Mackinac Island

Our leap of faith paid off.  We woke up to sun peeking out from behind dark storm clouds.  We hustled to the dock to take advantage of any momentary break in the weather and watched the sky get clearer and clearer on the super speedy ferry ride over.  The air was cold, about 55, but when the sun would break through it almost felt warm and made for amazing scenery.  We started with a stroll down main street and ended up renting bicycles to ride around the island.  There are no cars allowed on the island at all so we found ourselves navigating around horse drawn carriages, or people on horses, or fellow bikers and pedestrians. 

We cut through the island and ended up on the only US state highway where cars are not allowed.  I was just wondering if in the winter the locals used horse-drawn sleighs, when Greg burst my fantasy by telling me that the Starbucks cashier had revealed that they drive snowmobiles.  Still, it was cool to see an island kind of separated from the rest of the world.  We walked all around the Grand Hotel, built in 1887.  You may remember it as the film location of Somewhere in Time – they actually have an annual festival dedicated to cult followers of the film (everyone dresses 1912, members of the cast make appearances etc.) 

 

We ate dinner and picked up plenty of fudge (there are 17 fudge shops on the island – their specialty since 1890), and hopped on the ferry back to the mainland.  About 60 seconds before we pulled into the harbor, it started raining again.
Mackinure Island