Road Trip to Mackinac Island Continued

Hi, Everyone!  As promised, I am finishing up the story of my trip to Mackinac Island in Michigan. You can read the first part of the story here, if you'd like.  I finished the first part of the story with my husband and me stopping for the night in Bay City, Michigan.  We got up the next morning and headed toward Mackinac Island, the true destination of our trip.  This leg of the trip took about 2 1/2 hours.  It was a pretty ride with lots of scenery and before we knew it we were in Mackinaw City.  We would have to take a ferry from there to Mackinac Island.






When we arrived in Mackinaw City, we immediately looked for Shepler's, the ferry company suggested to us by the concierge of  Mackinac's Grand Hotel, where we would be staying for a few nights.  I cannot tell you what a wonderful experience it was dealing with Shepler's.  The ticket lady was as nice as could be and the overall service was superb!  All we had to do was hand the keys to our car over to the attendant, direct him to our luggage, take our luggage ticket and board the boat. Our luggage, we were told, would be outside our hotel room soon after we checked into the hotel. We were skeptical but, it sounded like a good deal so, we took their word for it and boarded the ferry.



The boat trip over to the island took about 25 minutes.  Even though it was a little cloudy, the weather was  warm and we enjoyed the trip on the top deck of the boat.  It reminded me, to some extent, of taking the ferry from Hyannis on Cape Cod to Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard.  I have to say, however, I have never received such white glove treatment on those ferries.  The luggage handling on the Cape Cod ferries is VERY different.  They may take your bags but, they are deposited on the sidewalk when you arrive on Nantucket or Martha's Vineyard.  Shepler's service was simply amazing.

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As soon as we stepped off the boat we could see the quaintness of the island.  We also immediately noticed the smell of horses and etc., if you know what I mean.  There are no automobiles allowed on the island and horses are one of three forms of transportation allowed.  The other two are walking and biking.  We could have taken a carriage ride to the Grand Hotel for $5 per person, if we wanted but, we chose to walk instead.  


It was a delightful walk and took us about 8- 10 minutes to reach the hotel.  The streets and homes we passed were so lovely and picturesque, why not walk?

 As we turned the corner, we saw the Grand Hotel sitting high on a hill; quite an impressive sight.  The Grand Hotel sports the longest front porch in all of North America. I believe that is what they said anyway :).  I can tell you... it is big!

Everything about the hotel is, indeed, grand.
 The gardens are exquisite, the decor is over-the-top Victorian and the service is impeccible.  All of the American flags that lined the grand porch were taken down every night and put out again at 5:30 in the morning.




 This was Sadie's Ice Cream Parlor.  It is part of the hotel.  It was named after the hotel owner's prize-winning Scottie dog.  A funny side note, my brother-in-law and sister-in-law own one of Sadie's heirs.  His name is MacTavish and he is the cutest thing, full of personality.

Anyway, my husband and I checked into our room.  And, guess what arrived moments later...our luggage!  It was placed outside the door just as we were told.  Our hotel room was very comfortable and lavishly decorated in the Victorian style.  It even had wallpaper on the ceiling!  The decor took some getting used to for me but, in time, I really came to appreciate it.  It went along with the whole jibe of the hotel and after a while I really liked it.

We toured around the grounds of the hotel and decided to go to the pool for a while.  Getting to the pool is not for the faint of heart.  Going down the steps to the Esther Williams pool was easy but going back up could make you winded.  Tom and I looked at it as good exercise but, I did feel badly for some of the older folks trying to navigate the stairs.

After sitting around the pool for a while, we decided to have some refreshments on the front porch.  What a view!  You felt like royalty just sitting there!  It was our favorite place on all the grounds of the hotel.  I am sure we were not alone in our thinking.


Next, it was back to our room to get "dressed for dinner".  At the Grand, you must be properly dressed for dinner.  Men must wear sports coats and ties and women dresses.  I have to say, we kind of enjoyed getting dressed up, especially since everyone else was too.  It felt a little bit like Downton Abbey.

The grand ballroom where dinner was served was huge and elegant.  The hotel had a system to seating people and we never had to wait.  We did find, however, that we needed to speak up when it came to getting a nicer table.  The first evening we were stuck in a corner pretty much all by ourselves.  That didn't happen again.  We spoke up and were seated at nicely situated tables, often times with a view.  Squeaky wheel and all that stuff!

We went back to our room after a delicious meal and a lovely evening and found our room refreshed; bed turned back and a candy on our pillows.  It was luxury living!

