Sunrise Side Part 5

(energetic music) - [Tom] On this episode of "UTR," it's a weekend adventure up Michigan's Sunrise Side.

And guess what?

You're coming with us!

We'll get into a pickle, taste the flavors of Mexico, and get lost in a fantasy world.

Heck, we'll even have dinner with Michigan's most majestic mammal.

Get ready to explore the cool people, places, and things that make our eastern shore a place you'll wanna see more.

- [Narrator] Pure is what you make of it.

It's taking it all in and never taking anything for granted.

(upbeat music) The sun sets, the moon rises, and you realize the end of one perfect summer day is the beginning of another.

Pursue your pure in pure Michigan.

- [Spokesperson] A visit to the Stahls Auto collection will take you back to a time when cars were more than just a way to get around.

A fantastic assortment of gas pumps, neon signs, and automated music machines dating back 150 years that must be seen and heard.

Info at stahlsauto.com.

- [Announcer] Brought to you by Midland, Michigan, a Great Lakes Bay region community.

Visit gogreat.com for more info.

(energetic music) - I've been around the world, but there's one place I keep coming back to, and the more I explore, the more I realize it's the place to be.

I'm Tom Daldin and this is "Under the Radar Michigan."

(energetic hard rock music) Hey there, are you looking for an adventure this weekend that's fun, fascinating, and filling?

Well, why don't you follow us up Michigan's awesome Sunrise Side.

Or better yet, why don't you hop in the car and come with us?

Come on, it'll be fun.

We have a blast.

Come on!

Be careful.

Watch your head.

Oh, you okay?

(light country music) Yep, we're gonna hit U.S. 23 just south of Standish, head north, and see what we can find.

And it wasn't long before we found a place that was, well, freakin' awesome!

Well, you okay back there?

You comfy?

Sorry about your head.

Anyway, you're gonna love the first place we're going to, although I must be honest, when we're there, we make it into a bit of a pickle.

(light country music) Well, actually, we got into buckets of 'em because right here in Au Gres, you'll find Freakin' Pickles, a place that'll totally please your palate if you're a pickle person like me.

This is a family-owned gourmet pickle palace that offers 12 creative flavors of this reconditioned cucumber condiment.

And every single one of 'em just might be your next new favorite.

How did this fine family pick pickles as a profession?

Well, maybe Cheri Leppek-Harpham can tell us all about it.

Now, if I told you 10 years ago that you were gonna end up being a popular, very popular, purveyor of pickles, what would you have thought?

- That you were crazy.

- Which I am anyway, but still, I love the name Freakin' Pickles.

Every time I drive by here, as you know, I've been here many times because I love your pickles, but how did all this start?

How did you end up doing pickles?

- We met some people in the south that we're doing something similar with another product.

Did some investigating.

Our youngest son, he and I started this way back when.

Our little pickle guys were hand drawn by our son, and a graphic artist was able to just lift them and use them now for our print materials.

So that's even more special.

And we wondered if it would be seasonal.

Would it work year round?

Would it be profitable?

Trying to figure out breakeven points and different things.

And just tried our hand at it.

He was just fresh outta college.

So we thought, what can it hurt?

- Plus, the job market's tough.

You get outta college and you look and you look and you look, and all of a sudden it's right in front of you.

And it's like what an opportunity, something to do with your family, 'cause your daughter's involved.

It's a family affair.

When I first wandered into your little shop and tasted your pickles, it was just, you had a couple of buckets, you were making 'em with your kids, and it was just like a little family thing.

And now you're exploding.

It's such a wonderful Michigan success story.

And you also get your cucumbers locally, correct?

- Yes, everything is Michigan.

- [Tom] Right.

A lot of people dunno how pickles are made.

Explain the process.

- [Cheri] We've worked with local manufacturers to come up with the perfect chip that we begin with.

So we choose the diameter and the thickness.

- [Tom] And that's another thing I love about your pickles is they're really thick.

- And so crunchy.

And then we flavored them all.

We have 12 flavors today.

We'll have 14 in another month.

So we have new flavors coming out.

But they're so good.

- Oh my gosh.

Yeah, your sweet heat pickles.

- One of our most popular.

- Oh, yeah.

- This is actually number one.

The double dill that you have in your hand today.

- Oh, really?

- Mm hmm.

- Oh, okay.

- We sell more of that than anything else.

- Your little location right here in Au Gres, it's right on the side of the road.

This is what, 23?

- [Cheri] Mm hmm.

- [Tom] People go by here all the time.

