Expectations Dashed

The Thing

Date Visited:  June 2, 2019

Stop:  #5

(Cue the creepy music) It was a cold and breezy day – colder than one would think for a day in June – as we crept along a deserted stretch of roadway through the rolling hills of Michigan.  Threatening clouds were gathering overhead, and an eerie, foreboding sense of anticipation hung in the air inside my car.  I don’t know why, but my eyes kept darting from side to side, scanning the roadside as if expecting something horrific to emerge from the gloaming.  My foot eased off the gas pedal, almost instinctively, as if it had a mind of its own.  It was at this moment that I saw it.  This large, cold, green mass, standing in the shadows of the treeline.  Standing still, just staring at us.  It was … (DUNH DUNH DUNNNHHHH) … The THING…..

After a very enjoyable time at Sage Creek winery, it was time to move on to our next destination – an historical marker called “The Thing.”  With a name like that, expectations were high as I conjured up memories of the sci-fi thriller from 1982, John Carpenter’s classic by the same name.  The movie, which is about an alien being that terrorizes an isolated Antarctica outpost (starring Kurt Russell), is was what nightmares are made of.  So, I was anticipating something really cool.

The historical marker was a mere 1,075 feet east of Sage Creek Winery on the south side of Bordman Road.  Expecting some kind of building or other identifiable landmark, we blew right past the sign, only catching a glimpse of it out of the corner of my eye as we drove by.  There was no building.  There was no identifiable landmark.  There was only the marker, which was tucked several feet off the road and standing along a line of trees that obscured it from clearly being seen.  It did have something in common with the movie however – parking was a nightmare.  There was no shoulder along the road to pull over to.  You could pull into Cedar Street about 100 feet west of the sign, but it was very narrow and not an ideal place to park without creating a potential issue for cars trying to get past you, or parking half your car on someone’s lawn so cars could safely get past you.  The only place I found that made sense to park was a dirt driveway that led to a small dirt parking lot adjacent to a small lake, located several feet east of the marker on the opposite side of the street.  It was just far enough away that my wife had no interest in walking to the marker.  So, I set off by myself.

It was quite a letdown to get to the sign and not see anything that had anything to do with the subject matter.  Whatever stood at this place had been demolished back in 1936, and Mother Nature has taken over any trace of anything that could have been left behind.  You’ll learn from the sign that Henry Ford had offered to buy the machine shop for his collection of buildings at Greenfield Village, but the owners of the shop had razed it a few short days before.  Literally, there seems to be no evidence that “the Thing” even existed.  Interesting that something like that could qualify for an historical marker.  In any event, after a couple of quick pics, there wasn’t anything else to do but trudge on back to the car and set my sights on our next winery visit.  

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