My Bucket List: Mackinac Island

Yes, I have a bucket list.  It's a new thing.  I came to the realization that I'm probably at least halfway done with my life now, and my body certainly isn't getting any younger.  Funny how that works--I feel like, mentally, I could keep going for years and years, but when I look at how my body is already limiting me physically, I realize that I'd better get going on getting things done.

I had been telling myself for years that I would visit Mackinac Island (for Michigan newbies, that's pronounced MackiNAW island).  This seemed especially obvious since I spend every summer just a couple hours away from it.  However, it just wasn't happening.  This year, though, I made it a priority.

Glo and I were originally going to drive through Canada and do some research on the Kennedy family, but my heart went out to John who was already going to be away from us for upwards of seven weeks.  I just couldn't extend that time any longer.  However, a trip to Mackinac only added two days to the summer, so we packed up (very last minute) and headed out.  Of course, it wasn't a problem to make a quick stop in Ann Arbor (after all, we needed to eat, right?), and I had a special idea for Glo.

Despite having grown up in Ann Arbor, I have never seen the famous "fairy doors".  It only took a few minutes on the internet to locate a couple of them, and we set off downtown to see them for ourselves.

I loved when the doors had
something BEHIND them.

No joke, these are the cutest things.  I was certainly more enamored of them than Glo was, but I believe that's because of my belief in all things cute and mythical.  Santa, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny.  I like to believe in them all, and little cute fairy doors are no exception.  The best part was trying to actually locate them once we had arrived at the address.  They were sometimes inside and sometimes outside the establishments, and once we found them, it was a question of how much of a spectacle we wanted to make of ourselves taking photos with them :-)

This one was on the outside.

And these creative types were just up my alley.
I mean if you're going to own a fairy door, you may as well make the most of the legend, right?

This one was downright genius.  See the poster of the fairy doors to the left of the door?  The cafe actually sold life-size posters, and of course, I couldn't resist buying a couple of them as housewarming gifts for some family members who might like to find the doors themselves!

This scene was opposite the red fairy door above.  Obviously, some other creatures are living it up at this property.
Army men battling it out...with their Barbie cheerleader :-)

Pressing onward.

I had done some research and there seem to be two different camps about how to experience Mackinac Island.  One is to make it a day trip, and the other insists that you must stay for a couple of days to really experience it.

For those who don't know, Mackinac Island is a small island just a bit off the tip top of the Michigan mitten.  It is only accessible by boat, and aside from emergency vehicles, there are no vehicles allowed on the island.  Everyone and everything gets around by horse-drawn carriage.  Too, there are no chain shops or restaurants on the island, so it really is like stepping back in time.

I bit the bullet and decided that Glo and I would stay overnight for two nights.  Not a big deal, right?  Well, at $250/night, it was a rather LARGE deal, but I decided to stick to the camp of really experiencing the island.  Glo and I drove to Gaylord, Michigan the night before, stayed in a Holiday Inn Express, and got up the next morning to attend church.  It just so happened to be Father's Day also, so we sent our happy video greetings to John.  After sacrament meeting, we hopped in the car and drove the 45 minutes to the dock. 

One of my favorite feelings is returning to Norther Michigan each summer.  I'm like a kid in a candy store (or Ethan before a new season of Michigan football).  I am just giddy, and I love everything I see.  Billy (Glo's trusty buffalo friend) was obviously excited too about returning to Michigan.

I'm amazed that any town north of Lansing is allowed to be named this, but whatever.  I'll take it!

I must admit that I was just excited to see the actual Mackinac Bridge, one of the longest suspension bridges in the world, which connects the Michigan Lower Peninsula to the Michigan Upper Peninsula.  It is an incredible sight.

Glo took this picture through her binoculars using my iPhone.  Clever girl!

Waiting for the ferry.
Like a true musician, Glo never goes anywhere without her violin!

We boarded the ferry to the island, but I must admit that it was confusing, trying to figure out what to do with our luggage, and which ferry company to take, and wondering how the luggage would make it to our hotel, and how we would find the carriage to the hotel.  It's not a very large production though so it wasn't to difficult to figure it all out.

The ferry ride was just beautiful.  I wish I didn't always say that about everything related to Michigan, but there is just something about the state that speaks to my soul.  The water was beautiful, the view was beautiful, it's all beautiful.

Yep, we really feel this happy every time we head to Michigan!

