Travelogue: The Straits of Mackinac

We said goodbye to  Door County and travelled north through the lush, tree-lined roads of Wisconsin entering Michigan through the Upper Peninsula. It was a leisurely and lovely drive. But, it had been several hours of driving and when we got to Mackinaw City we were hungry so, after checking into our hotel, we set out to find some dinner. The clouds were, admittedly, ominous and pretty much screamed rain but when Steve suggested driving to find a place to eat I insisted that after being cooped up in the car for several hours I could not fathom driving anywhere else. My family exchanged glances that included the tiniest hint of eye-rolling and we set out on foot. Needless to say, it started raining. Hard. My gracious and compassionate family probably didn’t mock me at all as we walked back to the hotel while getting drenched.

The next morning we boarded our ferry boat for Mackinac Island. It was a beautiful, crystal clear day as we zipped across the straits, Charles in tow. While relaxing on the boat, and admiring the water, I practiced my multi-tasking skills by eavesdropping on the man sitting in front of me. He was explaining to another man that he and his wife had just gotten married and, being older, they had invited their children and grandchildren on a ‘family honeymoon.’ Now, they were headed to Mackinac Island for the, ‘real honeymoon.’  I listened to his story and thought to myself that it was a rather charming story. No "Somewhere In Time," perhaps, but sweet anyway. My reverie ended with me thinking about how darling it was that a nice older couple like that could find happiness so late in life. A few minutes later I was snapped back to reality when I realized that they were probably my age. Well...there you have it. The story wasn’t any less sweet after that revelation. It was just one of many reminders of how frequently I forget my age. I silently wished them many years of happiness as we exited the ferry.

Once on the island we checked into our hotel and then opted to take advantage of the perfect and uncharacteristic weather. Spectacular blue skies, seventy degree temps, and low humidity made me forget I was in Michigan. Often overcast and muggy, Michigan weather was  behaving a bit more like Colorado! No complaints from us.  But, we certainly didn't want to waste the 'too good to be true' day so we rented bicycles and pedaled around the island. Parker and Anna chose a tandem bike for their journey, making easy work of the ride.

Toward the end of the ride we switched.

Along the way we made a few stops to enjoy the beach and for Parker to instruct Anna in the fine art of skipping stones. Parker is an accomplished stone skipper and while I'm not entirely sure how that will serve him throughout his life, Anna just never quite qot the hang of it. Her stones landed with a loud thud about a foot in front of her. Good thing she has singing to fall back on.

Following our delightful bike ride we opted out of the weird tourist shops although I admit we did sample some fudge. We made up a ruse about needing to sample all the fudge shops in order to find the best one. Good thing we are so clever. None of the other zillion tourists to Mackinc Island have done that before, I'm sure!  

Charles was awarded the job of 'Fudge Judge'  and I'm fairly certain we were deemed the day's most annoying tourists. And really, who could argue?

Having had our fill of fudge, we set out on a hike to the highest point on the island which afforded spectacular and praise worthy views like this.

And this.

We ended our day sitting by the water, sipping on Mackinc Island Fudge Stout, appreciating our good fortune, and pretty much loving life.

The next morning we watched as the sleepy little island awoke slowly and then starting bustling with tourists. By then it was time for us to go. We said goodbye and moved on to our next stop:

Grandpa's House, Northville, MI.