Mackinac Island, Michigan **more pics pg2**

Did anyone miss me? Probably not. But for the odd person who noticed I was gone...here I am!

I've been in Mackinaw City for the past week :) Seems crazy that I live in Michigan and yet have no memories of Mackinac [I was about 4 the last time I was up there.]

In case you DON'T know what Mackinac Island is....it's a small island near the straits of Mackinac. It's absolutely AMAZING! See, there are no cars allowed on Mackinac Island. Everything is either bikes or horses. There are horse drawn carriages EVERYWHERE. We happened to be up there for the festival of the horse, as well, which meant they were getting appreciation!

I saw Belgians, Percherons, and even the odd Haflinger. My family and I went on a 2 hour long horse drawn carriage tour of the island [the whole thing is like, 7 miles wide or something.] It's so CUTE! Sure, the whole thing smells of horse poop. Sure, there are rivers of horse pee running down the sides of the road...it was so neat to be there! It's truly kind of magical.

We also visited Fort Mackinac and Colonial Michilimackinac, which were two ooooold forts [Michilimackinac I believe was founded in 1715?]. It was insanely cool.

And now...pictures.

Mackinac Island [this was my view from the restaurant we ate lunch at.]
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/SDC10906.jpg
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This was basically what the streets looked like, but much more crowded:
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We also went over the Mackinac Bridge. My dad had a panic attack half way over [that suckers like 5 miles long, lol] but we made it into the UP
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/SDC10944.jpg
Where we went to the Soo Locks in Sault Ste Marie
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more pictures in the next post...

Fort Mackinac [sorry, I didn't take many pictures there. I have to go look through my dad's camera haha]
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/SDC10911.jpg

AAAND..Colonial Michilimackinac [I can only imagine how much I butchered the spelling of that.]
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These things kept FREAKING me out. I always thought they were real...of course, the one time I thought it was fake, it turned out to be a real person! I screamed and jumped out of my skin when she sat up, bahahahaha
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MORE pictures coming :]

The fired off a cannon...WOW that was loud! I also saw...three? musket firings at the various forts
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This morning, before we left, I went to Old Mackinac Point light house and climbed to the very top. I went up 51 stairs and an 8 foot ladder to get there. :) I was the only person in the group NOT gasping for breath bahahahaha. We had a great view up there though!
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/SDC11001.jpg
These were the stairs we climbed:
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/SDC11003.jpg

It was a 5 hour drive to Mackinaw City and another hour to the Locks, but it was totally worth it. Oh, and I went to a Mystery Spot too, but I was pretty underwhelmed.

Sorry for the immense load of pictures. ^-^ But I wanted to share the wonders of Michigan with you all!

What nice photographs and description of your trip! Thank you.

I grew up in Michigan (Detroit area).. then lived on the East Coast for some 33 years. Came back to MI (Ann Arbor) in 2002. I've NEVER been to Mackinac Island.

When I was about 15 or 16 years old, my family took a vacation trip to the Upper Peninsula. This was shortly after the Mackinac Bridge had been opened, and it was a big thrill to be able to drive straight from the Lower Peninsula to the UP. We didn't have time to visit the island too, though.

The first night we stayed at a motel in St. Ignace (first UP town west off the bridge) and were treated to a display of Northern Lights that night. They weren't the colored kinds, just white light.. but still VERY thrilling.. not something you see around Detroit!

I took pictures with my Brownie box camera, and I think I still have those somewhere around. If I find them (rather blurry black & white photos) I'll post some!

Beautiful!
My sister-in-law lives in Michigan and she went there for her honeymoon. I'd like to go there sometime if/when we go to visit her.

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Originally Posted by phesina

What nice photographs and description of your trip! Thank you.

I grew up in Michigan (Detroit area).. then lived on the East Coast for some 33 years. Came back to MI (Ann Arbor) in 2002. I've NEVER been to Mackinac Island.

