Wet & Wild Weekend in Caseville

These two certainly were dressed right for the occasion.

Last weekend we camped at Albert E. Sleeper State Park, which is just a stone's throw north of Caseville, Michigan. Caseville, located on the Saginaw Bay side of Michigan's thumb, is a wonderful little small town of about 850 people. Dotted with cottages and small retail shops and family-owned restaurants, it's wonderfully devoid of strip malls, big box stores and chain restaurants.

Last weekend also was the start of the 10-day Cheeseburger in Caseville Festival. Now in its 13th year, the festival is devoted to all things Jimmy Buffett and the laid-back tropical lifestyle he represents. The festival is known for its live music, delicious cheeseburgers and a ton of family activities like sand castle competitions, crazy hat contests and the ridiculously wonderful Parade of Fools.

And last weekend was also the worst rainstorm we've ever endured while camping.

This was our fourth year going to Cheeseburger in Caseville and it just keeps getting better and better.
And bigger and bigger.
And wetter and wetter, too.

Bigger, Better, Wetter
How big is it?

• For 10 days each August, Caseville's population of about 850 swells to the tens of thousands. And if you believe Frank Bama of Air Margaritaville, a Buffett tribute band of highest regard, Cheeseburger in Caseville is now the second biggest festival in Michigan. (What's the biggest festival? I dunno.)
• Caseville civic groups sell cheeseburgers, among other things, as fundraisers and they crank out about 500,000 cheeseburgers each year which they sell for $4-$5 each. 
• At the 2010 Parade of Fools, over 1,200 people were in the parade, and another 80,000 lined the streets to watch them in their crazy colorful get-ups, strutting down Main Street. 
• The County Park, which has the outdoor amphitheater and the public beach, also has an enormous modern 125-site campground. They have to hold a lottery each year because so many people want to camp there. That's one reason why we stay at Sleeper State Park, but that, too, is always full by the time Cheeseburger rolls around.

The first year, we camped with my buddy Steve and his kids. The second year, Steve was able to get a spot in the county park, but my Aunt and Uncle joined us at Sleeper State Park. It rained that year so hard both of our campsites were under water. My uncle and I grilled inside-out cheeseburgers while standing in ankle deep water. The rain let up for that night's concert with Air Margaritaville. Last year my parents and my aunt's sister and her family came along, and this year two more families joined us. If you're keeping track, we're up to six campsites.

After what happened this year, next year, we might want to find want to buy some flood insurance.

It all started well enough. We arrived on Friday afternoon, set up camp and headed into town for some cheeseburgers and that night's classic rock concert by The Music Doctors. The cheeseburgers, from the Caseville Schools booth setup, were awesome. In fact, Superintendent Ken Ewald was our chef. He said they raise a "good chunk of change" at the festival, but not quite enough to cover the athletic department's budget, as was rumored.

What you don't see is the cheeseburger, with a bite
taken out of it, that our landshark was chasing.

The next day was the sand castle competition. Our entry was "Landshark Eating a Cheeseburger." It was only the most awesome sand sculpture ever. How'd we do? We were robbed. We didn't even get an honorable mention. Sure, there were some really good ones we were up against. But one of the winners, "Beer Pong," was ... dumb. A bunch of college kids dug a three foot trench in the shape of a rectangle. And there you have it. A table. Whoopee.

Rain, Rain Go Away...
That night was the Air Margaritaville concert, but before that we enjoyed a wonderful dinner with my buddy, Steve, and his new bride, Debbie. They cooked up pulled pork, hot dogs and brats and served them up with plenty of sides for all their friends and family who couldn't make it to Jamaica for their wedding. Great time, great food, great friends!

And then it was Air Margaritaville's turn to entertain us. Which they did for one set. Their second set never got off the tarmac (get it? Air Margaritaville? Tarmac?) because the skies opened up and the rain started coming down in buckets. The wind whipped it around pretty good, too. It would seem to let up, but never enough for the band to take the stage again, so the rest of the concert was a washout.

The rest of the night, and early the next morning was also a washout. We got back to our camper, tried in vain to enjoy ourselves. But the rain ... never ... let ... up. And right about after we went to bed, the thunder and lightning kicked in. Everyone was under water. Mud covered everything on the ground. Flip flops and welcome mats and plastic pink flamingos floated around the campground. Anything not nailed down was doing the backstroke.

The next morning was an exercise in cleaning. The Merry Maids would've quit on the spot. It was like a Dumpster threw up. Mud and dirt and ... well, just stuff ... was everywhere. One people in our party found his welcome mat six campsites down. My uncle never did find his shower shoes. At one point, we praised that same uncle, thinking he was smart enough to fold up his patio mat before the rains came. It turns out the mat was there all along, it was just covered in mud so bad we couldn't even see it.

It's now Monday night and the camper is clean again and put back in its super secret storage location (aka the Back 40). So, as I reflect on another Wet & Wild Cheeseburger in Caseville, only one thing comes to mind: Can't wait till next year!