Mackinac Island Trip

Mackinac Island Trip 

Today we took the ferry to Mackinac Island which is situated between the Michigan mainland and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We caught a shuttle from our campgrounds to Mackinaw City to get on the Star Line Jet Ferry, very convenient. The Jet Ferry is very unique as it shoots out a giant rooster tail of water as it speeds across Lake Huron in about half the time as the standard ferry.

As soon as you arrive the first thing I noticed was the abundance of bicycles everywhere. People bring their bikes and there are dozens of bike rental shops. The Main Street looks like Crested Butte during Bike Fest. But I guess this is everyday because there are no cars on the island. None, zero, zippo. People get around by bicycle, foot or by horse. Plenty of horse drawn carriage. All of the businesses use horses for their deliveries. I saw horse carriages hauling cases of beer, luggage, landscaping stones and even a load of mattresses.

We walked all day all around the island. First we went to the Grand Hotel which is the largest summer hotel in the world. Very beautiful and very fancy. They have a dress code for all of their restaurants. We were not dressed properly. Heck I’m never going to be dressed properly for a place like that. We did eat at a place just outside of the hotel grounds, it was good I had tacos. 

We continued our walk up to the old fortress and into the State Park. Lots of overlooks and rock formations. For the most part there were very few people around us until we got to Arch Rock and back into the main part of town. 

Oh yes we even went to the gazebo from the movie Somewhere in Time starring Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour. Apparently that was the only time they let a car onto the island since 1909 or something like that. 

Before we got back on our ferry we stopped for a drink. I had tacos. 

It was a great place to spend the day. 

I went for another bike ride after we got back.