Mackinac Island with Bikes and Horse-Drawn Buggies

Monday, May 18, 2015--Mackinac Island, Michigan

The day dawned with clear skies and a breeze.  The bugs weren't quite so bad as yesterday.  Maybe that was a result of the rains we got last night, or maybe it was because of the breeze.  We caught the 10:00 Arnold Ferry along with a large group of college students and a few others.

Mackinac Island was a surprise in that there were hardly any bugs!!  Do they try to control them?  Or do the bugs not swarm there because the island tends to have breezes much of the time?  Anyway, the day was much more pleasant than we feared.

As the boat docked, we could see the horse-drawn buggies lined up on the street waiting for us.  The island does not allow motorized vehicles.  There are horse-drawn buggies, horse-drawn wagons, and bicycles.  That's it except for some motorized emergency and construction vehicles which are not normally seen.  Even the garbage is picked up in a horse-drawn wagon! 

The island was occupied back in the 1600s, but most of the growth occurred in the late 1800s.  At that time, most of the island was designated a park--originally a national park and eventually a state park.  It is most known for the Grand Hotel, a huge wooden building with a very long porch with rocking chairs.  In the early 1900s, it was a typical summer hotel resort for the wealthy.  Because of the uniqueness of the island with its no-cars rules, the hotel has remained popular through the decades.  It was the location for the shooting of the film Somewhere in Time a few decades ago which also helped it retain its popularity.

The town has a very long main street that is lined with fudge shops, t-shirt shops, restaurants, hotels, etc.  The island, because it is a park, is lined with trails and is encircled by a road that is popular with cyclists.  Wes and I walked about 1/3 of the way around the island on the outer road, then we headed inland on trails that took us further to the far side of the island and then back over the hilly hump of the island to the town again.  It's a mostly wooded island, so our hikes were nice with all the trees and wildflowers.

In town, we passed many beautiful old mansions, most of them huge and built of wood.  We went though the exclusive Hubbard's Annex.  We passed through the grounds and just in front of the Grand Hotel.  Throughout all of this the sun was shining, the temperatures were comfortable, and the bugs were missing!

We caught the 17:00 boat back to the mainland and visited the old lighthouse here.  By then we were tired and hungry.  We ate dinner and returned to the hotel for the night.