Oh, Little Town Of Saugatuck

It could have been just another bitter, blustery cold winter evening, but this night would become a very special one for me and my wife, Anne. We wanted something more during this yuletide season. Something to ignite our Christmas spirit. With but a few days until Christmas, we decided to journey up to Saugatuck, Michigan. Saugatuck_MI
Anne and I had traveled many times before to this quaint little bayside town nestled just off the beaten track of super highways, but those were pleasantly warm summer days. We cherished our many memories of Saugatuck like visits to Arts and Crafts shops while searching for new treasures. Sunny beaches and quiet nights snuggled up at an intimate Bed & Breakfast. Then there was my favorite music shop that would pipe recordings out into the street.

We were surprised to learn from the Times local newspaper that the little village had gone all out with street & shop lights and decorations galore to entice winter guests to visit its festive sights and dine at the eateries there. This to help their sagging winter business.

Off we went into the dark, snow covered night on our trek to the hamlet. Just short of our destination we needed a pit stop and pulled into a nearly empty rest area. We headed into the building while withstanding bitter cold and heavy gusts of frigid winds.

Just as we made our way through the entry door, my wife headed to the women's corridor. Then I spied a young woman rocking a bundle in her arms under a hand dryer. Puzzled, I continued on into the Men's Room where I came upon a young man waving his blue shivering hands under another hand dryer. Turns out, upon asking, he, his wife, their young baby, and his wife's sister were traveling from mid-Texas to Traverse, MI., hours up the road for Christmas get together. Problems befell them when the heater core failed leaving them with no heat in their old Buick. Then they had slid off the highway into a ditch and had to spend the last of their funds for a tow-out. Now broke, cold and hungry they were still hopeful to get to the family gathering.

I immediately met my wife and while heading to the car, I shared my encounter with her. Sitting in the comfort of our warm car, I turned to her and said we needed to help them some way. But what? I returned to the travelers with two blankets as a start but needing to help more. We offered to drive them in our car to their destination but they refused, feeling they were imposing. I then suggested Anne and I would drive the sister and baby in our car followed by he and his wife into Saugatuck in hopes of finding a motel open. This agreed upon, we headed to our cars. Then another problem. His car now had a faulty rear door that would not shut. I returned to my trunk finding phone wire to tie off the door and stuff rags in the cracks.

Thinking all was right, I headed back to my car but caught a glimps of the young man shivering again with blue hands under his armpits. I remembered an old pair of winter motorcycle gloves that were in the trunk but these were special nearly 30 years old that I never expected to part with. I quickly decided he needed them more than myself. "Take good care of these" was my quick remark.

Finally on the road, we headed into town seeing an explosion of yuletide lights. But, we were on a mission to, "Find room in the Inn." Minutes passed and it looked as though our efforts would fail when suddenly, there, in the distance, was a VACANCY sign lit up to our surprise. We pulled in followed by the old rusty Buick. I then walked up to the office and pressed the buzzer hoping for some help. A young lady answered and I explained the plight of the wayfarer family. I asked for a reasonable rate which she graciously complied. I led the family down to the room, opened the door and handed them the key and some cash that I had and then said, "Feliz Navidad!" I closed the door and left.

Back in the car, Anne and I realized we had found our "real" Christmas Spirit and the town lights seemed even more colorful and brighter than ever.

We headed to our favorite eatery and continued our conversation as to our happenstance event. Our waitress, upon hearing our story, smiled saying, "what a wonderful Christmas story!" After finishing our dinner, I went looking for our waitress, who seemed to have disappeared. Finally, I asked the bartender if he could help us locate her and our check. He grinned at me, then said that the waitress had shared our story with the rest of the folks gathered in the restaurant.

"The dinners on us," he said. "Merry Christmas!" On our way home that night we smiled often and occasionally squeezed hands. Yes, we found a special Christmas Spirit that night and I never missed those old gloves either. I never look at a hand dryer in restrooms without thinking of the baby that started our adventure. We went looking for holiday fun and the spirit of Christmas found us.