12. Somewhere In Time On Anne’s Mackinac Island

KIM ASKEW [CO-HOST]: So, Amy, I know the time machine hasn’t been invented yet, but if it were, would you give one a whirl?

AMY HELMES [CO-HOST]: Ooh, I’ve thought about this quite a bit in my life, and the answer, I think, is yes. How cool would it be to get to go back in time to all of these places that we read about and actually experience it? Ideally, I would like to have the option to safely return to present day, if possible, but yeah, I’d be down for some Outlander-type scenario.

KIM: Yeah, a kilt or corset or something like that. All these costumes are just whirling through my head. Or maybe we could even meet up with a few of the authors we feature on “Lost Ladies of Lit.” So hey, everybody, welcome back to another one of our mini podcasts. I’m Kim Askew…

AMY: And I’m Amy Helmes. Okay, so Kim, one of the next best things to having an actual time machine is getting to travel somewhere that feels like it’s another place and time. And one of those places, for me, is Mackinac Island in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

KIM: Oh yeah. I know you love that place and I can’t wait to hear all about it from you in today’s episode. I’ve definitely heard you gush about that place, and I can’t wait to hear more in today’s episode. So, Mackinac Island, we should point out, is one of the primary settings of last week’s featured novel, Anne, it’s this amazing novel by Constance Fenimore Woolson.

AMY: Yeah, and tucked away on a wooded hillside on Mackinac Island is a shrine, of sorts, dedicated to Woolson. It’s a bronze plaque called “Anne’s Tablet”  that commemorates the novel and the beloved heroine, Anne. There’s a fort on Mackinac Island (one that’s also featured in the novel) and you have to take a hike from this fort up to a scenic vista to find it. It’s kind of hidden out of the way a little bit. But it’s in the exact sort of location where I envision Anne and her childhood sweetheart, Rast, used to have their talks in the novel, if you remember that, Kim.

KIM: Oh, that is so sweet! I can picture it. And I’ve actually seen a photo of the plaque online. It features a sculpture of Anne hanging the Christmas wreath, from the opening passage of the book.

AMY: Woolson really did such a great job of describing the natural beauty of the island and so it just feels like the perfect tribute. I think it was her nephew that raised the funds to have this plaque put up, but I’m glad somebody wanted to remember her, because she’s really worth remembering, I think.

KIM: Yeah, if you haven’t listened to that episode on her, I would go back and listen to it. She, in addition to being an amazing writer that time has forgotten a bit, she really had a really interesting life which we get into during the podcast. So Amy, I have not yet visited Mackinac Island, though I really want to, and I know you love it, so could you tell us a little bit more about it?

AMY: Well, I’ve only been once. It’s perched right up at the top of the Great Lakes on the straits of Mackinac, which is where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron connect. And today, it’s obviously a tourist destination, but when you visit it, you feel like you’re entering this magical, enchanted place that’s separated from everything, you know, this sort of isolated fantasy world kind of thing. So there are no cars on the island, and that’s part of the reason that it’s so enchanting, I think. Motorized transportation of any kind is not allowed, although I do think there might be golf carts that are only allowed on the golf course. And, of course, like motorized wheelchairs, that’s fine. But you get there by ferry and then you’re either going to be walking, bicycling or riding in horse-drawn carriage to explore the island. So cool.

KIM: I would definitely be exploring the island via horse-drawn carriage, for sure! So, once I’m there and I’m in my horse-drawn carriage, where am I going? What is there to do on the island?

AMY: So when you first arrive and you’re at the docks, very nearby is the Main Street which is historic architecture, but really, you know, a lot of fudge and salt water taffy kind of shops. It’s the place where the tourists are. But once you venture a few blocks out from there and it becomes so pastoral. There are all these Victorian homes with clapboard siding dotting the whole island. And in the spring and summer, the whole place is in full bloom with flowers. There’s Lily of the Valley, bluebells, creeping myrtle. It’s like walking around in a painting, or a picture postcard. It’s so adorable. And then I’m also kind of intrigued about what the place might be like in the winter time, because after the tourists leave, the people that live on the island are pretty much shut off from the rest of the world. They’re literally snowed in and they really can’t get supplies except maybe by plane. So they kind of have to hunker down until spring and the next tourist season. It’s very much as Woolson describes it, the winter there.

KIM: It could be really magical or it could be the shining.

AMY: Exactly, exactly!

KIM: Yeah, that’s where my mind goes.