When I was about 15 or 16 years old, my family took a vacation trip to the Upper Peninsula. This was shortly after the Mackinac Bridge had been opened, and it was a big thrill to be able to drive straight from the Lower Peninsula to the UP. We didn't have time to visit the island too, though.

The first night we stayed at a motel in St. Ignace (first UP town west off the bridge) and were treated to a display of Northern Lights that night. They weren't the colored kinds, just white light.. but still VERY thrilling.. not something you see around Detroit!

I took pictures with my Brownie box camera, and I think I still have those somewhere around. If I find them (rather blurry black & white photos) I'll post some!

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We drove through St. Ignace but didn't spend any time there. Haha, you definitely don't get Northern Lights down here.

Please do, it'd be interesting to see how it's changed over the years!

Wow, looks like a really nice place to visit. Thank you for sharing

Very very very awesome pictures!!! WOW!! I've been to MI once. I was in the Flint area. We visited Frankenmeuth(spelling?). I thought the state was absolutely beautiful. Your pictures certainly prove it gets even more beautiful than what I saw.
We left Florida and it was around 95 degrees in July. We arrived in Flint and it was almost cold and delightful. I would love to go back.

It looks like a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing!!:)

Looks like a really nice place!:)

Mackinac Island fudge is to DIE for!!! I lived in MI for 3 years and always wanted to go there. Unfortunately, like the Detroit Zoo, I never made it there.

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Originally Posted by Daisy and Delilah

Very very very awesome pictures!!! WOW!! I've been to MI once. I was in the Flint area. We visited Frankenmeuth(spelling?). I thought the state was absolutely beautiful. Your pictures certainly prove it gets even more beautiful than what I saw.
We left Florida and it was around 95 degrees in July. We arrived in Flint and it was almost cold and delightful. I would love to go back.

It looks like a wonderful trip. Thanks for sharing!!:)

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Frankenmuth it a cool place :) That's only about an hour from me so we visit that more often haha.

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Originally Posted by moosmom

Mackinac Island fudge is to DIE for!!! I lived in MI for 3 years and always wanted to go there. Unfortunately, like the Detroit Zoo, I never made it there.

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Mmmm I know it's amazing :) We got like 5 slices and two are already gone hahahaha.

You've never been to the Detroit Zoo?! :eek: How horrible! haha, I love the zoo. Especially in the winter, because it's really uncrowded! I'll have to go and take pictures for everyone :D

Mackinac Island Is a beautiful place to see. Thanks for sharing your
pictures.:) We visited when the kids were younger & they loved it too.:)

Banning cars was a wonderful idea, keeps the Island more as it used to be.
It's a gorgeous place to see & I would recommend it to anyone.

p.s. I sympathize with your Dad about the bridge. It's a real doozy.:eek::)

Isn't if funny, Phesina how you moved FROM MI to the East coast, and I moved TO MI from the East coast. They say if you've never been to MI, you'll hate it. But people who were born and raised there love it. Go figure.

Nope, never made it to the zoo. I did go the UP (Upper Penninsula) over New Year's with some friends. That huge mall is awesome!! Took hours to go through. Lots to see!

I lived right outside of Detroit in Ecorse, MI across from the Detroit River. Not the greatest area, but the rent was cheap. $550/month for 1200 sq. feet including everything. Sure can't find that in CT unless you want to pay up to $1200/month not including utilities.

After 3 years of trying to find employment as a news writer, I finally gave up, left everything behind (anything that wouldn't fit in my little KIA Sephia) and went back to CT, because I missed my family and friends so badly. Now THAT (moving back to CT) I'll never regret!!

Great pictures!!!

