciutto, and a tomato "confit" (which was more like baby greens and sliced grape tomatoes of various colors). Other than some odd terminology in the description, the dish was very good and refreshing. Even with the fact that it was bread, meat and cheese, it didn't feel heavy at all. And of course I always like to make my dish look amazing and play with my food, so that was also fun.

For dessert we ordered the Creme Brulee to split. I am not going to go into much detail because you can either make a creme brulee or you can't. The texture was on point, the caramelization on top was very crunchy and sounded perfect, but the flavor was lacking. Normally you would use fresh vanilla beans in the custard to bring out that vanilla flavor, but there was really no flavor at all. I don't know if the macaroon was made in house, but it was amazing. I would have ordered a whole plate of those.

The second night we ate there, we attended for dinner. I ordered the Buffalo Bolognese. It was pappardelle pasta mixed in with the buffalo bolognese sauce, and topped with truffle pecorino. They also have a "side" of carrot puree. The dish was not bad. It wasn't a very flavorful bolognese but the sharp cheese on top helped give the dish some of the salt it was lacking. My issue with the carrot puree, which was pretty good flavor wise, was that it looked like a skid mark on the edge of my bowl. That, and there was literally one "fork full" on the plate. I think they were trying to use it as more of a fancy decor aspect, but if you say in the menu that there is a carrot puree in or with the dish, you should use enough to make an impact.

My husband ordered a side of Mac and Cheese with his main dish. The sauce was made with a sharp cheddar and the dish was topped with applewood smoked bacon. Again, it was a good dish, but still nothing spectacular. The sauce was a little runny for my taste, but the flavors were there.

The best dish of the night, and it wasn't even mine, was the Macgregor Burger that came with truffle fries. I was not expecting a burger of all things to be the star of this restaurant, but it took center stage. The truffle fries were the best I have ever had, no ketchup needed. The burger was topped with melted sliced brie cheese, and came with a bacon marmalade that was to die for. Considering I only had one (very large) bite of it, and don't really like beef burgers, I would have switched dishes with him in a heartbeat. It was one of the best beef burgers I've ever had.

The overall experience here was great. All of the food was good, and some of the most different types of dishes from a restaurant in a hotel that I've had to date. If I lived near the Estes Park area, that burger is the one thing that would keep bringing me back. It is mouth watering. Also the fact that this restaurant is located in the famously haunted Stanley Hotel helps...


Stanley Hotel, Cascades Restaurant
Stanley Hotel, Facebook Page

Weezy's Bar and Grill

While on our car journey driving from Michigan to Kentucky, we hopped onto old Route 66 to grab a bite to eat for a late lunch. I used the RoadTrippers app to figure out what was near us and the restaurant with the most stars that popped up was Weezy's Bar & Grill. It looked unique and wasn't gas station food so we were ready to try it out. 

We sat up front in the bar area at a booth. The waitress kindly told us that they just received a call that a bus party of 30 would be coming in for a quick celebratory birthday stop before hopping to the next bar. We didn't mind and didn't feel like moving. They were fairly loud, but it was a birthday gathering after all involving booze. The decor in the bar was awesome. There were Route 66 signs all over the walls and definitely had that theme throughout. 

For an appetizer, we ordered the Jalapeno Cheese Ravioli. We were both slightly hesitant because neither of us like super hot things, and for the most part jalapeno isn't bad when the seeds are removed. These were amazing. If I lived near this area, I would order this for my main meal. It is more like a jalapeno flavored cheese that the ravioli is stuffed with, and has just the right amount of kick. 

My husband ordered the Ham and Cheese sandwich on a pretzel bun, with a side order of sweet potato fries. I got to taste a bite, and the pretzel bun, which soft pretzels are one of my favorites, was delicious.

I ordered the Philly Burger. The burger, that I ordered to be cooked at medium, was cooked perfectly. No pink in the middle and still very juicy. It was topped with melted cheese, caramelized onions and green pepper, and served on toasted bread. I subbed the fries for onion rings that were golden brown, crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. It definitely hit the spot.

The only negative point that I have to comment on, is that the bathrooms (even according to my husband in the men's) were pretty disgusting. The food is delicious, and worth coming for, but wait and go elsewhere to use the restroom if you need to. It was some of the best "bar" food that I have had in a long time. The were also voted in the top ten restaurants on the old Route 66 (check out the link below).

Weezy's in top 10 

Weezy's Facebook Page 

Portside Inn

My family ate here for years growing up, but I hadn't been back in at least the last five. This was one of our staples as far as eating out went, because they had a little bit of everything for all of our differences in tastes. I was always a fan of the Southwest options, but others in my family enjoyed the seafood, pizza, etc. We all had our own favorites and they were pretty different from each other. That is part of why we all loved coming here.

