July 26, 2012

We had breakfast and then took the ferry to Mackinac Island.  On the 10:00 am ferry you ride under the Mackinaw Bridge so we decided to take that one. The Mackinaw Bridge is 5 miles long and is the third longest suspension bridge in the world.  It connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. On the ride over we sat with a couple (Bob & Suzy) from Ortonville, Michigan.   They invited us to come park the Casita at their house and she told us she would fix us a good homemade meal.

Once on the island you could rent a bicycle, take a horse drawn carriage, or walk. We decided to walk for some exercise. Motorized vehicles have been banned on the island since the 1890’s.  Horses are used for everything from tourist carriages to delivery wagons to pulling the street sweeper. The roads were full of horse manure.  The smell wasn’t that great and you really had to watch where you stepped.

We walked past the Trinity Episcopal Church and Fort Mackinac.  We walked to the Governor’s House and to Arch Rock (which is 146 feet above the water).  We also saw the site of Fort Holmes which involved 151 steps up and then back down.  This is the island’s highest point. We stopped off at Skull Cave and then walked through the cemetery.  We walked past the Grand Hotel.  If you didn’t have a room there, the hotel charged $10.00 per person to go inside or to see the hotel grounds.  We went inside the Little Stone Church -- the Tiffany stained glass windows were very pretty.

We walked back to Main Street via Market Street and had hamburgers around 2:00 pm at the Yankee Rebel Tavern.  At Horn’s Gaslight Bar we had a Mackinac Island Fudge Stout brewed by Arbor Brewing.  The stout is made with fudge as an ingredient. The island is known for fudge and there are about 15 shops now that make and sell it.  You can watch them making it. The locals call the tourists “fudgies”. Not to be left out we bought ½ a pound of walnut fudge.

We saw some beautiful homes on the island.  Jim bought a hoodie sweatshirt.  We went back to the Casita and then Jim went into the casino to play the nickel slots.  He lost the rest of the $10.00 they gave us.  It was cloudy all day and cool, but it didn’t rain.