‘A beautiful journey’ at To the Moon and Back in Oscoda
Visitors interested in exploring their spirituality in 2025 will benefit from a trip, or several, to To the Moon and Back at 119 State St. in Oscoda.
The women-led business, owned by Elena MacKenzie and her wife Jackie, opened in May 2021.
“Jackie was burnt out from being a nurse during COVID,” MacKenzie said. “We were looking for something to do that didn’t involve healthcare — for a while, at least, so she could recoup. She’s actually going back into the field now, but she’s still a major part of what we’re doing.”
The couple are proud “transplants” to Oscoda, coming from Metro Detroit.
“I never expected to feel comfortable in a small town after being a city person my entire life,” MacKenzie said. “I never expected to enjoy getting to know all my neighbors and going to the grocery store and seeing people I know almost every single time. It’s that community base of people that’ve been drawn here, too. They just felt this call to a more natural state.”
That’s what To The Moon and Back, ultimately, is all about: Getting back to those roots. The store carries pendants, tarot cards and books, sage bundles, crystal starter sets, incense, essential oils and mindfulness products — in addition to clothing, jewelry and fun items that make great gifts.
“We had the idea of opening a retail space because our background is retail,” MacKenzie said. “We used to work for Aldi, once upon a time, so we know the systems and it wasn’t super unfamiliar to us. We definitely wanted to make sure we opened in downtown Oscoda, and it just ended up being the right building at the right time.”
In their space on the main thoroughfare, MacKenzie has enough room to hold events and teach yoga, a major component of her own journey into a new kind of spirituality.
“I’d been with Aldi for 11 years, and I started to train in yoga,” MacKenzie said. “We were supposed to start a spiritual practice and I realized I had no self-care. I’d been working 60-hour weeks. It was a wake-up call.”
In the beginning, MacKenzie and Jackie had no idea the business would turn into a community hub.
“We really had no concept of what it would morph into,” MacKenzie said. “The retail, now, is just keeping and maintaining it, so we have money to do other things for the community.”
The couple also owns Anchorage Retreat Center in Oscoda, where they offer spiritual packages, group meditation and an annual women’s retreat.
“It’s been interesting to fully create a community of like-hearted people, so we’re all talking and vulnerable together,” MacKenzie said. “We have meditation every Sunday, but we also talk about where we’re at, what we’re working on, what’s impacting us most. It’s been a beautiful journey.”