The next morning we walked into town and took a carriage tour around the island.  We had been told this was a "must do" when visiting Mackinac.  Our tour guide, Josh, was full of stories of the island and very entertaining.  What we had been told was right...this was a "must see".  Our first stop along the tour was the Surrey Hills Museum and Wings of Mackinac Butterfly Conservatory.  Those were nice takes but we gravitated to the Grand Hotel's Carriage Barn just down the hill from the museum.


Inside were some of the hotel's horses and a display of old carriages.  

It was fresh and clean and a delight to visit.

From this point, we changed carriages and tour guides and had new carriage mates.  I can't remember the second tour guide's name but, he had his own set of stories and was very entertaining, as well.  The next stop was Arch Rock.  Honestly and truly, I do not remember the story of the Rock but, the view was beautiful, just like all the other views on the island.


Our last stop was Fort Mackinac, an American Revolutionary Era fort.  This stop required an added admission cost but, was well worth the extra fee.  It was interesting to see how the military men and their families had lived on the island during those times.  If you are into history, it is a "must see" too!

The best part of the fort for me, besides the view, was the restaurant that was perched on the side of the hill.  The restaurant was on the property of the fort and was actually run by the Grand Hotel.  The view was breath taking and we had an awesome table.  The food was delicious, as well.  In fact, Tom and I wanted to dine there again for lunch the next day, but learned you have to pay another admission fee to the Fort to eat at the restaurant so, we chose to go to another restaurant in town that had a harbor view.  It was all good because that meal was delicious too!  You can probably tell we needed to go on a diet when we got home.  All the meals on the island were great!


The next morning we rented bikes and toured the whole circumference of the island.  Tom took this photo of me without my knowing :/.  The bike ride was an 8-mile trek and we got our exercise in that day.

This was our view as we stopped for a rest just before entering the downtown area.  We had finished three-quarters of our bike ride by then.

Here are some of the gardens in that same area.  I don't think there is a bad view anywhere on the island.  

We returned the bikes and almost immediately headed back to town to tour and visit some shops.  I guess not all of the island is from eras past, however.  Starbucks found its way here too!

Mackinac Island is home to many fudge establishments. 

I believe this one was Murdock's.  We bought eight or nine different boxes of fudge to bring home to our family.  They had any flavor you could imagine!

After a time of shopping we were getting tired from our long bike ride and decided to go back to the hotel and go to the pool.  We wanted to take it easy.
 These were some of the sites we saw along our walk back.  This is the only medical facility on the island.  There is one doctor in residence.  Doctors are switch out every three months or so.  I am not sure how reassuring that is to the Mackinac residents but, the mainland is only a 1/2 hour boat ride away...I suppose...


I almost forgot to mention the flower shop in the hotel!!  It is an adorable shop out in the open for all the guests to see.  I stopped by to chat with the ladies working there and I was told that they are the only flower shop on the island.  Besides taking care of all the flower arrangements for the hotel, they supply all the other florist needs for the island.  Quite impressive!  They did wonderful work.


Once back to the hotel, we grabbed our swimsuits and found a nice place to sit on the lawn overlooking the pool.  We had a nice view to boot!

After relaxing by the pool for a while we headed back to the veranda of the hotel for some refreshments.  Later we dressed for dinner...enjoyed a delicious five-course meal...listened to the harpist in the lobby...took a walk around the hotel and went back to our room to find chocolates sitting on the pillow.

That night we were fairly sad because we were checking out the next morning.

Luckily or sadly, depending on your point of view, the next morning we woke to a pouring rainstorm!!  I mean really pouring so, we decided to take an early ferry back to the mainland and start our long journey home.  Before leaving, however, I did a little shopping in the hotel shops and purchased a Grand Hotel sweatshirt.  The perfect end to our visit on Mackinac Island!


Oh, and by the way, we left our luggage outside our door on the morning of our departure.  It was picked up and delivered back to Shepley's lot on the mainland where we were able to retrieve it quite easily.  With that, we were on our way back to Groton.  I won't bore you with all the details but, that night we stopped in Niagara Falls on the Canadian side.  We took in the Falls the next morning and were so glad we did!  It is true what "they" say.  The Canadian side is the better side.  Sorry America.  The Canadian side was breath taking, just as you would expect.  After seeing the Falls, we headed for home and were back to Groton by suppertime.  Not bad!

Soooo, I wholeheartedly encourage any of you who have not been to Mackinac Island to go and visit.  You won't be sorry.

Thanks for listening to my summer vacation stories.  Now it's on to all things fall!

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