Life, Liberty, Beaches & Pie, and We Journey are the core values at Cherry Republic, the company that we worked for this summer. We like these values and will continue to try to make them our own.
Life : Local "We capture and share the vital spirit of cherries and Northern Michigan". Life in Northern Michigan was full and busy. We spent our work days selling over 200 tart cherry related products at Cherry Republic, in Glen Arbor, Michigan. The store had a record breaking season, and we worked hard with a great group of people. (Once we snuck past Ann Arbor on our way north, we learned that Michiganders are very friendly and didn't hold our OSU Buckeye allegiance against us.) Our days off were filled with exploring Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore and the surrounding areas.
 |
| Chocolate inside and chocolate outside--the store had an amazing gardener, she even grew chocolate cosmos that actually smelled like chocolate! Each day I would walk through the gardens looking to see what new flowers were blooming. |
 |
| Time to put my feet up and relax |
 |
This was the most perfect day on Lake Michigan for an 8 mile kayak trip!
|
Liberty : Self Driven " We work from the heart to touch hearts". Our hearts have been touched by the generous people we've met and the good friends that we've found. Our team was the best. It took teamwork to do all the stocking, sales, bagging and complimentary gift boxing at the store. We even added in a bit of local Northern Michigan nature into each box (pinecones, a piece of birch bark and a fresh sprig of cedar) for the gift recipients to enjoy. After work, we had the liberty that the long summer days gave us to enjoy beautiful sunsets on Lake Michigan. (It was still light at 10 pm in June!) Another favorite after work activity was listening to the wonderful local musicians that played acoustic folk music in the Cherry Republic beer garden at the Public House (the restaurant). We also worked in the pub bussing tables a few days this fall, for a change of pace.  |
| Fun with friends after work! |
 |
| So many beautiful sunsets |
 |
| Mark did a lot of muscle building pulling boxes of product into the store |
 |
| Looking north at the dunes from Empire Beach |
Beaches : Have fun and be good. "Be lighthearted like the breezes, resilient like the sand and fun loving like the waves" All I can say is "WOW!" We were a few miles from Sleeping Bear National Lakeshore, which is part of the National Park System. We spent our free time hiking and kayaking, exploring the coastline of Lake Michigan. The water is a sparkling aqua color and there is so much soft beatiful sand! Many days we felt like we were looking at a carribean beach (except tthe water was a bit cooler!). There are huge dunes with colorful flowers, scenic overlooks and miles of pristine beaches to get our toes in the sand.
 |
| Look who came to visit and enjoy the dunes and lakeshore |
 |
Exploring the dune trails along the lake
|
Pie : Generosity " We gratefully share the earth's abundance". I've always been an apple pie kind of girl, until now. At the store we sampled many of our products, and the staff was encouraged to try everything from candy, jams, salsas, barbecue sauces, and more. The company gives back to the community and supports the local farmers. Did we mention cherries? The area has cherry farms all over. We went to pick a few sweet cherries one day. The trees were so loaded that we couldn't stop picking and ended up with over 6 pounds of cherries. The sandy soil grows cherries in abundance! The pub served many delicious things made with cherries, including, of course, cherry pie and cherry ice cream. I got so excited when our manager brought pies over for the store employees to enjoy, 'true cherry' and cherry blueberry. Mark's favorite ice cream was "pie in the sky", which is cherry ice cream with cherry pie crust bits in it. We also enjoyed wild blackberries and raspberries that we picked along some of the hiking trails.
 |
| Cherry Blossoms |
 |
| There were so many cherries! |
 |
| So yummy! |
 |
| Looking down at Empire Beach from the top of the bluffs |
The whole area was once covered by oceans and prehistoric corals. When you walk down a public beach everyone has ther heads down looking at the sand. You'd think that you were on Sanibel Island where everyone is looking for seashells, but here they look for Petosky stones (fossilized corals). We Journey : "Together as a team, we overcome to reach the big open spaces where we can spread our wings and soar". We were able to explore Northern Michigan on our time off. We spent a wonderful day on Mackinac Island, exploring on foot and on a bicycle built for two. The lilacs and the lady slippers were in full bloom. We ate pasties (meat pies) and explored the tunnel of trees on the way back to Glen Arbor. We also journeyed up into the U.P. to Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. We saw the colorful and unique rock formations by boat and a 10 mile hike, which somehow turned into a 13 mile hike.
Many shades of beautiful lilacs
|
We've never seen so many lady slippers!
|
The famous Mackinac Bridge
 |
| Chapel Rock |
It was a great summer and an unforgettable addition to our list of adventures! We definitely have to thank Ruth and Dave Chestnut, and Joan and Rick McCarren for inspiring us to go spend a season in this area. It was also great to visit with them over the summer!