I've never not gone by your place when there isn't a line out the door because they're so popular.

Did you think it would - We've been very fortunate.

- [Tom] Did you think it'd become that popular?

- Not at all.

Well, and we started just a few months prior to COVID.

- Yeah, oh, lucky you.

- So we were just exhibiting on weekends.

We thought this is a perfect job for Brett.

We'll do it together for a couple years, then he can take over and have at it.

And then COVID hit and changed our whole world.

We had to revamp and step back and think, what do we wanna do?

Do we wanna be out of business today, or do we wanna continue?

And we were licensed then to sell wholesale.

We have over a hundred stores throughout Michigan.

Our product's being sold at a store in Wisconsin and also just newly on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina.

- That's another thing I love about your place is when you walk in, the whole tasting.

How you can sit down with the little cup.

You can taste all 12 flavors and decide what you want.

It's almost like a wine tasting place.

Only you're tasting pickles.

I love that about your place.

- [Cheri] And you can get a flight of pickles.

We had a little flight holder made, so you can get a flight of pickles like a flight of beer.

(chuckles) - So, you know, I'm taking this with me.

- I know.

- One last, I want you to do one thing for me.

I want you to name all 12 flavors.

Go.

- Bread and butter, double dill, hot bread and butter, old fashion, garlic, hot garlic, extra hot garlic, sweet horseradish, sweet heat, veggie mix.

Was that 12?

- I wasn't counting.

I was- - I think that's all of 'em.

- [Tom] That is awesome.

Good for you.

Good for you.

- Thank you.

- If you're looking for a dill-icious way to compliment your next culinary concoction, for gosh sakes, put some Freakin' Pickles on your plate.

I've stopped at Freakin' Pickles many times in the past to bring some home.

And unfortunately, a lot of these spicy slices never make it that far.

Sorry, honey.

(cheerful music) (air whooshing) (gentle music) So after a fond farewell, we packed our peck of Freakin' Pickles in the car and headed north again on U.S. 23.

And since we just had our appetizer, it was time for a hardy UTR-style lunch.

Well, having fun?

I knew you would.

You're gonna love this next place we're going to too.

Even though it's in East Tawas, they've got all the flavors of Mexico.

Oh, you wanna pass me my pickles?

All right.

Hey, you got quite an appetite.

Those were mine.

Well, you heard my tummy growl right.

We're in awesome East Tawas, a great little town right on the beautiful shores of Lake Huron.

But we're not here for the beach.

We're here for a festive feast of epic proportions.

I'm of course talking about Mangos, an authentic Mexican restaurant right downtown, that, truth be told, I've been to many times.

Arturo Mendez is the hardworking, proud proprietor who makes sure that you leave happy and not at all hungry.

- Okay, Arturo, I probably look familiar to you not because I have a TV show but because I've eaten here probably about a dozen times.

Every time we go north, we love to stop here and eat.

What inspired you to get into the restaurant business?

And how did you end up in East Tawas?

- I start in the business when I was 15 years old working for my family.

That's how I learned the business.

So I've been on the business for so many years.

We like it, small community.

- Do you like, you like the snow?

- I like the small towns.

I like a small town.

I'm an easy person to get along with.

So I like the small towns.

- People like you are wonderful for communities because you're always thinking ahead, you're always doing, you're always planning.

- Yes.

- You're always expanding.

So you're employing people.

You're an enriched part of the community, which is wonderful.

Which I think is why so many people love you here.

- Thank you.

- And love your food because it's, like I said, it's family, it's real, and you're part of the community.

- And I think that we love, we not just in business because we want us to (indistinct) succeed.

I think that we are in business because we love to serve people.

We love the customer service.

And I think that people can feel that when they come in.

- I was actually gonna make that point that you can feel it when you come in here, that you really care, and there's a lot of love behind the food.

The fact that you're really trying.

- Yes, yes.

- And you have a lot of pride in what you're doing.

- Yes.

- So many people open businesses, and they just open the doors, and they wait for something to happen.

But you make stuff happen.

- We do, yeah.

- And there's a big difference.

- Well we try to give it that little touch to everything.

The little unique to everything.

And I think that that's what we reflect when people come in, and that's why we try to work so hard and try to do the best we can, so people have their best experience.

- Do you have any family recipes here at the restaurant?

- We do have a few.

We do have a few.

Not all of them, but we do have a few.

- Yeah.

And I understand you have a secret hot sauce that- - We do.

- Yeah.

What's the secret?

- [Arturo] If I told you that, you're not gonna come.

- All right.

