Day 90-91 living the life on Mackinac Island

      We arrived on Day 89 at about 3:30 pm.  We did not have a reservation after all, but they were able to accommodate us for not only our original plan of two nights but an additional third night too.  The photo at the right shows Lucky Us (center, left) backed into her slip. We had declined help from marina staff, but we coordinated a smooth docking in spite of a cross wind (and with a fairly large audience...).

      We had dinner out at the Yankee Rebel Tavern.  We shared chicken lettuce wraps for an appetizer. I had the pistachio crusted whitefish, and the Admiral had their famous pot roast.  It was a very good meal, and we also had time to check out the location of the Post Office where the Admiral was expecting to pick up some mail in the morning. The photo at the right shows one of the many private gardens. The island is 83% owned by the state of Michigan. The houses are privately owned, and they pay up to $50,000 per year to rent the land. Of course, we enjoyed an ice cream on the way back to the boat

       On Day 90 we slept in and then had a wonderful lunch at the Chippewa Hotel waterfront restaurant with a great view of the harbor (photo at right).  The Admiral had fish tacos and I had a fish sandwich without the bun. Before lunch the Admiral made two trips to get our mail, first from the post office and then to the UPS store.  The photo at the right shows us with lunch just having been served -more Whitefish for me. The background is washed out by the bright sun, but we switched to seats on the other side of the table to watch ferries coming and going.

      The photo at the left shows one of our other views at lunch off toward the marina. Most of the waterfront buildings in the photo are Victorian guest houses or small hotels. The main street runs in front of the houses and continues along the water's edge all of the way around the island (8.2 miles in all).

      We were also treated to a great view of the cruise ship Pearl Mist that made a day long stop at the island (photo at left). The ship makes10 or 11 day cruises starting in either Chicago, Illinois or Toronto, Ontario and ending in the other city. She has only 108 luxury, waterfront staterooms each with a private balcony. Pearl Mist is a beautiful ship, but  she looked kind of out of place here in an island that is a step back in time.

      After lunch and ice cream, we did the hour long carriage ride tour with one other couple.  It was a two horse tandem that pulled the carriage, which had two seats. We sat in the front of the two seats, and it was like we had our own private carriage. The photo at the right shows us headed up a hill toward the Grand Hotel. It was really like stepping back in time. We are crossing a golf course on the right and a park on the left in front of the hotel.

      We also had a treat as our carriage went past the entire length of the front of the Grand Hotel. The businesses here do not miss a beat when it comes to making a dollar. In order to protect the privacy of their guests, the hotel charges $10.00 per person to walk along the front of the hotel, and we got to do it in grand style in our carriage...

     The carriage made a short bathroom stop where we could also walk through a small museum of restored carriages that showed changing carriage styles over the years. As we were departing, we had a chance to see a really elegant carriage and smartly dressed driver leave the stables (photo at right). It was headed to the Grand Hotel for a private tour...

     We had done one of the longer horse drawn tours on our last stop at Mackinac Island in 2014. Those "carriages" are more like big wagons with rubber tires, and they range up to 35 passengers pulled by three big draught horses. The shorter tour in a real carriage was definitely worth it!

      We also got to see some of the beautiful Victorian homes close up on our carriage ride (e.g. the photo at left). I mentioned that the land is rented, add to that taxes and especially up keep on these historic wooden houses. There are only a couple of winterized private homes on the island. The rest are uninsulated and are not ever allowed to be used in the winter.

      Oh well, just one more picture of one of the Victorian beauties (photo at right). I love looking at these houses, but I decided long ago that I would never buy one. The thought of all of the exterior maintenance really scared me...
      In the evening we ate on the boat and then enjoyed a free concert while walking around town and yes, enjoying another ice cream. I will readily admit to an addiction for ice cream and there were plenty of ice cream shops. However, the island is really known for its fudge, and the fudge shops out numbered the ice cream shops by at least two to one. 

      We are at our dock at the Mackinac Island State Harbor Marina, and about 6:00 pm, the bulk carrier Edwin H, Gott passed by the new Round Island Passage Light. She is most likely headed up bound to the St. Marys River. I really liked the first photo (at left) with the flags, ferry with a rooster tail spraying upward and the Round Island Light. The Gott is in the channel off the main channel through the Straits of Mackinac, and she is headed to the St Marys River where she will go through the Soo locks and into Lake Superior.
      The second photo of the Gott shows her a little closer so you get an even better view of the immense size. She is 1,010 feet long and 105 feet wide, which is about as big a ship that can pass through the Soo locks. There are 13 "footers", as the 1,000 foot freighters are known, currently sailing on the upper Great Lakes. They are too long to fit into the Welland Canal between Lakes Erie and Ontario or to fit through the St Lawrence Seaway Locks so they could never leave the upper lakes. They were all built about the 1980s as bulk carriers for iron ore or coal in response to new longer, wider locks at the Soo. They were limited in the number of ports that they could enter because they could not make the turns in many harbors with winding channels.

The photo at the left shows part of the aft super structure, including the pilot house. They have advanced self unloading systems and can unload their entire cargo in about 8 hours.

      On Day 90 we also had a leisurely morning and then ate lunch out at Huron Street Bar and Grill.  The Admiral had chicken pot pie, and I had fish and chips.  Following lunch we unloaded the bikes and rode the waterfront ring road to the arches.  We thought we might go around the island, but since we could not use the electric portion of the bikes and the wind was so strong, we decided not to and turned around shortly after seeing the natural rock arch (photo at right). 

      There was a lot of rock art along the shore, but none of it rivaled the fantastic delicately balanced rock art that we see on Face Book, etc. However, it added a fun touch to the views along the beach.  After riding back to the marina, I decided that I was finished bike riding for the day, but the Admiral went on after the marina. She  went though downtown and on about another mile before turning around and joining Lucky and me at the boat. 

      Friday evening we walked to the other side of downtown and enjoyed sitting in the Windermere Park (photo at right) watching the ferries arrive and depart while eating ice cream... This red buoy is permanently mounted here, and it marks one end of the Chicago to Mackinac sailboat race. The race has been held annually in July since 1898, and at 330 miles it is the world's longest inland sailboat race.

      Dinner was at Mary's Bristro where we both had a petite salad. Then the Admiral had Mac and Cheese with real pieces of ham in it, and I had a Margarita Pizza.  We then shopped our way back to the boat.  We crashed early after a really fun filled (but tiring) day.  It was nice to hear Taps played at the nearby fort as an ending to each day. 

      Of note, for Lucky, this location was one of her worse stays.  She did not like the canon firing from the fort up the hill from us, and she did not like the sound of the horse's hooves on the pavement. She also did not like all traffic with people and bikes rushing everywhere.  During the day, there are constant wakes from ferries and pleasure craft causing a great deal of rocking and rolling of Lucky Us. It was all we could do to get her to get off the boat long enough to take care of her business.  I think she will be happy to move on to a new location, and this is certainly part of our decision to only stay here for 3 nights.