Thanks for sharing the pictures & story of your trip to the Island, over the bridge & the locks too. Years ago we went to the Island & did the samething took a horse drawn surrey ride around the Island. The lilac bushes were in bloom & there were 30 some varities on the Island. Moo, I can still taste the good fudge yet. I recall a huge hotel I think was called the Grand. We went inside & had a coupon for strawberry daiquiris, had to climb a bunch of stairs to the top & the bar looked out over the island. The Grand has a huge porch with a bunch of chairs to sit on & look out over the Island & Lake. Just a really neat place. :)

Bonny,

Everytime I think about that fudge, my mouth waters!

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Originally Posted by moosmom

Isn't if funny, Phesina how you moved FROM MI to the East coast, and I moved TO MI from the East coast. They say if you've never been to MI, you'll hate it. But people who were born and raised there love it. Go figure.

Nope, never made it to the zoo. I did go the UP (Upper Penninsula) over New Year's with some friends. That huge mall is awesome!! Took hours to go through. Lots to see!

I lived right outside of Detroit in Ecorse, MI across from the Detroit River. Not the greatest area, but the rent was cheap. $550/month for 1200 sq. feet including everything. Sure can't find that in CT unless you want to pay up to $1200/month not including utilities.

After 3 years of trying to find employment as a news writer, I finally gave up, left everything behind (anything that wouldn't fit in my little KIA Sephia) and went back to CT, because I missed my family and friends so badly. Now THAT (moving back to CT) I'll never regret!!

Great pictures!!!

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Even if you're born in MI, you still hate it from time to time, hahaha.

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Originally Posted by Bonny

Thanks for sharing the pictures & story of your trip to the Island, over the bridge & the locks too. Years ago we went to the Island & did the samething took a horse drawn surrey ride around the Island. The lilac bushes were in bloom & there were 30 some varities on the Island. Moo, I can still taste the good fudge yet. I recall a huge hotel I think was called the Grand. We went inside & had a coupon for strawberry daiquiris, had to climb a bunch of stairs to the top & the bar looked out over the island. The Grand has a huge porch with a bunch of chairs to sit on & look out over the Island & Lake. Just a really neat place. :)

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Ahhh, the Grand Hotel. That thing is AMAAZING! We didn't stay there because it's ridiculously expensive, but we did go past it. It's beautiful, what with over 100 rooms [all decorated differently, by the way]. I believe they have the biggest covered porch in the US? You have to pay to go on it, though. -_-

What beautiful pictures you got! WOW! WOW! WOW!

Here are some of the sunrises we saw:
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AND me. At lunch on the island - look at our view!
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/P7220029.jpg

I love your pictures, JML!!

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Even if you're born in MI, you still hate it from time to time, hahaha.

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It only took me 3 years to figure out where I really belonged!

The sunrises are beautiful. A very nice picture of you. :) Next to you is a sign. Does it say do not feed the gulls? That would be a freight to have one fly in & lift some food from a persons plate when you think about it.

I think I still really belong in New England! That was where I first really found a home of my own.

Since I've been back here I've found a lot of things about this area that are really nice and that I appreciate, but it still just doesn't feel like home.

But I wound up back here 8 years ago for reasons too time-consuming and tiresome to get into, and it's hard to think of uprooting yet again.

That is the one regret I have in life, is moving away from my friends and family. I was running away figuring I'd start over after caring for my Dad for 3 years. Very foolish move on my part. But life is too short and I'm much better off now than I've ever been.

fabulous pics! Its been a several years since I've been to the Island. Last time I was there my mom's cousin flew us in on his plane. My Parents have a cottage around Kalkaska/Grayling so it isn't far for them. They don't go to the UP very much tho, my mom has a hard enough time crossing the Saginaw Bridge, she HATES the Mackinac Island.

When my dad was a kid, they used to go camping up there in the summer b/c my grandpa had such bad asthma/allergies that they lived in MI part of the year b/c it was easier for him to breathe. When he was a kid, before Fort Michimilamac became a tourist place, he and his cousins used to ride their bikes along the edge right below the top of the fort!
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/SDC10988.jpg

More awesome pictures!!!