- Or you're not gonna come as many times.

- Right.

I love places that have like little secret menu or secret sauces or things like that because it just adds to the intrigue.

Is this a single-serving margarita?

- Yes.

That one is our single-serving margarita on the rocks with salt.

- The food here, are you a trained chef, or did you just learn, you learned in your family's kitchens?

- I think I learned in my family's kitchen.

Yes.

Like I said before, I've been in restaurant for all my life, I will say the majority of my life, so I was in the kitchen since I was 15 years old.

And I actually have a passion for the kitchen.

I actually love it.

The only thing that want my wife say, "Do not cook like my husband 'cause you make a lot of a mess."

(Tom laughing) So I'm not allowed to cook in my house.

- You are, it's like, I was gonna say you're living the American dream, but you are the American dream.

It's like you're what all of us want.

And you're making life here for the people in this area so much better.

So, I mean, yeah.

- Yes.

- It's like I'm proud of you.

I just met you, and I'm proud of you.

- Thank you.

I always try to encourage people to follow their dreams.

Of course, nothing is easy.

But everything, with a lot of work and a lot of dedication, it will come together.

But I mean, it will take a few years, but it's a lot of work.

- Well, I guess now's the time where we eat, right, Jim?

Right?

And usually I would say I'm having your food for the first time, but I've been here so many times that I virtually know the menu by heart.

So I'll have page three, please.

(laughing) - Thanks.

- Well, after a few inspiring words from Arturo, we were inspired to adjourn our appetites by way of mouthfuls of magnificent Mexican munchables.

And everything we tried was absolutely awesome.

And believe me, we tried, and we tried, and we tried.

I'll be honest, if you want great food served by friendly people in colorful surroundings, that also happens to be in a town worth wandering, try the guacamole at Mangos in East Tawas.

every single one of your taste buds will say ole.

(air whooshing) So after a mammoth Mexican meal at Mangos, me and mis amigos hit the road and continued our Sunrise Side adventure.

And after a good night's sleep at the beautiful Mai Tiki resort in Oscoda, we headed north on U.S. 23 to the town of awesome Alpena.

Well, how'd you like Mangos?

Really good food, huh?

I bet you're full.

Now, this next guy you're gonna love because he created yours, my, and probably his new happy place.

- [Driver] Hey, what about me?

- Oh, sorry, Jim, yours too.

Sensitive.

That's right, Bob's Bullpen in Alpena is a place you'll go for fun, food, adventure, and discovery.

On the surface, you might say that it's a, well, a comic bookstore, but in reality, it's actually a whole heck of a lot more.

This multi-dimensional pop culture creation is the inner brainchild of Bobby LeFevre, a talented animator and creator who went far but got back in his car and brought his amazing imagination back to his hometown.

Now, don't be offended, but I did some research on you, 'cause I like to do that occasionally, 'cause I'm not that smart.

You are one impressive guy.

I read that in second grade, you had your first piece of art put on display.

You were on the honor society in high school, you went to an Ivy League art school.

You were on the dean's list.

You worked for a syndicated comic strip.

You've designed toys, video games, you've worked national TV campaigns.

You work for Hasbro, Cheetos, Wrigley's Gum, Adidas shoes, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Transformers.

Dude, you're a rockstar.

- Well, thank you.

I appreciate that.

- I'm so thankful you came back to Alpena.

What brought you back home?

- Family.

- Yeah.

That usually does it.

They're the ones, right?

- Family.

And I had lived out in San Diego, and so I was out there working on Transformers, and I didn't really even get to enjoy the weather or anything, so I was like, I can do the same thing from home that I was doing there.

- Good point.

If you're sitting in little dark room designing Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, you can do that from here.

- Yeah, it's all done through the internet now.

- Yeah, but I am so jealous of people like you that have the talent you have, the imagination, the creativity, and to be able to actually create it.

- Oh, thank you.

- Actually, well, talk me through this whole experience.

You've got the arcade, you have special parties here.

- Yeah.

So what is right here is basically the retail side of it.

And we carry everything from comic books to video games to the toys and T-shirts and all the stuff that goes along with it.

And then on the other side we have the restaurant and arcade, and that's kind of the party venue over there.

People rent that out for birthday parties, but it's all connected because the people that are going to that still enjoy this and vice versa.

- Oh yeah, like I said, you could come here on a Saturday with your kids, or even without your kids.

- Right.

- Because I found the game that I, what's the game we used to play in the eighties?

- The Tempest one?

- The Tempest.

I was in the eighties, I was addicted to that game.