KIM: That sounds really beautiful, though. We learned from last week’s guest, Anne Boyd Rioux, that Constance Fenimore Woolson had a strong interest in botany. So no wonder she loved Mackinac and was able to describe it so beautifully! She was really into all the flora.

AMY: It’s definitely a nature-lover’s paradise. But actually, the biggest structure on the island, which you can see in all its glory when you’re approaching by ferry, is the Grand Hotel. It first opened in 1887, which is a few decades past the time period that we read about in Woolson’s novel,. but again, it’s a place that is just a complete throwback to another era. So it’s a national historic landmark and it feels incredibly old-school, but in the best way possible. You eat dinner in this magnificent dining room with formally-dressed waiters with white towels over their arm, and the Grand Hotel orchestra is playing in the background. They totally pull out all of the stops for the dinner service. It’s an experience you can’t miss if you happen to visit.

KIM: It kind of sounds almost like being on board the Titanic, only on land.

AMY: Yes, exactly. It does feel that way.

KIM: That sounds so cool. Okay, so a few weeks ago I was saying that we needed to go to Concord MA together, but now I’m thinking we also have to go here, too. So let’s put this on the list also.

AMY: Yeah, okay, that’s going on the bucket list. I know you would definitely find the whole thing exhilarating, I promise you. And the “grandness” of the grand hotel that I was trying to explain is actually captured really well in the 1980 movie Somewhere in Time starring Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeve who play these star-crossed lovers from two different centuries. They actually filmed the movie at the hotel.

KIM: Yeah, whenever I hear anything about Mackinac, for better or worse, I immediately think of Somewhere In Time. 

AMY: I know. It’s been a pretty long time since I’d seen the movie, but I just always remembered it being SO SWOONWORTHY, you know? From the Mackinac scenery, which is breathtaking, to Christopher Reeve’s breathtaking blue eyes and then there’s all that sweeping Rachmaninoff music. I love it.

KIM: I love that theme song: “Rhapsody on a Theme from Paganini…” I can hear that in my head right now. I remember watching it for the first time on cable TV when I was in junior high. I was home sick with the flu, and somehow, I think it was because I was sick while I was watching it, it really stuck with me and I’ve never forgotten that.

AMY: I have this memory of just gasping all over the place the first time I saw it. I was just like, “Oh my god! It’s so dreamy!” That said, you know, we both watched this when we were young and impressionable and probably hormonal, so was it really all that good? Does it still hold up today, or is it just super cheesy and we are completely embarrassing ourselves right now? Maybe we were just suckers for those Christopher Reeve eyes. I don’t know. 

KIM: Right, so basically, Amy and I decided to put ourselves to the test, and while we were preparing for the podcast we actually embarked on the Somewhere In Time Challenge. 

AMY: Our first ever movie challenge! So Kim and I both agreed that we’d watch the movie again and decide what we really think of it some decades after first falling in love with it. Is it swoon-worthy or cringe-worthy? That’s the question we’re facing today.

KIM: Well, can it be both?

AMY: Maybe. Maybe.

KIM: To me, I mean Christopher Reeve is very swoon-worthy. It was one of his first movies. He had done Superman, the first Superman, and then this movie. But there are a lot of cheese-worthy moments in the movie, I feel like, still. It had the feel, to me, of very “TV movie of the week” even though it was a feature film. I have more to say, but maybe you should jump in.

AMY: All right, I’ll take that and then I will respond with my verdict, which is GLORIOUS.

KIM: I knew you were going to say that!

AMY: There were a few moments where I laughed. I mean, the moment where he first saw her portrait in the Hall of History…

KIM: Yes!

AMY: Okay, that one was a bit over the top. There were a few more moments like that.

KIM: That was not an Oscar-winning scene…

AMY: However, we’ve got to just talk about the fact that Jane Seymour is absolutely exquisite.

KIM: Okay, she is, but I had not remembered, even though I saw it, I thought that I remembered almost everything about the movie, because like I said, it made an imprint on me. But really, almost half the movie is Christopher Reeve’s character trying to get back to her and he has all these crazy, pretty silly ways of trying to get back to her before he actually sees her. So on the one hand, it is a big build-up and she does live up to that with her beauty, but it’s a really long time before they actually have their meet-cute.

AMY: However, Christopher Reeve, can we just say, is probably the most beautiful man of the 1980s? Yes. I will answer that for you.

KIM: Yes.

