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| Our crew at Mackinac Island (2nd & 3rd row) |
Seems we just haven't had the time to catch up the blog since our entry of March, so we've decided to start current (OK last week). We'll throw the other entries from our adventures from March thru July in, as we can get them uploaded.
Our friends Debbie & Len, with Kay & Vaughn had traveled up to Baraboo, WI to watch the Circus Wagon parade with us. (We definitely need to get that post done as it was a blast.) Once they found we were going to Mackinac Island they agreed to venture up that way and meet us in St. Ignace.
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| The blue dot is St. Ignace Michigan with Mackinac Island just to the east. |
St. Ignace is in the U.P. (Yes, we were ignorant of the meaning of U.P. being mid-westerners. It means Upper Peninsula of Michigan) We are staying at the Tiki Campground here.
We spent one day coming up the eastern coast of Wisconsin/western edge of Michigan and spent the night at Gladstone Michigan on Sunday night. It was a pretty park on the Little Bay de Noc in Lake Michigan.
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Little Bay de Noc
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| 46th Wedding Anniversary! |
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| Fun & friends! (That's Lake Huron behind us.) |
On Tuesday the 25th we left on the 9 am Sheplers ferry over to Mackinac Island as with that ride we got an extra 10 minute excursion to and under the beautiful Mackinac Bridge. It is the bridge that links the U. P. over the 5 miles of the Mackinac Straights (the link between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron) to the mainland of Michigan. It is currently the 5th longest suspension bridge in the world. The ferry ride over to the island took approx. 25 minutes.
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| Mackinac Bridge from ferry. |
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| The Mackinac Port Authority boats keeping an eye out for the bridge painters. |
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| One of the painters waving back. |
Mackinac Island is around 2500 acres and does not allow automobiles on the island. In the 1870s a "horseless carriage" was brought to the islands and the locals said it scared the horses, and made too much noise and smell. So now it is a auto-free tourist destination that we all enjoyed. They have the shortest highway in Michigan as it goes around the island and is approx. 8 miles.
They have over 400 horses on the island that do everything from tours to delivery of guests to hotels, to moving luggage and food items all around the island. As one tour guide explained they have 4 veternarians on the island and just one doctor, so you know who's health is more important! It was also made famous by the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Jane Seymour and Christopher Reeves which took place in the famous Grand Hotel.
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| The beautiful Grand Hotel |
We all went to Seabiscuit Restaurant for a delicious breakfast once we reached the island. Then we arranged for our time to take our carriage ride tour. They start you on a carriage thru town pulled by a pair of horses, and drop you off at the top of the hill at the Surrey Hills Museum. From there you catch a larger carriage pulled by 3 horses that take you to Fort Mackinac. After you are through at the Fort you can catch a ride back to the Surrey Hills and catch another carriage back to town to complete your tour.
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| Our driver Tom, had been a retired school teacher, till he wife "suggested" he get another job. LOL |
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Had Randy & Len stand besides this carriage (called a "Roof Seat Break") to show the amazing height!
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| One of the stops on the carriage tour was Arch Rock. |
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| Joyce, Vaughn, Kay, Len & Debbie at Arch Rock |
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| Beautiful set of three dapple grays. |
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| Our carriage pullers, left to right, Bubba, Mike & Bart known as "The Mafia". Each of the trio teams had nicknames. Their driver Luke was a knowledgeable guide. |
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| Len & Deb at Fort Mackinac entrance |
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| Kay & Vaughn at the fort |
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| Gorgeous view of harbor from the fort. |
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| Preparing to fire the cannon at the fort. |
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| The harbor was full of sailboats from the "2017 Bayview Mackinac Race" from Port Huron, Michigan to Mackinac Island. |
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| The various sailboats, flags & crews were fascinating. We loved seeing all the various horse-drawn wagon, carriages etc. There were also horses you could rent to ride, along with hundreds of various bicycles. |
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Freight wagon
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| Notice the cart behind the wagon. It's loaded with luggage, that's been wrapped with plastic wrap & shipped over from the mainland. |
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| This young cyclist thought she'd ride between the wagons but got caught in a squeeze play! LOL |
The island does have one fire truck, one amublance and one police car on the island in case of true emergency. But mostly the police ride bicycles.
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| Police cruisers parked at side of station. |
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| Flowers on the island were GORGEOUS! |
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| Riders checking out fowers in front of Grand Hotel. |
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| A riot of color. |
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| Almost every home had a beautiful flower bed in front. |
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| Beautiful old home with lovely baskets of flowers. |
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| All the flowers seemed to be on steroids here. On our carriage tour the driver mentioned that there were 18 fudge shops(most were same shops just different locations) on the island. Then he said they all offered free samples but if you tried them all you'd be sick. Joyce decided to take up that challenge. Since she didn't get an early start she only made nine shops before the end of day! LOL |
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| A few of Joyce's fudge shop stops. |
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| Ahh the life of a dog on the island... your own cart! |
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A great place for childhood wonder!
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| The view of the Mackinac Bridge was beautiful as the sun was setting on our return trip. |
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| This was the type of ferry we rode to the island and back. |
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