Our new Cherry Public House is one week away from opening. It is looking fantastic and we are so excited. Here is a little sneak peak as we finish up the zillion final details.
Here is a view from the front of the newly renovated building. You see new windows and doors, a new patio, and a new paint color with a first coat that’s looking a little bit too orange. This renovation into a brewery and full service restaurant serving dinners, dinners, and more dinners was a big job. We ripped out the interior walls, several exterior walls and the floor to the dirt, and then we started over.
We’ve torn up a section of steps and a bit of the garden as we are abandoning our old septic tanks and field and building a new system that is 5 times bigger! It will be great for the environment and also allow us to expand in the years to come.
I am standing in what used to be two public bathrooms which is now seating for customers. We moved the bathrooms behind the dumpsters to get them out of our way. Haha, just joking! They are now in the center of the brewery. Here I am assisting Rick Burbee in decorating the walls with a fun mix of Cherry Republic and Leelanau County history.
Here is Rick hanging up an old Leelanau County camper poster in the high reaches of the cafe. There must be 500 pieces of history he has put on the walls in the last three days. And some goofy surprises to make you laugh if you dare to look close.
Here is one of my favorite pieces in the Cherry Public House — a photo of my Mom diving at Ohio State University. The photo was taken 70 years ago and captures my mom as the great athlete she was. She had a good chance of making the ’52 Olympics, but was injured just before the Olympic trials. I love how strong, graceful and beautiful she looks in this photo.
And finally, here I am at the bar where we will serve 12 different hand crafted beers and hard ciders. Six of the brews will be cherry, of course. And six will be classic brews to meet every person’s thirst, like Stouts, IPA’s, and Lagers. We’ve been working on these beers for two years and we can’t wait for you to try them. Behind me to my right are the giant menu monitors. For the first time ever, we will serving dinners as we have a full-size kitchen with all the equipment to make our cherries sing. I am looking at the cardboard over this counter wondering if it is time to tear off the cardboard and let the soft granite bar shine — after all, we are just a week away from opening our doors.
