Our own Somewhere In Time...

“Travel is like love, mostly because it’s a heightened state of awareness, in which we are mindful, receptive, undimmed by familiarity and ready to be transformed. That is why the best trips, like the best love affairs, never really end.” 

          ~ Pico Iyer

The "Mighty Mac" aka the Mackinac Bridge

     We recently returned from a 5 day trip up to northern Michigan. When I was in high school my family moved to Michigan and I first traveled to this area. It is a lovely, lovely place, and I wanted to share it with my husband. We drove up there in about 8 hours, and stayed in an inexpensive hotel in Mackinaw City. From there we toured around both northern lower Michigan, the Upper Peninsula, and the straits of Mackinac between the two. We took a ferry out to Mackinac Island, which is located in the middle of the Mackinac Straits. This is the area where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron meet. 

     Mackinac Island is a small island, completely dominated by tourism. There are no automobiles on the island, so travel on it is either by horse-drawn vehicle or bicycle. There is an old fort there, first built in the late 1700's. The town is quite small, but loaded with tourist shops. It is well-known for fudge.  

These handsome guys were pulling a carriage full of tourists.

     The morning we traveled out to Mackinac Island was clear and cool. The ferry ride out was fun because there were two elementary school groups on our ferry. The enthusiasm of the students was catching-- so much so that the ferry boat captain took us on an inpromptu side trip under the Mackinac Bridge and back... something I had never done!  

     Once on the island, we rented bikes and began the 8.3 mile trip around. Both of us were a little unsteady on the bikes at first, but we both agreed it came back to us pretty quickly... like riding a bike?  We biked along the shoreline, and had wonderful views of the straits, including a lake freighter making it's way from Lake Huron through to Lake Michigan-- perhaps traveling to Chicago? Our route was fairly flat, and we managed to handle the few hills okay. It took us about 2 hours to make the trip, including a stop for a rootbeer float!

The view on Main Street-- note there are no automobiles! Just horse drawn wagons and carriages and bikes.

The old fort is at the top of the hill-- quite a hike! But worth it for the incredible view.

This was the view from the fort Tea Room, where we had lunch. That is a lake freighter in the straits and the Mackinac Bridge in the distance.

This was taken on the back side of the island. That is a lake freighter on the horizon.

This is a view of The Grand Hotel from our ferry. This old hotel (built over 100 years ago...) is the most famous landmark on the island and was the place where the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour was filmed.

     We toured the fort, watched both a rifle and cannon firing. We ate at the tearoom at the fort. We shopped and bought souvenirs and the obligatory fudge. And we took the ferry back to our hotel, arriving tired but satisfied at having had a wonderful day seeing new sights and enjoying a new adventure.