Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island

I was off to a slow start this morning, one too many snoozes so I missed the 9 am ferry (I don’t want to hear it, I’m on vacation I shouldn’t have to set an alarm) to the island by about two minutes. The next ferry was at 10:15 am, but I waited until the 11:15 am for an extended ride that went under the Mackinac Bridge too:

I finally made it to the island, where the Grand Hotel was one of the first sites from my rear facing seat on the ferry: The Mackinac Island harbor is guarded by two relatively small light houses:

One of the cool things about Mackinac Island is that they don’t allow motorized vehicles on the island, so most people use bikes or horses to get around. The outer loop of the island is about eight miles, and is almost completely flat, so it is a pretty easy ride. Well, I guess when I missed the first ferry this morning I was in a grumpy mood, because when I saw it cost $48 for a four hour bicycle rental, I was not thrilled, so I decided to walk the loop instead. I’ve done the bicycle ride around several times, so I thought maybe walking would give me a new perspective. In retrospect, I think I swallowed a lot less flies today because of it too, there were probably at least a half dozen people that were coughing up flies while riding by me today.

The first stop along the loop is Arch Rock, which you get to see from the top after climbing 200+ steps: But you also get to see it from the island loop when looking up: There was a trail that started at the top of Arch Rock that I would have liked to do, but it was covered in exposed tree roots to start at least and I was worried about my weak ankles with no support since I was just wearing low top tennis shoes. (And I would have been pretty miserable doing an additional 6 miles.)

The first half of the loop especially offers really great views of the water: The wind was also at my back so the flies were mostly running in to the back of my head, so I was pretty happy with my decision to walk. Unfortunately, the last three miles or so were into the wind, and I was constantly fighting to keep the flies out of my face. I probably should have just put on a mask and got it over with as quickly as possible, so at that point I was pretty unhappy with my decision to walk. Overall, I’m not sure I would recommend walking to anybody else, although I would recommend not racing around on the bike, instead taking your time to enjoy more of the stops along the loop.

Once back in town, I stopped at Mary’s Bistro Draught House, and had an Austin Brothers Wood Wheat, which I absolutely loved. I also liked the Hawaiian pizza too:

A quick stop at Ryba’s Fudge Shop, a family favorite: Then it was back on the ferry to Mackinaw City: