Hotels and restaurants along the Straits of Mackinac have seen an infusion of cold cash.
"My tips have gone from $30 or $50 a day to $200 or $300," said Megan MacLeod, a waitress at the Dixie Saloon in Mackinaw City. "I had a table from Georgia, another from Minnesota. People are coming from everywhere. It's fantastic."
With crowds pouring into the tiny community, a popular summertime stop for families headed to Mackinac Island or the Upper Peninsula, a usually quiet winter season has transformed the place.
"Tourism has been crazy," said Rick Caldwell, front desk manager at Hamilton Inn Select Beachfront. "We even had to open other hotels. People have come from as far as Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio."
Most of the visitors saw images of the rare and uniquely beautiful blue ice posted on social media and have gone to check it out for themselves.
"We haven't had blue ice in about seven years," Caldwell said. "And this was even better than last time."
Blue ice offers a cool chemistry lesson. When lake ice is clear with no bubbles, it allows for light to penetrate and reflect through the ice. When ice is low on the molecule that absorbs sunlight — chlorophyll — the reflection of the water can make the ice look bluer.
Janie McKee, 13, of Grosse Pointe Farms visited the the ice formations at the Straits of Mackinac on March 9, 2018 with her father Patrick McKee. (Photo: Patrick McKee)
"It was just really like a dream, so beautiful and natural," said Janie McKee, 13, of Grosse Pointe Farms. "It was like something out of a movie, like Antarctica."
She and her father Patrick McKee, 54, a shipping company executive, packed up their new black Ford F-150 pickup and headed to the family cabin in Brevort. He said the ice this year was the bluest in memory. "It felt like a moonscape. Just an unreal feeling out there with the fresh air blowing."
The business economy in March is usually dominated by snowmobilers, but snowfall was light this year.
After a handful of photographers posted images of blue ice on social media, crowds descended. And strangers gathered in restaurants to compare photos and share travel stories.
"The past two weekends, we had a waiting list," said Laurie Navidzadeh, bartender at the Keyhole Bar & Grille. "People have come from Detroit, Gaylord, Grayling. Our place has been packed like a summer day. The blue has dissipated but the ice has piled up. People are just out walking."
High winds blew ice into shore, where it piled up.Blue ice is seen from the park at the base of the bridge in Mackinaw City, Feb. 26, 2016. (Photo: Jeff Caverly)
"Homeowners said it was pretty loud," said Jamie Mersch, executive director of the Mackinaw City Chamber of Commerce. "This all has been completely unexpected, literally out of the blue."
Her phone has been ringing non-stop. "Stores love it. Twisted Crystal is selling blue ice jewelry."
While Lana Qualey, owner of Twisted Crystal, lives in Mackinaw City, she can't open her shop in the old Stimpson Hotel until May because the 1870 building isn't winterized. So she's selling her custom earrings, bracelets, necklaces and photos online.
"This has been huge up here," she said via email. "The few restaurants open had days like the Fourth of July."
Blue ice has lasted for three weeks, which made last Saturday at Audie's Restaurant feel like eight normal weekdays of business, said owner Nick Jaggi. "It was on CNN, CBS This Morning. We had people from England traveling to Michigan who came up to see us."
Ice has a storied history in the Straits of Mackinac. Town elders tell of using saws to cut big blocks of ice, put them in the barn and cover them with sawdust. For years, Straits of Mackinac ice was used to provide refrigeration for train travel.
These days, Jaggi said, residents fill their freezers with blue ice, chop it and use it for cocktails.
"It's a lot denser and lasts longer. Scotch drinkers really like it," he said. "It doesn't melt much."
Though temperatures have fluctuated, freezing cold at night keeps ice intact and visitors coming.
"The best time is around sunset and sunrise," Caldwell said.
Blue ice is seen on the shores of the Straits of Mackinac in Mackinac City, Monday, Feb. 26, 2018. (Photo: Tori Burley)
Despite warnings from locals, families love to walk on the enormous mountains of ice.
"Ice can be unstable, with air pockets," said Dave Benjamin of the Great Lakes Surf Rescue Project. "This time of year, people should stay off the ice. There can also be currents under the ice, which can create instability as well."