Tuesday, July 12

First of all as of Tuesday night,  Joni's eye is slightly better; she's not ready for any Maybeline ads, but hopefully she's turned the corner.  

We left the campground around 8:30 and headed into St. Ignace where we caught the 9:30 ferry to Mackinac Island.  

We unintentionally bought tickets for the boat that goes under the Macikinac Bridge as opposed to straight to Mackinac Island, and as a result we got some incredible views of the bridge from directly underneath.   I could appreciate its beauty, but it certainly doesn't reduce my nervousness about driving over the country's longest suspension bridge.  That won't happen until Thursday.

As soon as we got off the boat, we bought tickets for a 2 hour horse drawn carriage tour of the island.  We had two different drivers and both were equally entertaining, sharing great stories, facts, and historical information about the island.  Cars are not allowed on the island, with the only exceptions being police, fire, and rescue vehicles.  In fact there are more horses, 600, on the island than year round residents, 500.  There's horseshit everywere, so when you walk across the street you better look down, especially if you're wear flip flops.  The Island operates two Zamboni like street cleaners that tidy up the roads, but they only do it twice each day.

After the carriage tour, we walked to the Grand Hotel, Mackinac's version of the Mount Washington in Bretton Woods.  

The Grand has spectacular views of the Straits and we had a wonderful lunch at the Hotel's Jockey Club, which overlooks their golf course, the town, and the Great Lakes.  Certainly this was one of our best meals in Michigan, and my salad was photo worthy. 

After lunch we walked into town, taking side streets and being treated to the beautifully manicured architecture of the island.  Joni and I both agreed that Mackinac reminded us of Martha's Vineyard.  

 

Once we got back to the center of town we were overwhelmed by the crowds and heat.  

This was our first day of 80+ degree temps, so rather than walk up and down the main street, we headed for the dock, stopping only one of the islands ten fudge shops for a $10 purchase of one turtle and one small block of Heath bar like toffee. The turtle was really good, and hopefully the fudge didn't melt.  

We took a 2 pm ferry back to St. Ignace, vainly searched for a battery for Wendy's camera, and then returned to our campsite, arriving around 3:30 PM.  Wendy and Carl did not join us for today's trip, they've been to Mackinac Island several times, so we spent the rest of the afternoon sharing highlights.