The asylum

After our lunch at Short's Brewery, we wandered about Bellaire for a bit, stopping off for ice cream and earrings at the same place, the Sassy Sunflower, which worked out nicely.  We also wandered through the historical museum -- mostly because they had public restrooms -- but still felt the need for a little neuronal activation, as the Huma Lupa Licious, while delicious, runs a bit alcoholic. 

 

Consequently, after a brief stop at a museum, we headed to Higher Grounds, though, first making a pit-stop at The Underground Cheesecake Company, that Jen just happened to notice, was located adjacent.  We were disappointed that it was not underground, but pleased that there was cheesecake.

 

 

In front of the cheesecake chapel sat this little Taquero.  We intended to hit the place for the veggie tamales, but then, we were, like, you know?  We make those all the time -- and went back to The Roadhouse for more southwestern fare!  Next time...

 

 

Unfortunately, as we approached Higher Grounds, a great vaccuum sucked us into the Left Foot Charley tasting room.  This obviously made the need for coffee much greater.

 

 

Ah, yes, Higher Grounds -- finally.  We all enjoyed sobering conversation on the patio while Ari practiced something called "texting" and the boys flailed sand about, from the sandbox courteously placed for families sitting for a sip.

 

 

All of these, coincidentally, are on the grounds of the former Northern Michigan Insane Asylum, later, the Traverse City State Hospital, as nomenclature was changed to reflect shifting paradigms in mental health, i.e., Asylums, intended as restful escapes from the pressures of modern society vs. Hospital -- Kraeplin/Alzheimer model of biological anomaly in need of medical treatment. 

 

 

The hospital shut down in 1989, as funding for such things was cut and the transformation to community based mental health care swept the nation.  Since, it had fallen into disrepair, until recent efforts were made to preserve the buildings and grounds, many of the salvageable structures being renovated into offices, stores, restaurants and condos -- a very, very cool project, says me from the land of raze and destroy.

 

We decided to explore!  Our first stop, was at a little bakery, where we picked up a loaf of sourdough olive bread -- good grief good!  We obviously had to consume a lot of food to fuel our adventures!

 

 

Most of the stores and restaurants are located on the lowest level:

 

 

Upstairs, much of this building (50) has been turned into office space.  Looks pleasant, doesn't it?

 

 

The ideal behind asylums was born from a time whem people not of hale mental well-being were treated very poorly, op-ed-charictaristically ending up shackled to a post in a jail cell.

 

 

William, friend of the trees, regarding a beautiful specimen on the gorgeous grounds of the facilities.

 

 

The thought, at the time, was, that The Inflicted were suffering the consequences of the modern world, that the stresses of city life led to, well, everything:  Female hysteria, alcoholism, dementia praecox...

 

Therefore, it was presumed, removing these people from the city, from the stresses, should have the effect of undoing the damage done, and the asylums -- classically, a temporary refuge -- were thus built in remote, peaceful settings, where people could set their minds at ease, to recover and return, then, to proper society.

 

 

It was further believed, that one of the issues leading to the conditions of distress, drunkeness, hysteria, etc., was the loss of a sense of purpose, so as part of the program, residents were involved with the upkeep of the facilities -- groundskeeping, gardening, cleaning, cooking, etc.   This is still a conversation being had in various terms, today, with regard to the benefits of exercise and depression, creative output and bipolar...  Something mentioned, no doubt, more times than anyone wants to listen, or has, so, fin.

 

 

As an ideal, and in some cases, this was a beautiful endeavor -- treating the hysterical housewife, the dasterdly distressed and the slovenly sot with compassion, giving them a place to recover, reboot, then, return.

 

As with everything, it worked sometimes.  The abuses at the asylums are well documented, and they began to fall out of favor well before they were finally, largely abandoned. 

 

One result of moving the undesireables from society, was that, being out of sight/out of mind, support for funding the large and expensive campuses began to wane.  Symptomatically and stereotypically, as funding failed and stresses strained the staff, combined with poor leadership and the worst of human nature, the stories of the treatment in some of the asylums further eroded public support, and the purpose transmuted to principally detainment for mostly the psychotic and alcoholic -- note that these are all grand generalizations.

 

 

And then, in the '50's, came along the antipsychotics and the Kraepliners, and the eventual death knell, as even those listening to Anachrom directing their actions, could be publicly sedated to a point of mere societal worry or -- and of course, often and frequently through the current -- if not, eliminated by incarceration.

 

 

So the pendulum swings, but here we cautiously step aside and away from the percolating current of raising membrane potentials, to avoid necessitating the feigning of fascination.

 

As we wandered in, Jen noticed what looked like a shadowy figure, lurkin in the darkness of one of the windows -- like that French movie, with the school kids, and the pool...  Whatever it was.

 

On entering, we found that Red Dirt Road had popped up for the day, and Jen was able to snag a fashionable scarf.

 

Red Dirt Road is a non-profit organization dedicated to empowering young women in Cambodia by providing them business and sewing skills to create, market and sell handmade designs. It was co-founded by Alan Lightman, Marie Eckstein and Laura Wolak

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Jen was making out quite well, this day!

 

 

Waltzing down the halls, here,  past One of a Kind Cycle.

 

 

All, lined with artwork:

 

 

The Minervini Group welcomes you to The Village at Grand Traverse Commons, where one of the largest, historic preservation and adaptive reuse redevelopments in the country is underway. A beautiful solution to urban sprawl, The Village is the unique renovation of dozens of historic buildings formerly known as the Traverse City State Hospital, and previously, the Northern Michigan Asylum. The auspicious location of this 63-acre site, centered in one of the Midwest's most desirable locations, underscores the unparalleled beauty of magnificent, century-old Victorian-Italianate architecture.

 

 

Pretty neat place.