Mackinac Island, Michigan

We knew this very popular resort island would be a special port for us. “It’s like being on Catalina Island,” Joel said, and I could definitely see the similarities. Like Catalina, it’s pretty, charming, environmentally oriented and tourist centered. It does have more history than Catalina and a lot more fudge.

Bikes are very big on the island, which banned automobiles more than a century ago. The only cars are emergency vehicles.
The compact downtown area has alot of lovely, century old buildings like this Victorian style one.
Tourists get ferried around in horse drawn wagons, on horseback, or they can rent bicycles.
The first fudge shop opened on Mackinac in 1887 and it quickly became a major thing on the island. Apparently this small town can support 13 fudge shops and it seems to be a rule that you must buy some when you come here.
The island, which is less than 4 square miles, has only 600 year round residents. That becomes about 2,000 residents in the tourist season, which has more than 1.2 million visitors in a year. The island still maintains a quaint, low key quality.
The Missionary Bark Chapel is a reconstruction patterned after chapels built on the island in the late 1600’s.
At the top of the bluff, with a commanding view of the island and harbor is the island’s historic Fort Mackinac. The reconstructions and exhibits in its buildings proudly tell the Fort’s history in the Revolution, the War of 1812 and the Civil War. I loved how it blended personal stories and life on the island with the more momentous history.
No, we’re not at the Tower of London. The Fort, now managed by the Mackinac State Historic Parks, has some guides dressed in the military garb of the mid 19th century.
This view is from the island’s historic fort. It looks over Marquette Park and the harbor.
This officer’s home is one of the beautifully recreated exhibits in the fort.
The long ramp leads from Marquette Park up to the Fort. The walls are made with locally quarried limestone.

Our horse drawn carriage ride took us into the center of the island and the Mackinac Island State Park. More than 80% of the island is protected parkland. Below is the park’s Arch Rock, one of its most iconic natural features.

The Grand Hotel Stable and Carriage Museum gave us an opportunity to see a few dozen antique carriages and sleighs on display. The one above is the official hearse used by residents since 1875.

The Grand Hotel of Mackinac Island is one of the nation’s most well known historic hotels. It advertises itself as having the world’s largest wrap around porch, and and five U.S. presidents, Thomas Edison and Mark Twain are among the guests who sat on it. This is where the movie Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour was filmed.

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