Mackinac Island’s beloved Brigadoon is back from the ashes after devastating fire

Back in my salad days, I worked one summer on Mackinac Island.

I passed this cottage many times and was enamored.

Also, it was the first time I had encountered the word "Brigadoon."

As I researched the name, the meaning, and the history, I became even more enamored. Brigadoon.

A place that is idyllic, unaffected by time, or remote from reality.

Amazing.

I was so impacted by the name that I held onto it for decades until the time was right to launch Brigadoon.

Like most new ventures, there have been ups and downs.

Victory and loss.

The cottage of Brigadoon knows this as well.

On May 30, 2021, a brutal fire left Brigadoon the cottage severely and visibly damaged.

News of the fire spread across the Great Lakes and worldwide. Successfully the cottage has been restored to full glory.

+ "Sixteen months after a devastating fire ripped through the top floor of Mackinac Island's iconic Brigadoon cottage, the rebuild and renovation of this historic Queen Anne is complete. Its owners announced the milestone this week in a love letter of sorts to the legions of workers and well-wishers who have seen them through this monumental project."

You can read the full news clip here.

Brigadoon the cottage on Mackinac Island is a challenging place to visit.

Planning and multiple forms of transportation are required.

But a place that is idyllic, unaffected by time, or remote from reality should require a bit of grit and determination.

-Marc

Sound More Interesting at Cocktails Memo | September 16, 2022

25 talking points for better conversation at cocktails based on what I found interesting this week.

Global Street Smarts

1. More than half of the 750k mourners are expected to queue to pay their respect to Queen Elizabeth II.

2. Queen Elizabeth II met 13 presidents during her 70-year reign: From Truman to Biden, with the exception of LBJ.

3. Charles gets an early poll bump: Some 63% of Britons expect Charles III to do a good job as monarch, compared with 15% who think he’ll do a bad job.

4. Wise people will tell you we have lived for 77 years without a nuclear war, but there have been 2,121 tests done since the first in July 1945 involving 2,476 nuclear devices. So it's better to say we have lived for 77 years without nuclear weapons being used on a battlefield.

5. Freedom is possible: The Wagner Group, a pro-Kremlin mercenary organization, has told inmates at a Russian prison that they will be set free if they survive a 6-month tour of duty in Ukraine but executed if they try to desert.

6. On the sidelines of a summit in Uzbekistan, Putin and Xi held their first face-to-face meeting since February, when the two declared a “no-limits” partnership less than three weeks before Russia invaded Ukraine.

7. China emerges as IMF competitor as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Argentina have together received more than $32bn since 2017

8. The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed a $6.5bn bill to fund weapons for Taiwan.

9. US invites Mexico to join an effort to shift semiconductor production from Asia to North America.

10. 80% of the global workforce does not sit behind a computer: The Deskless Workforce numbers 2.7 billion people.

11. US mortgage rates shot above 6 percent for the first time in 14 years.

12. Ford's plug-in Mach-E is expected to outsell the traditional Mustang by 2027.

13. Gap + Kanye West end their partnership.

14. Citigroup has opened a hub for junior bankers in the Spanish beach town of Málaga as part of its effort to lure talent.

15. Tencent Music plans to start trading on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.

16. SoftBank is considering a third Vision Fund.

17. Five main reasons why the Bloomberg Terminal succeeds: knowing their client preferences; the cost of substitution; a superior brand and network effects; a disciplined pricing strategy; and a long-term vision around product expansion.

18. Coca-Cola Japan + Kirin to develop health drinks.

19. Tonal is raising money at a $1.9bn valuation.

20. Shell announced the exit of CEO Ben van Beurden as the oil giant looks to reinvent itself under group renewables boss Wael Sawan.

21. Ethereum finishes long-awaited energy-saving ‘merge’ upgrade.

22. The NFL, estimated revenues of $18bn last year, generated more cash than the NBA and MLB combined.

23. LAFC's Gareth Bale has MLS's top-selling jersey.

24. Barclays projects the esports 'ecosystem' could be worth $9.6bn by 2030.

25. Apple + Amazon passed on LIV Golf media rights.

-Marc

Pro-tip: The picture is of the lobby bar at Fasano Hotel in São Paulo.

Watch: Miranda West | How Books Can Inspire Action

“The right book, in the hands of the right person at the right time in their lives can really inspire them and can actually influence them to change the direction of their lives.”

After watching a Do Lecture online back in 2011, Miranda got in touch with the founders and went on to set up the Do Book Company. Since launch in 2013, titles have featured in the Guardian, Observer and FT; are now stocked by Conran Shop, Paul Smith, Urban Outfitters, and are distributed in the UK, US and Australia.

In 2014 she was selected as one of ten ‘Creative Entrepreneurs’ in the UK by the Hospital Club/ British Council. Miranda has worked in the book industry for over 15 years, from indie publishers to Penguin Random House. Remembering she once told her school teachers that she’d like to work ‘in business’ (whatever that meant), she thought she’d better get on with it. It has been, in equal measure, much harder and more rewarding than she imagined.