The Portside is original to Marquette and has been open since 1983. This pub style restaurant has a nautical theme. All of the ingredients they use are as fresh as they can get them, taking advantage of using other local sources such as Huron Mountain Bakery for their bread, Marquette Meats for their steaks, Thill's Fish House for their seafood, and local farms for fresh produce.

For an appetizer, we ordered their famous Breadsticks with the garlic cheese spread and marinara sauce. The dough is made from scratch, and to me is very similar to their pizza dough. The cheese spread is amazing, and has a pop of garlic and cheddar cheese. If I would ever suggest ordering anything while eating there, this is one of my 3 favorites and is a must!

My husband ended up ordering my second favorite thing on their menu, which would be the baked French Onion Soup. The onions are caramelized to perfection, with large chunks of French bread all underneath a blanket of melted provolone cheese. I am not a soup person. In fact, it's the last section that I usually look at on a menu. After ordering Portside's French Onion Soup when I was little, I used to try it everywhere to see if they even came close in comparison to being THIS good. I've only had one that has come close so far, but still doesn't top my favorite.

And for my ultimate favorite thing on the menu, the Chicken Chimichangas. I rarely order anything different for my main course, because as soon as I had this, I was hooked. The picture doesn't even come close to showing how large these things are. I can usually finish one, and then take the other home to eat cold for lunch the next day. The tortillas are stuffed with a shredded chicken and onion mixture, topped with salsa and melted cheese, and a few olive slices thrown on top. It also comes with a side of rice and refried beans. I know it is really strange for my favorite thing at a pub to be on the Southwest menu, but once you try it you will understand.

This restaurant is a great place to eat and get a few drinks. Be warned, because on the weekend you better either get there early, or be prepared to wait. It gets packed pretty quick. It is okay for families, but the noise level is usually pretty high. The staff is friendly, the food is amazing, there is no reason not to check it out!

The Portside Inn, Main Site

Unnoficial Portside Facebook Page

Kewadin Casino's Dream Catchers Restaurant and the Trail Deli

This past weekend, my husband and I had the awesome privilege of attending Kewadin's 6th annual Michigan Paranormal Convention, otherwise known as MIparacon. For those of you that don't believe in anything paranormal, that is okay. This is after all a blog about restaurants and food.  For those of you that do believe and weren't able to go, the lineup this year was amazing!

The lineup includes, and is not at all limited to the people in the above pictures. Dustin Pari from Ghost Hunters (who painted his face like a member of Kiss), John Tenney from Ghost Stalkers, Andrea Perron, the oldest daughter from the Perron family that the movie "the Conjuring" is very loosely based off of, and Josh Gates of Destination Truth. The bottom picture is my husband and I getting our picture taken with the hit movie Ghost Buster's very own, Ernie Hudson. Niff Groff was also a speaker from Ghost Adventures, and John Zaffis the star of Haunted Collection. And the list goes on (and yes I have many, many more pictures and got to meet everybody). It was an amazing experience and I suggest to everybody who reads this that you get tickets next year and attend. Anyways.....back to the food.

I don't normally remember about room service, or use the opportunity when I have one, but since we were on vacation and the hotel was packed, we ordered room service for breakfast on Friday morning. I believe it was made at their Dream Catchers restaurant. We both ordered the ham and cheese omelet with hash browns and toast on the side. Not only was it very satisfying, and still piping hot from being in the hot box (or whatever you call it), but it was to our room in 15 minutes.

We stopped at the Dream Catchers Restaurant on Friday afternoon for lunch.

For an appetizer we ordered the Thai Peanut Chicken. The flavors were great, and you could taste the soy sauce and what I'm assuming might have been a hint of peanut butter? But this to me was more of a grilled chicken breast with sauce on it, that should have been placed in a salad or left whole and served with side dishes as a main entree. It was a very strange item for an appetizer and not at all what we expected.

For my main dish, I ordered what they called the 'Indian Taco'. They have some items on the menu that are marked with a dream catcher to let you know that it is Native American inspired. It is supposedly a Native American fry bread topped with the usual seasoned ground beef, cheese, tomato, olives, onion and lettuce like you would find on a normal taco. It was also served with salsa and sour cream on the side. It was very tasty, and very filling. The only problem that I had with it, is that it tasted more like a thick biscuit batter and was dry and bread like on the inside. I have had authentic fry bread before, and this tastes nothing like it. But nevertheless, it was very good.

If I was smart, I would have ordered the buffet like my husband did. (I am NOT a buffet girl.) I tried little bites here and there of his selections and I could have eaten a whole pan of that maccaroni and cheese.

Friday night, we ordered a large cheese pizza from the Trail Deli. It was some of the best pizza I have had in a long time. And I was very lucky, because cheese is the only kind that they serve. I think if they were to change that and have more types of pizza, that the pizza would do better than any of the sandwiches or other items that they sell.

This was an amazing trip, full of great people, experiences, and food. Like I said before, I suggest that you sign up to attend Paracon7 next year. I know that we will be there!

Kewadin Casino, Dining
MI Paracon