Wildwood Pasties

We had promised our boys that we would stop for lunch after crossing the Mackinaw bridge on our long car trip home to Madison, WI, from Ann Arbor, MI.  Despite the requests of the boys, we passed by McDonalds and a few other fast food places as we headed west on highway 2 looking for a local cafe.  We pulled into Wildwood Pasties hoping they would have menu that included standard fare sandwiches or soup. When we saw the limited menu of pasties (beef, Italian, or breakfast), pie, and ice cream (several flavors), we were worried that there would be no meal that our boys would eat.  We considered driving on, but figured we'd try the pasties even though we were pretty sure the boys would not like the strong rutabaga taste we had encountered in other pasties we had eaten. We ordered two pasties to share, one beef and one breakfast.  They were huge and absolutely delicious! These were the best pasties we had ever had and the boys loved them too.  It was a matter of minutes before we ordered another pasty. They also had healthy fruit/veggie drinks for us. To end the meal my youngest son ordered a slice of "mile high apple pie".  This slice of pie was huge...weighing at least a pound and standing 6 inches tall.  The whole pie had 6.5 pounds of apples in it! The apples were perfectly done and exquisitely spiced. The crst was flaky and flavorful.  All 4 of us helped him eat the slice and together we couldn't finish it.  What great food! The pasties and pie were a perfect lunch and were served by a wonderfully warm and kind woman who seemed to own the establishment. This is a must stop if you ate hungry on highway 2.  My only complaint is that they can't ship their pasties and pies to Wisconsin!

We stay at Balsam's Cabins outside of St. Ignace every summer, and we make the drive down US 2, which is breath taking, to go get some of these Pasties. They are so good that we have only tried 1 other place for pasties in the recent 7 yrs in a row going up there! They ARE that good!

Every year my family packs up and heads up to the U.P. for a fun and relaxing stay in St. Ignace. We visit the Indian museums, climb castle rock, eat tons of smoked fish, and relax out on the gorgeous shores of Lake Michigan out on US-2. When everybody else is too tired to want to do anything, or when we stay a day later than everyone else, my wife and I like to just jump on a road and drive forever with no destination in mind, just to see where it takes us. Well, one day a few years back we headed west down US-2 to see where it leads. Let me tell you, it leads to the best pastie the world has to offer. Officially the place is called Wildwood, but my wife and I call it "Homemade Jam", due to the large sign saying such on the front of the little red building. We went in here and enjoyed the best pasties we'd ever had. There are dozens of places around to eat them, but none come close to the delicious homemade beef, vegetable, italian sausage, and breakfast pasties offered here. Trust me on this, the half hour drive west of St Ignace is SO worth it. You will drive past at least 10 other places with pasties but continue on until you see "Homemade Jam" on the left. Yesterday we drove all the way out there before our 4 hour drive home just to eat one before we left, and this time I tired their pie, which is every bit as good as they claim. I had the strawberry-rhubarb and it was amazing. Do yourself a favor when visiting to U.P. and stop in Wildwood for their deliciously authentic up-north cuisine, then you too will view them not as a stop while on vacation, but as a destination in itself. Truly as good as it gets.