Aug 11th-13th, Sun-Mon, Days 99-101: Mackinac Island
We arrived in the Mackinac Island marina midday on Saturday, and spent the rest of the day catching up with other loopers who had waited out the high winds over the past few days here and waiting for Woody & Carolyn to arrive via ferry from the mainland. Mackinac Island was one of our favorite stopovers in the entire trip. It amazed us to realize that the residents of Mackinac Island have managed to build magnificent homes, and live day to day on this beautiful island without relying on any automobiles, since no motorized vehicles (except for EMS vehicles) are allowed on the island. The only modes of transportation on the island are bicycles and horses, so any inbound supplies are received at the main dock and off-loaded onto horse-drawn wagons for distribution across the island. I guess if you live here long enough, you eventually get used to the smell of horse poop which seemed to be everywhere along the streets. The maintenance department does a great job of trying to keep it cleaned up, but the smell of it permeated the air, making the entire shopping district resemble a town 100 or more years ago.
We spent our last hours with Woody & Carolyn on Sunday exploring the island via bicycles, circling the islands via the 8 mile bike path. We completed our circumnavigation by lunchtime, so we said goodbye to Woody & Carolyn around 2pm, and began getting Rickshaw ready to receive our next set of company due on Monday, Belinda's son Joey and his girlfriend, Holly. Later in the day, we squeezed in a visit to the Grand Hotel, which is the famous upscale $400/night hotel featured in the movie, Somewhere in Time, overlooking the Mackinac Straits.
After Joey & Holly drove up from Northport (near Traverse City) where they were visiting Holly's grandmother, they parked their car at Mackinaw City (on the mainland), and caught the morning ferry Monday morning, and arrived on Mackinac Island around 11am. We spent the rest of the day touring the island by bike (again) and by dinghy, taking Ricky-Dink out of the marina and around part of the island, which afforded us a magnificent view of the island from the water. That night, we treated Joey and Holly to a wonderful dinner at the restaurant "The Woods", which resembled a large hunting lodge, buried deep in the interior of the island. Getting to & from the restaurant is a major part of the experience, since the only way to get there is via horse-drawn carriage. It was a somewhat magical experience to travel through the tree-lined paths, in the woods, in the dark of the night, on a carriage drawn by two draft horses. We filed away in our minds a promise to someday try to bring our grandchildren back here.
We arrived in the Mackinac Island marina midday on Saturday, and spent the rest of the day catching up with other loopers who had waited out the high winds over the past few days here and waiting for Woody & Carolyn to arrive via ferry from the mainland. Mackinac Island was one of our favorite stopovers in the entire trip. It amazed us to realize that the residents of Mackinac Island have managed to build magnificent homes, and live day to day on this beautiful island without relying on any automobiles, since no motorized vehicles (except for EMS vehicles) are allowed on the island. The only modes of transportation on the island are bicycles and horses, so any inbound supplies are received at the main dock and off-loaded onto horse-drawn wagons for distribution across the island. I guess if you live here long enough, you eventually get used to the smell of horse poop which seemed to be everywhere along the streets. The maintenance department does a great job of trying to keep it cleaned up, but the smell of it permeated the air, making the entire shopping district resemble a town 100 or more years ago.
We spent our last hours with Woody & Carolyn on Sunday exploring the island via bicycles, circling the islands via the 8 mile bike path. We completed our circumnavigation by lunchtime, so we said goodbye to Woody & Carolyn around 2pm, and began getting Rickshaw ready to receive our next set of company due on Monday, Belinda's son Joey and his girlfriend, Holly. Later in the day, we squeezed in a visit to the Grand Hotel, which is the famous upscale $400/night hotel featured in the movie, Somewhere in Time, overlooking the Mackinac Straits.
After Joey & Holly drove up from Northport (near Traverse City) where they were visiting Holly's grandmother, they parked their car at Mackinaw City (on the mainland), and caught the morning ferry Monday morning, and arrived on Mackinac Island around 11am. We spent the rest of the day touring the island by bike (again) and by dinghy, taking Ricky-Dink out of the marina and around part of the island, which afforded us a magnificent view of the island from the water. That night, we treated Joey and Holly to a wonderful dinner at the restaurant "The Woods", which resembled a large hunting lodge, buried deep in the interior of the island. Getting to & from the restaurant is a major part of the experience, since the only way to get there is via horse-drawn carriage. It was a somewhat magical experience to travel through the tree-lined paths, in the woods, in the dark of the night, on a carriage drawn by two draft horses. We filed away in our minds a promise to someday try to bring our grandchildren back here.
 There were many Looper boats already in the Mackinac Island Marina when we arrived - so a docktail party was the best way to share experiences and float plans.  Our last dinner with Woody and Carolyn on the aft deck of Rickshaw. Our view was like a postcard picture of the Mackinac Island homes that lined the harbor.  One of the many beautifully landscaped hotels on Mackinac Island.  Since the marina didn't have a laundry we had to bike the guest sheets and towels to the laundry at the other end of town to get ready for our next company.  Holly enjoying the cruiser bike along the shore line of Mackinac Island.  The natural arch as seen from the bike path. |  We were delighted to catch up with Tara from Seabatical again.  At the end of of bike ride with the Pierces we were treated to these colorful kites floating in the air above the colorful flower baskets that lined the main street.  The Grand Hotel - it has a huge front porch for people watching, it has fantastic views from beautiful grounds but inside it isn't as elegant as the Grand Peabody Hotel in Memphis.  Joey and Holly on their first Ricky-Dink ride.  Joey and Belinda on the bike path along the Mackinac Island shore.  We get one last view of the Grand Hotel and a ferry boat as we sadly leave Mackinac much too soon. |
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