I haven't been able to find it.

But you have it here.

- Yeah, absolutely.

So, yeah.

- Lots of games.

- This place has so much fun in it that, you must be proud of yourself.

Look what you've made.

- Oh, well, thank you.

It's my latest art project, really.

- [Tom] It's a three dimensional art project.

- It is.

- It really is.

- [Bobby] That's how I view it.

I get a lot of questions about, "Are you still drawing?"

And things like that.

And I tell them that this is it.

This is the art project.

- Well, I'm just gonna ask you.

Your resume is so impressive.

What is it like working on international campaigns like Teenage Mutant, like Transformers, like commercial campaigns?

What's that like to see your stuff global?

- It getting paid for what you were doing beforehand.

I grew up loving this stuff.

I grew up in the eighties with Ninja Turtles, with Transformers, and I was drawing all that stuff when I was a kid.

And then to get the phone call from the people that created that stuff, asking you to draw it for them- - [Tom] And pay you for it.

- [Bobby] Mind blowing.

Exactly, yeah.

And then after that, I had lots of friends and stuff that were bringing drawings back to me, like their birthday cards or something where I had drawn a Ninja Turtle when I was a kid or something.

And they were like, "You were doing it back then already."

- Well, you can't not smile when you come in here, and you can't not get excited because there's so, so many cool, creative, fun, wonderful things.

Talk about a great place to shop for a gift - Oh, man.

- for your kids or yourself.

- All kinds of stuff like that.

And I see a lot of dads bringing in their kids, so they're passing it on.

And the games over there, another thing where we might have grown up on that stuff, but those classic games are so simplistic in a way that any kid can walk up to 'em and play 'em.

- 'Cause I know you have a restaurant here, and the food looks great.

But I was gonna get a hot dog, but one of 'em actually met me out on the street.

- Oh, okay.

(chuckles) - [Tom] Talk about upselling, but we got hot dog guys out there.

- We get the hot dogs to bring you in to eat the other hot dogs.

- So it's a profit deal.

I love it.

It's just, it's part of the festive nature of this whole place.

- It is, yeah.

- Dude, between your resume and coming into this place, you really are, you're like this town's superhero.

- Oh.

- But no capes.

No capes.

- Yeah.

Just baseball caps.

- Yeah, that's okay.

That works for me.

- Right.

- Well, after some impressive verbal banter with Bobby, we decided to let our creative inner kids loose for a little fun.

And I'm telling ya, there's more to do and explore here than most alternate universes.

Heck, I think I even time traveled back to the 1980s, even without a flux capacitor.

Hey, Bobby, you got a good comic book you can recommend for me?

- I do, yeah.

- This looks like it's for little kids.

- Exactly.

- Darn it.

So if you wanna put a big ole smile on your brain holder, take your entire imagination to Bob's Bullpen in Alpena.

It's literally the kind of place that you'll plan to revisit before you even leave.

And speaking of leave, it was time for us to head out and continue our Sunrise Side adventure.

So we traveled about 20 miles due west on 32 to Thunder Bay Resort for our final and awesome experience.

(air whooshing) Well, you having a good old "UTR" time?

I knew you'd have fun with us 'cause that's what we do.

Anyway, this last place that we're going to, you're gonna love.

We're gonna go on a carriage ride through an enchanted forest, then see mighty Michigan elk in their natural habitat, and then go to a magic cottage and have a five-course gourmet meal and wine tasting.

I know.

Sounds kinda like a fairytale, doesn't it?

(gentle music) Well, believe it or not, this fairytale is true because that's exactly what you can do at the Thunder Bay Resort in Hillman, Michigan.

This is a full-service golf resort in one of the most beautiful parts of upper lower Michigan.

And people come from far and wide for this incredible experience.

Jack Mathias is the awesome owner, who may not have invented elk, but he did come up with this amazing elk viewing dinner that in no time will make you feel like a Dickens character.

Well, Jack, as you know, we were here a few months ago.

I think it was almost a year ago.

In the fall with Dave Lorenz.

- Yes, um hmm.

- Did this experience.

We were so enchanted by the whole thing that I remember saying to Jim that night, "We have to come back here again."

This is, this whole thing is magical.

It really is.

But the resort, let's start with the resort, it's a really a great golf resort, correct?

- Correct.

Basically, this was kind of desperation was the motivator because on this side of the state, we don't get the snow, we don't have the downhill skiing, and I needed to keep my staff together.

And we thought what the hell can we do in Hillman, Michigan, to get people up here in the wintertime?