AMY: He plays the role very earnestly, at times, which I loved, but he also did bring a subtle sense of humor. I think he didn’t take himself too seriously.

KIM: I think you’re right. It had a little bit of a feel of a comedy (and not in a bad way) in his acting. In his style and the way he was responding to things.

AMY: Exactly.

KIM: He had so much charisma that even though, I will say, it was a bit cheesy, he could definitely pull it off.

AMY: And then, of course, we have Christopher Plummer, who, you can never say a bad word about that man. He plays the villain. 

KIM: Yeah, I thought it was funny seeing him (Captain Von Trapp from The Sound of Music) as this mysterious, vaguely evil character.

AMY: I know you said “TV movie…” I kept getting a Hallmark movie vibe from it…

KIM: Oh, yeah, definitely.

AMY: ...and I think, people love Hallmark movies! It brought the romance. It brought it all. It checked all the boxes for me.

KIM: Oh, I was into it. I was definitely into it. But it was not Criterion Collection, by any means. 

AMY: But the Rachmaninoff elevates it. For sure.

KIM: Yes, it does. It definitely was worth watching.

AMY: It’s a movie that I think I can always go back… if I catch it on TV, I will stop and I will watch it. It’s one of those movies.

KIM: Costumes: It’s got them. Really gorgeous music: It’s got [it]. Two gorgeous leading actors: It’s got them. Christopher Plummer: It’s got him. And a beautiful, beautiful set on this island.

AMY: Yes, the backdrop.

KIM: And going back to the Grand Hotel in its glory days.

AMY: All right, so we’ll give it a qualified “swoon-worthy,” I think.

KIM: Yeah. I’ll give it a thumbs-up.

AMY: Swoon-worthy with a dotting of cringes throughout. Campy cringes.

KIM: Yes. And cheesy is not necessarily a bad thing. 

AMY: No. Not at all. Okay, so we settled it. That was fun though. I enjoyed watching it again and I was kind of nervous watching it because I didn’t want my memory of loving it so much to be changed, and it didn’t. I still love it.

KIM: Okay, good. I hope my comments didn’t negatively impact your feelings for the movie.

AMY: Never. 

KIM: You are a hundred percent loyal.

AMY: Like Richard’s love for Elise, my love for this movie will never die.

KIM: Timeless?

AMY: Timeless.

KIM: Yes. So okay, wait. Was Somewhere In Time also based off of a book? 

AMY: Yes. There was a book called Bid Time Return, by Richard Matheson, and I actually did check it out of the library once, but I couldn’t finish it because it just didn’t come anywhere near the magic of the movie. The story is not set in Mackinac. It’s set at the Hotel Coronado. So I actually got the book out after I had visited Hotel Coronado in San Diego because I was curious about the hotel. But, meh, it didn’t do anything for me. However, since I know, Kim, that you have been to Virginia City, Nevada, and I have also, I wonder if you’ve ever been to the Opera House there. Because there’s a photo of a woman hanging at the old Opera House. It’s a portrait of a woman named Maude Adams, who was a Broadway stage actress. She was actually the very first person to play “Peter Pan” in America. The photo of Maud Adams actually inspired Matheson to write his book. So she’s actually the inspiration for Jane Seymour’s character in the movie.

KIM: Oooh. Yeah, I have been to the opera house in Virginia City. I don’t remember seeing that photo. I wish I had known. I would have looked for it when I was there. But I do know that Mark Twain, Lily Langtry, and Errol Flynn have all been on stage there. 

AMY: Yeah, it was like a place where the big names in the country would hit up when they were touring through. So that brings us back to Adams, who was a huge actress in her day. She was only 8 years old when she appeared in a play at that Virginia City Opera House, and then she went on to make her Broadway debut at age 16

KIM: And that also makes her a great segue for our next “lost lady of lit.” In next week’s episode, we’ll be chatting about Nathalia Crane, a girl poet phenom whose work was first published at the tender age of 11!

AMY:  Yeah, this is an interesting one, and I mean, my daughter’s going to be eleven in two more months so I kind of know that age of little girl and I’m very interested to hear more about her.

[theme music plays]

KIM: So for more information on this episode as well as further reading material, check out our website: Lostladiesoflit.com. And if you loved this episode, please leave us a review. It really helps new listeners find us.

KIM: Our theme song was written and performed by Jennie Malone, and our logo was designed by Harriet Grant. “Lost Ladies of Lit” is produced by Kim Askew and Amy Helmes.