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Originally Posted by Bonny

The sunrises are beautiful. A very nice picture of you. :) Next to you is a sign. Does it say do not feed the gulls? That would be a freight to have one fly in & lift some food from a persons plate when you think about it.

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that's exactly what it says, haha. There were signs like that everywhere. Of course...we fed the seagulls at my hotel. One because my buddy. I named him Walter.

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Originally Posted by shais_mom

fabulous pics! Its been a several years since I've been to the Island. Last time I was there my mom's cousin flew us in on his plane. My Parents have a cottage around Kalkaska/Grayling so it isn't far for them. They don't go to the UP very much tho, my mom has a hard enough time crossing the Saginaw Bridge, she HATES the Mackinac Island.

When my dad was a kid, they used to go camping up there in the summer b/c my grandpa had such bad asthma/allergies that they lived in MI part of the year b/c it was easier for him to breathe. When he was a kid, before Fort Michimilamac became a tourist place, he and his cousins used to ride their bikes along the edge right below the top of the fort!
http://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t...0/SDC10988.jpg

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We stopped in Grayling for lunch, hahaha.

Really? I had enough trouble WALKING up on that thing - I can't imagine riding a bike!

Lovely photos. :) I really like the fact that they stick to their traditional roots of only horses and bikes allowed - quite like a version of some of our Channel Islands, such as Sark. I never knew you were gone since we must have been away at the same time! :p

Glad you had such a good time and thanks for sharing.

Lovely photos! I've spent many summers and spring breaks up at Mackinac. I'm considering walking the bridge for Labor Day this year. My family did it many years ago and it was so much fun.

Wow JML.....cool pics.
The history in those places is fascinating.
Thanks for posting those.......;)

:eek: WoW I would have had a panic attack too going over that long bridge.. Hey all is breathtaken with beauty.. Congrats on you great vacation.. great pics thanks

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Originally Posted by ramanth

Lovely photos! I've spent many summers and spring breaks up at Mackinac. I'm considering walking the bridge for Labor Day this year. My family did it many years ago and it was so much fun.

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Someday I'd like to walk the bridge, as well. Surprisingly, the whole heights+water thing didn't really bother me.

I'd also like to work on the Island for a summer in a few years, working behind the scenes with the horse care or something. Our carriage driver was talking about how she works about 95 hours a week, but I think it would be totally worth it.

Love the pictures - brings back many wonderful memories.

The first time I went over the bridge, I did not want to come back. There is something about the U.P. - something magical. I :love: the western part, from Marquette west. And the Keweenaw Peninsula is my idea of Heaven. We spent a week in Copper Harbor one year.

The bridge doesn't bother me at all. We've been to the Island - had lunch at the Grand Hotel - back when they let you eat there even though you weren't a guest. And one of my all time favorite movies was filmed there - Somewhere in Time.

Thanks so much for sharing.

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Originally Posted by phesina

I think I still really belong in New England! That was where I first really found a home of my own.

Since I've been back here I've found a lot of things about this area that are really nice and that I appreciate, but it still just doesn't feel like home.

But I wound up back here 8 years ago for reasons too time-consuming and tiresome to get into, and it's hard to think of uprooting yet again.

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Pat, the area north of Marquette, in the western part of the U.P. is almost identical to northern Maine. 2 lane roads, lots of tall pine trees and that wonderful crisp air with the pine smell.

Thank you, Grace. I've only been to the U.P. once.. When I was about 15 or 16 my family took a vacation trip up there, which I wrote about earlier in this thread.. We crossed the Bridge, not long after it had opened so that was a big deal, spent a night in St. Ignace where we saw the Northern Lights.

We then went to Sault Ste. Marie and got to watch the Soo Locks in action.. and also to the Keweenaw Peninsula and Copper Harbor.. I remember seeing and climbing over beautiful huge rocks.. bright sunlight and brilliant colors of forests and the shore and mighty Lake Superior.

Since I am back here, I should plan a trip up north again some time!