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Mackinac Island


I started the day with the carriage ride tour.  It's kind of a hop on hop off thing that takes you around the village, past The Grand Hotel, into the interior of the Island, to Fort Mackinac, and my final stop was back at The Grand.  I learned a lot about the Island along the way. 

There are over 60 varieties of lilacs on the Island.  Each June there is a Lilac Festival on the Island (link) 



The Grand Hotel

  • Originally had 180 rooms
  • Was built in under 90 days to get a bonus that was offered by the owner - but he reneged and didn't pay!
  • Porch is 660 feet long and the ceiling is painted "Grand blue" to deter birds from nesting
  • There are now 385 rooms that are all decorated differently.  
  • The lake freezes over in February and March and people snow mobile to the main land.

 A one hour carriage ride through the woods.

  • Stopped at Skull Cave which wasn't much to see because it had been blown up at one point to stop teenagers from hanging out there.
  • An old rifle range that the Fort soldiers used.
  • There is so much dead fall in the woods that it is predicted it would take 72 hours for the entire Island to burn...earlier this year during a dry spell they had that down to 36.  Yikes!         
  • Arch Rock was an awesome spot.


I paid to tour the Fort and it was worth it just for the view.  Amazing!  The fort is well preserved with demonstrations like cannon and rifle firing.  Loud!!  There were several girl scouts working at the Fort.  Each week there are either girl or boy scouts on the Island helping in various ways.  Kind of a cool.



Next to The Grand Hotel which was...well grand. You can view the grounds, and the first two floors as a day visitor.  It was truly awesome!  But when I sat on their porch, I realized I'm glad I stayed at The Island House Hotel (link) because all you can really see from The Grand porch is trees and a little lake.  The view from The Island House Hotel is so much more interesting to me.



I had an awesome dinner at Cawthorne's Village Inn.  It's off the beaten track but the food and service were awesome.  I had the most interesting conversation with the waitress, Angela.  She's a gypsy too!


In the end I didn't rent a bike to explore, but it would be an awesome bike ride around and through the Island.


Today I'm heading south exploring as I go.

 
 
The Grand Hotel from the carriage.
 
 
 I love the look of this small shop


 













Main Entrance


View to the right

 
  View to the left
  The Porch

  
One of the guest hallways

The Garden at The Grand
 




 







 

  


 



My favorite spot - on the porch at The Island House Hotel

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