Day 2-266
We caught the early ferry to Mackinaw Island at 8:30 am - Let the fun begin! There are still a few of the "old-style" ferries that go 10 mph and take in the scenery, but most of the ferries now zip along at 30+ mph. This is obviously not the ferry that we were on, but it shows how close we were to the Mackinac Straits Bridge.
The harbor at Mackinaw Island is small, which means that you must make reservations well (months) in advance so we did not stay here. Once inside the harbor, one of our first views was of the tall ship Niagara, which we had passed on Lake Erie way back on Day 2-241. She is at Mackinaw Island for 4 days as part of the celebration of the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of Mackinaw Island, which is TODAY.
The re-enactment was to take place in the center of the Island on what is now a golf course. Since we were on the first ferry of the day, we had a number of people in full military dress who would be participating in the re-enactment on board the ferry with us. So, we were well prepared to repel any boarders... We never did see any of the bad guys (i.e. the Red Coats).
It turns out that none of us were that excited about seeing the re-enactment so we passed on that opportunity. We had expected to hear the roar of cannon fire less than 2 miles away in the city, but we did not???
We headed immediately to the carriage tours, and to our surprise, we got on a carriage with only a couple of minutes wait. Note: One of the unique things about Mackinaw Island is that motorized vehicle are not allowed. Electric mobility scooters are allowed with a doctor's letter. We were asked to sit in "the back of the bus", but as it turns out, the odiferous emanations from the horses were much worse in the front rows. We did make at least three stops where we could have remained longer and several where we changed carriages. The guides/drivers were fairly informative, but overall, it seemed like a contest as to which driver could tell the most corny jokes.
We started in a carriage pulled by 2 draft horses, later we were in one pulled by 3 horses. The main street down along the waterfront looked like a scene out of the past with no cars, trucks, etc. There were hundreds of "modern" bicycles, which did (in my opinion) detract from the setting. We were told that there were 16 fudge shops, second only to the number of restaurants/bars.
There are some private houses on the island as well as numerous other small hotels/bed and breakfasts. The few residential streets (pictures above and at left) were quite quiet in sharp contrast to the hustle and bustle often just a block away.
The baskets of flowers, which seemed to be everywhere, provided a wonderful splash of color. Since it is on an island, recycling is an important part of life here. Recycling also includes making mulch/fertilizer out of the manure left by the 600+ horses used on the island. So, I guess that the flowers should look very healthy, since they are well fed.
This is one large hotel (photo at right), but most of the others were quite small by comparison. It has the look of a building with many additions over the years.
One of two centerpieces on the island is the Grand Hotel, which is about half way up the gentle slope of the main "hill" that forms the island. The main deck in front is over 600 feet long, and it is loudly proclaimed to be the longest in the World. Anyway, this is as close as we got since they charge $10.00 per person to walk along the front of the hotel. I take that to mean that the "paying" guests in the hotel are also paying for their privacy. It is no doubt THE place to stay to get the full experience of having visited this beautiful location.
Just across the street (behind the photographer above) is the club house for the golf course and a lovely restaurant. The original phase of the Grand Hotel (above) was completed in 93 days. The story is that the workers who built the hotel were promised double their pay if it was completed in 90 days. So, they got no extra pay...
There are also several beautiful churches on the island. Foresting in Northern Michigan, especially the native White Pine, was to become the dominant industry on the mainland for many years. The "Lumber Barons" ruled
On our carriage tour we saw several points of interest/beauty, including this stone arch. along the water. Once again, the water is clear enough to see the bottom even at this distance. The bedrock for the island is limestone, and this arch was once near the entrance to a cave that had been dissolved out of the limestone by the ground water. The roof over most of the cave collapsed and left this stone arch behind. Simply beautiful!
There are many more pictures in our collection, but the above gives you some idea of the splendor of this historic island. However, we were ready to call it a day by 3:30 pm when we boarded the ferry back to Mackinaw City. So, our last view of the island was this channel marker as we looked ahead to the Mackinac Straits Bridge. If I had to guess, I would bet that we will be back one day...
After a short rest, we topped the day off by heading once more to the movies where we watched
Planet of the Apes. An interesting take on how the apes might have evolved into a position of dominance on our world.
THEN, it was time to really call it a day...
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