It may have been a mistake.
We waited until our last day in Michigan to see Mackinaw Island.
We had a long way to drive to get home, and we were anxious to get on our way.
But it was something I wanted Alison and Benjamin to see, and I could see most of our future trips to Michigan concentrating on the west side of the state instead of the east.
In September 2001, when Benjamin was not even a year old, we came this way to go onto the island with my parents. Unfortunately, it snowed that day, and was bitter cold and windy, so we passed up the opportunity. I've been thinking about getting a second chance for them to see it ever since.
The first shock was the cost of the ferry ride to get to the island. Being near the end of the trip, we were already skating past our budgeted amount. But I thought, fine. We'll get to the island and see what we can see without spending a lot on admissions. We'll just see what we can see, get some fudge, take some pictures, make some memories and move on.
The ferry ride that day was one of the few that would take a special trip under the Mackinaw Bridge. Lengthwise, this is a more impressive bridge than the Golden Gate. I don't think it quite has the Golden Gate's style or scenery, but it is nevertheless an incredible and solid engineering achievement.
It's getting closer! I got about 20 pictures of this on my phonal device, but I didn't want to make this blog story the equivalent of a flip-it book.
Finally on the island, we discover there are very many impressive things - most of which cost money. This is Fort Mackinaw, and it would have cost us $12 a head to get a closer look.
We did find that some of the churches were free to go into. Here Benjamin is giving thumbs up to the "Stone Church".
One of the "grandest" things on Mackinaw Island is the Grand Hotel. We found it cost ten bucks a pop just to walk into. Okay, fine. We'll just walk in front of it and see what we can see that way.
No such luck. As we got closer, a polite lady in a spiffy uniform that reminded me of a stewardess, told us to take even a step further (on the SIDEWALK in front of the hotel) would cost us $10 apiece. We thanked her and slowly backed up.
Before we left the island, I took a picture of the main street. There are no cars on Mackinaw Island (although I did see a riding lawn mower). They do have a ton of bikes, and horse driven carriages and vehicles. So there is no odor of gas fumes and other auto pollution. Not that the island is odor free, though. There is a distinct odor of something else. Only having horses does have consequences.
We did buy some fudge. I kept meaning to take a picture of it, but every time I got it out, I would end up eating it instead. It was delicious, and very similar to the Mackinaw Island Fudge I make and sell at WayGreen. I would say it was very close, but slightly creamier than mine. I'll keep working on it.
We were only there about three hours, and then we were ready to start our long trip back home. The ferry back was my third boat ride. I had begun to feel from my first two trips that I no longer got seasick. I was not so lucky with that last trip. I didn't embarrass myself too much, although I did feel like I could upchuck a tuna bunwich.
I would detail our long trip back, but trying to take pictures in the car makes me queasy. And I wanted to keep that fudge down.
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