after a long day of seeing lots of sights around the upper peninsula of michigan we found ourselves at the dogpatch restaurant in munising with very 4 hungry kids and 3 adults. nobody could figure out why it had a cartoon theme or why all the cartoons on the walls and the menu was filled with mock-southern language that was difficult to decipher. all the adults and kids were confused.

eventually, i dug deep in my memory and remembered the dogpatch was the setting for li’l abner which ran from 1934 until 1977 which gave some important context. but who under the age of 40 even knows or identifies with li’l abner? why is there a li’l abner themed restaurant in munising? was al capp a fan of the area? are the owners relatives? do they have rights to use the images for commercial gain. there’s an interesting history to the franchise ownership and rights li’l Abner and wikipedia claims fair use when using excerpts which leads me to believe it’s not in the public domain.

and, what is up with the menu? PRINCESS MINIHAHASKIRT?

the food was adequate, but the service was horrible which seems to be the consensus on the foursquare tips.