Downtown Manistique

Downtown Manistique, altered by 1970s mansard roofs, is a pleasant, functional downtown with some unusual specialty shops (Mercado Imports, Mustard Seed books and handcrafts, Christopher’s Antiques) and a good clothing store, People’s.

Manistique is too small to attract chains, except for Big Boy and Subway. Awareness of tourism and its benefits has led to attractive improvements for a basically plain, simple downtown. Few grand legacies of the lumber era are here.

Cedar, downtown's main retail street, turns in from the lake at the flashing yellow light at Maple. Cedar parallels Maple one street to the west. Marley's and now the Cedar Street Café are popular local gathering places with good food. Highlights:

Manistique Post Office 1930s mural

■ U.S. POST OFFICE. A somewhat larger-than-life scene of loggers swinging their axes and sawing in a pine forest is depicted on the vivid mural from the Federal Art Project. It was part of the make-work WPA (Works Project Administration) program during the Great Depression of the 1930s. 301 S. Cedar at Oak. Front lobby currently open 7-4:30 weekdays, 10-12 Sat. Window open 9-4:30 except closed 12:30-1:30.
■ MUSTARD SEED. Here is a pleasant mix of gifts, books, and more, including coffees, chocolates, local handcrafts, gift baskets, and wind chimes tuned to a peaceful pentatonic scale. Books (with weekly special orders) are strong on spiritual and regional, and popular new titles and leisure reading as well. The onetime J. C. Penney store has mezzanine space for a gallery with art by local artists. 237 S. Cedar/M-94. (906) 341-5826. Mon-Sat 10-5. In winter, Jan to Mem. Mon-Fri 10-5, Sat 10-3.
■ PEOPLE'S DEPARTMENT STORE. This renovated historic department store offers better casual wear and shoes for men, women, and children, including Carhartts, Tribal, and Under Armour clothing, Prevo and Indigo shoes by Clarke—plus Stormy Kromer hats. 209 S. Cedar at Oak. (906) 341-2779. Mon-Sat 9-5 (closes Sat at 4 in winter) and in summer Sun 10-2.
■ MERCADO IMPORTS. This small, colorful Latin American imports shop has a very wide selection of sterling silver jewelry from Mexico. Its offerings aren't what you'd expect to find in a mill town with just a modest amount of tourism. Here, too, are leather handbags, hand-knit wool sweaters from Ecuador, rugs made by Zapotec Indians in pre-Colombian patterns, and colorfully painted Oaxacan wood animals. In 1986, on a family car trip to Guadelajara, Mexico, founder Dick Forstner was so taken with the folk art he'd discovered in towns along the way that he decided to chuck his work in construction in the Manistique area and go into importing. It wasn't easy at first, buying and making deals with his then-rudimentary Spanish. But he enjoyed traveling and kept at it, helped in the store by his wife, Trish, and daughters Ragen and Chloe. He enjoyed living on Manistique Lake, where he had spent happy summers as a child; working with his family; and getting to know local artisans from Peru and Bolivia to Mexico on his winter buying trips. Far from being exploited, he said, skilled artisans in traditional crafts in Mexico are able to make a good living within their indigenous rural economies. After Dick died at a relatively young age, Trish sold the store to her full-time manager, Peggy Wilson. 217 S. Cedar, downtown. (906) 341-6111. May thru Oct 10-5, Nov thru April 11-4.
■ CHRISTOPHER'S ANTIQUES. A beautiful big storefront has room to artfully display a large and varied inventory. Antique furniture ranges from Victoriana to country and oak. Some really unusual larger pieces are typically on hand. There's also vintage clothing, linens, jewelry, fishing lures, decoys, and old books. The second floor features antiques and The Purple Lizard, a one-room gallery of local art. 211 Oak, around the corner from The Mustard Seed on Cedar. (906) 341-2570. Open from April 1 thru Jan 31, Mon-Sat 9-5. From June thru Sept also open Sun 10-2. Handicap accessible: ground floor.
■ BEN FRANKLIN. Ben Franklin stores are independently owned. This one has many Moda and Troy fabrics and a big selection of yarn, in addition to gifts, artificial flowers, cards, housewares, toys, and such. 239 S Cedar. (906) 341-5911. Open Mon-Sat 9-5, in summer Sun 10-2.
■ BOOKTIQUE. The energetic proprietor has assembled some 40,000 books, mostly used. They reflect the varied tastes of local people and visitors, including cottagers, hunters, and snowmobilers. New books are largely of local and regional interest, with a limited selection of hot authors and references like nature guides and Hoyle's rules of games. Occasional book signings. Booktiques' used books go way beyond the quantities of romances that are the staples of most paperback exchanges. Here are mysteries, sci fi, men's adventures, historical romance, paranormal, horror and true crime, novels, contemporary classics, and biographies. 125 S. Cedar. (906) 341-8288. Open Tues-Fri 10-5, Sat 10-3. Wheelchair access: 2 steps.

Cedar, downtown's main retail street, turns away from the lake and U.S. 2 at the flashing yellow light at Maple/M-94, which winds north through part of the Hiawatha National Forest to Munising
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