Pictured Rocks Days, a Centennial Celebration, and New Restaurants

While winter creeps into springtime in a much too predictable fashion and the gray sky warns of yet another snowstorm, thoughts of burritos, fried chicken and fish, Pictured Rocks Days, and the Mather Centennial Celebration are rays of sunshine breaking through this cloudy day.  

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pictured Rocks Days and Yoopers Ride Free events in Munising are back and slated to take place on Saturday and Sunday, June 11-12.

Pictured Rocks Days is two-day festival that draws around 7,500 people and is hosted by the Alger County Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with Pictured Rocks Cruises, which offers free boat tours to Upper Peninsula residents.

Tickets will be issued on a first-come, first-served basis with a limit of 1,000 free tickets available per day weather depending. To obtain your free ticket, you must present a photo ID with a U.P. address in-person at the Pictured Rocks Cruises’ ticket office, located at 100 City Park Drive, Munising.

The festival, which takes place at Binsfeld Bayshore Park – adjacent to the Cruises’ office and the Munising City Dock, will offer live music, food trucks, a petting zoo, bounce houses, arts and crafts, and other fun throughout the entire weekend.

Another upcoming event is the 100th year celebration of the William G. Mather Elementary School building in Munising.

The public commemoration will be held May 4, with an open house at 5:30 p.m. and the program beginning in the Mather Auditorium at 6:30 p.m. The event will have guest speakers, band performances, appetizers provided by the Cooking Carberry’s, a photography walk throughout the building, and so on. For more information, visit the William G. Mather Centennial Celebration Facebook page.

In other news, two restaurants - Alley Cats and Border Grill - will be opening in downtown Munising soon.

Alley Cats will open in the former Taco Primo location at 209 E. Superior St. and will be a “fast-casual joint, serving up quality fried chicken and fish,” according to the restaurant’s newly created Facebook page. Keep an eye on the page for updates.

Located at 203 E. Munising Ave – where Nelson’s Shell Service was – Border Grill will also open its doors in Munising. This will be the restaurant’s fourth location in the U.P.

“We are in the final stages of training our staff at this new awesome location. We want to make sure that we are giving the Munising community the BG experience that you have come to know. We will update you on our opening date in the days to come,” Border Grill announced March 30 on Facebook.