So the wild elk herd borders our area here, and that's really where the idea came from.

I think we're totally unique east of the Rockies.

I'm not aware of anybody else that's doing this.

There are a couple of folks in the Rockies who take sleighs into the National Elk Preserve and then do some sort of food with it.

But that's kind of where it started.

Originally, we did this with a wild herd, but because of the tuberculosis in the deer herd, we can no longer put out feed with the wild animals.

So we had to create our own elk preserve, and it's a little better experience for the customers.

That was like stepping back into the mid-1800s, no electricity within a mile, outhouses, that whole routine.

But the new cabin is a little more modern.

But we've retained that flavor as much as we can.

We still cook all the food on the two antique wood cook stoves and do it in front of everybody.

- I said it earlier, it's like being in a fairytale.

It really, really is.

Well, walk people through the experience, just so they have an idea what this is all about.

- Okay.

Well, let me first say there are a number of different appeals.

For folks who like horses, these draft horses are just massive and magical.

Carriage rides or sleigh rides obviously have their appeal.

The elk are absolutely fascinating animals, and people will learn quite a bit about 'em.

We have a guide on board each carriage or sleigh as well as the teamster.

And, of course, the food goes back to my wife Jan.

It's five courses.

It's gourmet quality, and we use one of the local wineries for wine tasting, so they can sample as many as seven different wines during their dinner.

- But the food, how do you get such wonderful gourmet food out here in this little cabin in the middle of the woods?

- Well, there are trails, so we don't have to haul it in by horseback.

But it's just kind of magical.

That's all I can say.

Jan was a fabulous cook and put the recipes together.

My son Spencer is gonna be preparing the food 'cause we lost Jan a few years ago.

- [Tom] Yeah, I'm sorry.

- He's been very, very faithful to all the recipes, and I think you'll enjoy it.

- Well, Dave Lorenz is gonna be upset that we didn't bring him with us this time because this really is, like you said, it's magical this experience.

I'm speechless, and I haven't even had dinner yet.

- Well, I can tell you sometimes it's a bit of a challenge for us to interest folks in coming here.

But I think we basically get rave reviews.

I guarantee any of your reviewers that come here, they will have a good time.

We have a reputation.

We're not very sophisticated, but we're friendly.

- You're more sophisticated than my house, that's for sure.

I should also say that we were here in the fall.

Here we are, it's still, it's just.

What is it, March one when we're filming this?

March 3rd?

In the middle of winter, there's tons of snow, and you're still doing it.

- Absolutely.

About the only time we don't do 'em is April.

The bulls have all lost their antlers.

Things are muddy.

They haven't greened up yet.

But from May through the end of March is our season.

We draw motor coaches from about 20 surrounding states and Canada.

That's a good part of our summer business along with the golf, of course.

- And you're only, you're 30 minutes due west of Alpena.

- Yeah.

- Yeah, a wonderful experience.

Sorry, Dave, we're doing it without you.

(laughs) Well, since Jack painted such a beautiful picture of the overall experience, we decided to jump right into the painting.

So we all boarded the horse-drawn carriages, settled in, and away we went.

Seeing these enormous elk in their natural environment is an amazing experience.

And the carriage ride through the woods, even in the winter, is breathtaking.

And when you arrive at the cottage for the gourmet dinner, that's when the real magic starts to happen.

The five-course banquet was absolutely amazing.

And the wine, divine.

And the atmosphere they created in this little cottage is something right out of a storybook.

So we wined and dined, had a great time, shared stories, and made new friends.

It really was an evening we'll never forget.

So if you're looking for some new things to do, winter, spring, summer, or fall, Michigan's Sunrise Side has all you need for an exceptional adventure.

(gentle music) Man, I am still stuffed from that dinner we had at Thunder Bay Resort last night.

It was amazing.

How about you?

Did you get enough to.

Oh my God.

Guess who we forgot?

- [Narrator] Pure is what you make of it.

It's taking it all in and never taking anything for granted.

(upbeat music) The sun sets, the moon rises, and you realize the end of one perfect summer day is the beginning of another.

Pursue your pure in pure Michigan.

- [Spokesperson] A visit to the Stahls Auto collection will take you back to a time when cars were more than just a way to get around.

A fantastic assortment of gas pumps, neon signs, and automated music machines dating back 150 years that must be seen and heard.

Info at stahlsauto.com.

- [Announcer] Brought to you by Midland, Michigan, a Great Lakes Bay region community.

Visit gogreat.com for more info.

(energetic hard rock music) (gentle music)