Redefining "Hole in the Wall"

One thing I have always been a big fan of when traveling is eating among the locals.  Of course there is an element of comfort that can be brought by every McDonalds, Pizza Hut and Applebees across the nation.  You know exactly what you are going to get. And when traveling with young kids this fall back plan is so often necessary.  However when I am on vacation I always make it a point to try out some local fare whenever possible. 

This last week my family spent on our annual excursion to Lake Manistique in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  We go every year, we repeat many activities that we love like stopping at Old Mackinaw Point Lighthouse right next to the bridge and visiting Oswald's Bear Ranch and the U.P. Trading Co. (aka "The Moose Store") in Newberry or attending the annual Craft Fair in Sault Ste Marie. However we also try to take in different experiences while we are up in the U.P. This year, seeing as I have been having so much fun with photography I had my heart set on taking the Pictured Rocks Sunset Cruise which runs out of Munising. We needed to grab a quick bite before setting sail and really had a limited time but once again I thought we could do better than the proverbial Golden Arched food and I soon stumbled on to this place...

Due to the glory of modern technology I hit the scout button on my Windows 7 phone - best feature ever -

And I got a list of most popular eating establishments in the immediate area.  Johnny's Dogs was right near the top of the list and had a website link here and the menu quite intrigued me! Summertime brings a high census of hot dog consumption at our house but the idea of jazzing them up sounded exciting plus I knew hot dogs would be quick for making our boat ride on time. The scout feature hooked with the gps and began directing us there. However we blew right past it and had to circle around.  It was hardly distinguishable from the sparse small town street that is the norm in the upper peninsula.  It quite literally was a "hole in the wall." However we plunged ahead and were not disappointed. We were met with clean fresh retro decor,

A very clean restroom (always a plus when traveling with little tykes!), a wonderful full menu

The seating options were carryout or patio seating which we happily enjoyed since the weather was glorious. They had Fried Mac N Cheese which my daughter adored (I promise not to start deep frying her Kraft!)

My in laws both had the Bacon Blue Dog with Applewood smoked bacon, crumbled Bleu cheese, roasted garlic mayo

I was tempted by that one...yummy!

My husband had the Boston Terrier Dog with house made baked beans, BBQ sauce, onion, Applewood smoked bacon

Would not be my cup of tea but I can see the appeal and he loved it!

I had the North Carolina Dog with house smoked pulled pork, Orange Pop BBQ sauce, and coleslaw

This was out of this world yummy! For one I totally want to learn to make BBQ sauce from orange pop! It was so good and unique, sweet, tangy sauce, the salty beef hot dog, the cool and crisp coleslaw! Yummy!

I was grateful to Microsoft for my phone that found this gem.  Grateful that in an area so economically depressed there was some semblance of life to be had. And interested in taking my hot dog consumption to more inventive levels using Johnny's as my inspiration.  Ketchup and mustard are a thing of the past! And next year, I will try to visit them again and lend my support.  The hot dogs however were not the star of the day:

The Pictured Rocks

 Lover's Leap

Indian Head

Heading home! A rough day on Lake Superior!

So please vacation in Northern Michigan, there is so much beauty and wonder to be had, start right in Munising, make a trip to Johnny's for some unique gourmet hot dogs and follow it up with the gorgeous sunset cruise to look at the pictured rocks.  You can thank me later!