Thank You All!
I appreciate all the kind words and encouragement - there have been moments along the way when I wondered if I had finally gone out of my mind with my idea. As with most projects, they take longer, are more complicated and always over the budget of when you first start out. But it continues to be a lot of fun and it brings us joy to see things take shape, bit by bit.
To answer a few questions y'all asked:
The store's floors are all hardwood on the sales floor. The back storerooms and office have concrete floors.
I'm blessed in that I love my job. I teach at Detroit's largest university and have been working there for 26 years. We have no mandatory retirement age. I love what I do and will continue to work for at least another 4-5 years (I want to hit 30 years of service) and then I'll think more seriously about "retirement" - although I see myself doing something until I'm no longer able. As long as it's something I really love. However, this means I can only get to Cavalcade on weekends and when I schedule vacation time. So when I'm ready to finally open the doors, I don't know that I'll have many regular hours of operation. Time will tell how it all works out.
The store is in the town of Croswell, Michigan - it is about 82 miles northeast of Detroit. This is close to my cottage, which is near the village of Lexington, Michigan, and that is just four miles east of Croswell at Lake Huron.
The electric service in the building couldn't accommodate running power to all the stoves - but I was able to put in a few 220 outlets (I needed two in the new kitchen). The City of Croswell has its own electric utility, so they are glad to have a new customer that has a thing for electric ranges and other appliances!
Once the kitchen portion of the building is complete - hopefully by Memorial Day - we will start recording new Cavalcade of Food episodes. When the place is ready for visitors, I will let you all know!
Thanks again, everyone!
