Mackinac, Mackinaw, & all points between

Our marina in Mackinaw City is right next to the
former USCG icebreaker "Mackinaw".  You folks in
Louisiana don't know what an icebreaker is!

For all those wondering minds (I said “wondering”, not “wandering”), the eternal question is how to pronounce that island or bridge or city or straits.  All you students of history (yes, all three of you), will know that it is pronounced “Mack-i-naw”, which is the British spelling & pronunciation.  Prior to that, when the French held this territory, the French spelling with the “-ac” was used, but the “c” was silent, so it was still pronounced the same. Now, children, you’ve had your history lesson for today!  Consider yourself educated!

 

We obviously got away from Cheboygan MI, into Mackinaw City, but for the third day in a row, the wind was still 15 mph gusting to 20, and waves 2-3’ and filled with whitecaps.  But our boat takes the seas well when they are right on the bow, so even though we took a chance going out that day, we had an easier ride than it could have been.  And we made it to the state marina in Mackinaw City.

The Grand Hotel

So the first two days our boat is in the marina, we get back on the water when we head over to the ferry boat to take us across the straits to Mackinac Island where we do justice to the word “tourist”.  If you’ve been to the island, or read about it, you know that there must be 2 dozen fudge shops on that tiny place, and it seemed like we tasted most of them.  In fact, the islanders call the day tourists “fudgies” because that’s about all they do when they come over.

The Grand Hotel is still grand, with its 600' long balcony

 

View from the Grand Hotel cupola lounge of a
"laker" passing through the straits

We took our tours to learn a bit more about the history of the island.  On our second day, we brought our bikes to ride the 8 miles around the perimeter of the island, and thankfully, the road was all at lake level.  We found a nice restaurant for dinner to celebrate our wedding anniversary – married 45 years, to the same person!!

Enjoying our mint juleps at the Grand Hotel.
I wonder what the po' folk are doing?

Another highlight was going into the Grand Hotel (where they charge $10 a head just to wander around) for cocktails at sunset up in their “cupola lounge”, with a spectacular view over the lake, islands and Mackinac Bridge.  We originally planned to spend a night at Grand Hotel, but at $450 minimum per night, we realized that the money could buy us a lot of diesel fuel next week.

 

 

 

 

 

On the perimeter road, a rock arch formed when the
water level of the lake was as high as the rocks

Riding bikes around the island, we find these "rock sculptures"
along the beach

On Mackinac Island, no motorized vehicles are allowed, so it's
all horses and bicycles.  There were 1000's of bikes
parked along Main Street.

Sue enjoys her ice cream along Main Street.  Ya gotta be
ambidextrous to keep up with her!!

Flowers were everywhere on Mackinac Island

 

More flowers at the road leading to Grand Hotel

We went to a butterfly house on the island and watched the butter fly

With all the horses on the island, they need lots of hay.
And yes, it all comes out the other end!

This fancy carriage with the coachman dressed in top hat
and tails is for the guests of Grand Hotel (of course)

Special events on the island

 

I recognized this freight-carrying boat as the one
which ran from Sandusky OH way back in the 1960's

The next two days were spent seeing the sights of Mackinaw City itself.  We found the fish market that a boater in Cheboygan told us about, which had dynamite smoked whitefish, salmon & trout.  We toured Colonial Michilimackinac & learned more history of the area.  A pleasant surprise was meeting the local Harbor Host for the Loopers (AGLCA – America’s Great Loop Cruisers Association), who saw our burgee flag on the bow & offered to run us to the grocery.  It’s good to meet folks like John & Mary along our loop, who generally have completed their own loop, and now offer their services and knowledge to the current loopers.

And now we’re heading out Monday to points west and south.  As we travel under the Mackinac Bridge from Lake Huron into Lake Michigan, we first plan to stop at Beaver Island, which I hear has a very colorful history.  Then south to South Manitou Island to anchor for a night or two, and possibly meet up with my cousin & family if they can bring their boat to the anchorage.  Then westward to the Wisconsin shore for more remote anchoring.  Postings to this blog may become few & far between since internet connections will be scarce.  But if you don’t hear about us on the news, then we’re still floating right-side up!