We arrived on the island, picked up our luggage and found the carriage that went to our hotel.  I had reserved a room at a hotel that isn't on the main drag.  I wanted something a bit more remote and beautiful.  As it turned out, it took us nearly 30 minutes to take the 2 mile carriage ride.  It was a fun thing to do, but at $8/person/way, I realized that getting anywhere was going to be time and money intensive.  However, the scenery along the way was ... you guessed it ... beautiful.

Strangely enough, the carriage drivers are NOT beautiful, or friendly in any way.  In fact, they act very much like New York taxi drivers.  I had read about this on reviews, but I didn't believe it until I saw it.  This was kind of a dampener on the whole initial experience, but what can you do.

The horses didn't like being kept to a time table.
They always wanted to move faster than they were allowed.

They were friendly enough though.

This was our hotel.  Like I said, there are no chain hotels on the island.  Most of the hotels are converted mansions.

Each room was unique.  Ours was just lovely, and actually very comfortable.

 We arrived with just enough time to take a nap, get dinner and head out to the beach.

Napping with Billy

See the bridge in the background?

This was the backyard of our hotel.

No kayaking in this weather!

The next day we had plans to go kayaking around the island, but when we showed up, the tour was cancelled because of heavy fog.  I was so hoping it would clear up, but after 30 minutes (and no change), we knew we needed to make new plans.  And this is where Serendipity stepped in.

I had seen a cute sign in a yard, advertising "drive yourself" carriage rides.  I just couldn't resist.  We walked up to Jack's Livery Stable, and within minutes (and a short survey about our previous riding experience), we were matched up to our man of the hour, Shorty.

As it turns out, I was with the one Kennedy child who has absolutely NO riding experience.  Ethan and Mark could have been out jumping fences and such, and Hannah could at least take us around the ring, but Glo and me?  Yep, nothing between the two of us.  And that's why we were given Shorty.

After a brief 50-foot walk down a dirt road with Glo and me in the carriage, and our trainer holding the reins to the side of us, we were handed the reins, and a map and wished good luck!  We were told that Shorty could actually walk the entire route himself with no help from us, and we held onto that one shred of hope for us poor, hopeless souls.

Glo was nervous to take the reins in the beginning, but really, Shorty didn't need our help at all!

It was crazy how beautiful the weather was ON the island, but how uninviting it was just off the shore!

We could just see the tip of the bridge.

The next two hours with Glo were the best way we could have started out our summer adventures.  We drove Shorty around (or really, he drove us) the perimeter of the island, which is bordered by forest on one side and Lake Huron on the other.  It was shady, and sunny and ... you guessed it ... beautiful.

We loved Shorty.  We had been warned to not run him hard, but let him just walk most of the time.  However, we were told on downhills we could get him into a nice trot.  Sure enough, all we had to do was click our tongue, or barely touch him with the reins and he would move into a nice trot.  For us who have never controlled any equine being, it was great fun.  And sure enough, he knew the whole way to go.

After two hours together, our hearts belonged to Shorty, and we figured he felt the same about us...until we saw him fly back into his stables without so much as a backward glance at us :-)  Evidently hay and rest are bigger motivators for horses than love is!

We still had an afternoon to spend together, but there was a big storm expected that evening.  Another great review had been for a butterfly house on the island.  Since Glo couldn't remember the times we had spent in the Schmetterling Garten in Luxembourg, this was a rather new experience for her.  And it was just as delightful a time, spending an hour with butterflies as it had been spending time with Shorty.  A large, warm room, filled with every color and size butterfly you can imagine.  Glo didn't bring her sketch book with her, but she filled her camera with pictures of the amazing creatures.

Finally, we knew we needed to get back to the hotel before the storm blew in.  Glo took the carriage back, but I walked back...and actually BEAT the carriage!  Yep, I definitely got my steps in for the day!  When we were back in our room, we threw on our swimming suits and headed for the pool, because gosh darn it, we were staying at the one hotel on the island that had a swimming pool!  It was one of those moments where you can hardly get in the pool because the water is so cold, but once you are in, it's colder to get out.  And then the rain came :-)

We did all the things we should have done.  Rode the carriages, drove our own carriage, bought and ate more fudge than we could eat, took the ferry, ate at one of two restaurants on the island.  Yep, cross one thing off the bucket list.  Now, I just need to go back and run the 5K across the bridge someday...or at least DRIVE across it :-)