Great Lakes Tour: Port Austin and Caseville

by: jcherry

Mon Aug 18, 2008 at 17:10:37 PM EDT

Saturday's stop was completely unscheduled.  After returning from Tawas on Thursday, my wife Pam and I went to an event on Lake Fenton for Congressman Dale Kildee.  At the Congressman's event, we ran into State Representative Terry Brown and his wife Carol.  Terry represents Tuscola and Huron Counties in Michigan's thumb area.

We decided that Pam and I would meet the Browns in Port Austin on Saturday to browse through the Saturday morning farmers' market.  It has become quite an event for locals and the thousands of annual campers and summer residents who enjoy the Saginaw Bay and Michigan's thumb.  The market was organized, developed and marketed by retired State Senator John Pridnia, who I had served with in both the Senate and Michigan House.  John had represented Northeast Michigan around the Harrisville area, which lies well to the north of the Saginaw Bay.  However, after he retired, John and his wife Lisa toured the United States and Canada by motor home until they chose several years ago to settle in Port Austin.

After spending the morning at Port Austin, we traveled over to Caseville for their annual Cheeseburgers in Caseville.  I know you are asking if this is for real.  Well it is as real as any Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville fantasy can be, but it is real enough that over 40,000 people turn out for the Cheeseburgers in Caseville Parade-not mention the thousand parrotheads who camp out on the shore of the Saginaw Bay to enjoy the 10-day party.  I would not dare guess how many cheeseburgers are prepared and consumed over that 10 day period.

The event name is a takeoff of that Jimmy Buffett song "Cheeseburger in Paradise".  Wikipedia tells us that the song first appeared on his 1978 album Son of a Son of a Sailor and was released as a single, reaching #32.  "Cheeseburger in Paradise" was later selected as the first track on his greatest hits album Songs You Know by Heart.   According to Buffett's Margaritaville web site, the myth of the "cheeseburger in paradise" was inspired by a boat journey Buffett once took in the Caribbean. Buffett states that while subsisting on canned food and peanut butter, he envisioned eating a "piping hot cheeseburger". He reports that upon finally arriving in Road Town, Tortola, British Virgin Islands, he was surprised to find a restaurant serving American cheeseburgers.  The rest is legend, myth, and a subject of tall tales.

As we entered Caseville, there were pink flamingos everywhere.  Hundreds of people filled the streets-many of them sporting some crazy hat or collection of feathers.  T-shirts sported Margaritaville-style sayings such as 'It must be five o'clock somewhere!' and 'We must be here, because none of us are there!'

We then went directly to the Port Elizabeth Grill to have this year's award winning blue cheese and onions caramelized in bourbon on a half pound burger-delicious.  After lunch we wandered through vendors selling all kinds of Margaritaville paraphernalia while making our way to the park to listen to the Petoskey Steel Drum Band.  The band featured students from the Petoskey area and they entertained Saturday's crowd with a selection of Jimmy Buffett, Beatles, and Caribbean numbers.  We sat down in the park and just enjoyed the show - the band and the crowd.

Later in the afternoon, on our way out of town, we passed hundreds of cars lined up to get into Caseville.  Now, I remember Caseville from 40 years ago.  It was a fun, popular place; but, it was not nearly as fun or popular as it is today.  Today, Michigan communities are figuring out how to combine the Lakes with culture, showmanship, and history to create great places to live, do business, and have fun.  If Cheeseburgers in Caseville is not quite your thing, then try Pirates on the Great Lakes a little further down the road next weekend.