Squeaky 12-year-old cheese

The Great Lake State probably has the worst roads in the country. I wonder if there is anywhere else besides Michigan where you can find “Rough road ahead” warning signs on the *freeway*. Yes really. Bumpity bumpity clunk!

One particularly clunky stretch of the I75 SUV Speedway f-i-n-a-l-l-y got on the construction schedule for this summer. Unfortunately, this stretch of speedway is only TWO lanes each way. That’s fine for a regular old non-holiday weekday or even a Saturday. Goin’ “up north” on a Friday night? Headin’ back to megalopolis on a Sunday afternoon with yer motorboat in tow? Not so much fun. Northbound lanes routed across the median to share the southbound lane. Or vice versa. Traffic lanes closed. Big backups.

One Sunday when we were about to head south again, we checked the traffic on the iPhone maps app and discovered yet another sea of red in the area of the construction. Consequently we RE-discovered an alternate route, namely M13, a four lane highway a couple miles to the east of the speedway. It connects the likes of Standish, Pinconning, Linden, Kawkawlin and I am probably missing a couple of small towns. These towns were once located on the main drag down the eastern side of the state. Now they are by-passed by the interstate.

So, we were driving down M13 back in September or whenever it was and we were driving through the town of Pinconning and suddenly, over on the side of the road, THERE WAS A GREAT BIG MOUSE!!! It belongs to Wilson’s Cheese Shoppe. I am overstating my excitement a wee bit here. I know that Pinconning is well known for cheese and there are Wilson’s billboards [very cute mouse billboards] on the freeway and I think I have even been to the cheese shoppe once or twice in my life. But it is a very cool business that I think a lot of would-be customers *do* by-pass by sticking to the I75 SUV Speedway.

In September, we stopped just long enough to take a picture (or two or 10) of the Wilson’s mouse sculpture. (And if this isn’t “public” art, I don’t know what is but I am digressing into Planet Ann Arbor horse pucky…) Today we went inside the shoppe. The Beautiful Susie, the GG’s sister down there in Florida had posted to Facebook about receiving some 12-year-old cheese from Wilson’s. You know the GG had to get some of his own!

I doubt that we’ll stop at Wilson’s on every trip but I can see it becoming a more frequent destination. Cheese (of course), a large selection of liqwire, John Deere clocks, appliances from the mid-20th century (not for sale and don’t touch!), restrooms, and friendly service. Wilson’s had a steady stream of customers when we were there today and I heard people discussing whether the freeway construction has added to its customer base. I think it probably has. But, although I’m sure the freeway has sucked business away from these towns, M13 is a pretty busy highway and Pinconning and Wilson’s are well known for cheese (and they have billboards on the freeway) and they have liqwire! So I bet they do pretty well.

Anyway, if you know me, you might know that I have a complicated relationship with cheese. I’m sure the 12-year-old cheese the GG bought and TBS had shipped to the Sunshine State is fine but I won’t be partaking in it. But I love Wilson’s. I hope it doesn’t get so successful that it expands into something like Bronner’s or Wall Drugs or whatever. It is fine just the way it is.

2 Responses to “Squeaky 12-year-old cheese”

  1. Margaret Says:

    Up by Seattle, they NEED a sign on I-5 saying rough road. The first time I drove it I thought I had a flat tire! I adore cheese. You would never get me out of that shop. 🙂

  2. Pooh Says:

    I think we stopped there several years ago. Same reason, but without the I-phone. GET ME OFF THIS HIGHWAY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!! Serendipity that we ended up in Pinconning.