Lake Street Local bringing pirate bar back this season
Robert Creenan, Staff writer
Lake Street Local in Port Austin has a pirate-themed bar and patio area called The Pirate's Cove that is open during the summer. This year will feature a new pirate statue Captain Austin, right.
Lake Street Local/Courtesy Photo
If you see a pirate ship while in Port Austin, it will not be for the reasons you normally think of.
The Lake Street Local bar and restaurant took a chance last year adding a pirate ship bar to its outdoor patio area and calling it The Pirate's Cove, with locals loving it so much that the pirate theme has been expanded further.
Manager Emily Sopko said the owner's mother went to garage sales in Lexington last year, where one house had the pirate ship bar out in its driveway.
"She stopped and asked, 'Hey, are you looking to get rid of that?' And she was like, 'Actually yeah,'" Sopko recounted. "She gave us the price and we picked it up the next day. It was kind of just a whim thing."
The bar was built as it is now down in Florida, then brought back up to Michigan where it was in the previous owner's garage. Other than giving it a fresh coat of paint and adding some Lake Street Local details on it, everything else on it is still original.
Sopko said that people loved the bar when it debuted last year, with Lake Street Local continuing to embrace the pirate theme it brought. That included putting prop skeletons on the fence surrounding the bar and signs with pirate slang written on them.
"As first we used it because it was kind of funny," Sopko said. "Like, oh it's a pirate ship. But as you can see, the pirate theme just kept growing and growing. And people just love it. It was never supposed to be a pirate theme until we got the boat."
The Lake Street Local interior is also adorned with old photos and memorabilia of old Port Austin School teams, who were also named the pirates.
New this year is a skeleton pirate statue affectionately named Captain Austin, standing beside the bar as patrons walk in. Sopko said he is not a local and that they bought him online.
Other activities happening on the back patio include cornhole, giant chess, a fire pit, and space for bands and Family Feud nights.
The pirate bar and other outdoor activities at Lake Street Local are usually open seven days a week weather permitting and run from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend.
Robert Creenan
Robert Creenan has been a news reporter for the Huron Daily Tribune since April 2019.
Prior to arriving at the Tribune, Robert was a news reporter with the Cortland Standard in Cortland, New York.
He has a Bachelor of Science degree in journalism with a creative writing minor from Canisius College in Buffalo, New York.
He is a fan of soccer, Buffalo sports, bike riding, and esports.