If you’re ever in Mackinac City and in the mood for a hotdog, it’ll be obvious where to go
This is the Mackinac Bridge, and it’s a big deal around here.
Our next destination is a place that’s been on the list for a looooong time. Mackinac Island. (pronounced Mackinaw). It’s an island in the UP (that’s Upper Peninsula) and it’s very unusual. You can ride a ferry over to it. You can ride a bike on it. You can ride a horse carriage on it. You can walk around it. But you can’t drive a car anywhere on it. No motorized vehicles, although we did pass some cruisin’ grandmas and grandpas on scooter chairs.
The ferry ride over.
We landed at the port and got on our bikes. The ride around the island would be 8.2 miles, and take as long as we wanted it to.
This road is for pedestrian traffic only.
The sun was out, the breeze just right…a perfect day for an island ride.
We happened to be on Mackinac Island on the anniversary of the British landing. This guy knew a lot of history, and the boys loved asking him questions.
There are private residences on the island, but several hotels, too. The world-famous Grand Hotel is in the bottom picture. It is grand.
We found a pier dock, and the boys had a blast jumping off it.
Albert and Mel found a different way to enjoy the beach 🙂
Arch Rock
The climb up to the Arch Rock Lookout is 207 steps.
The view from the lookout.
Nicolet Watch Tower
The most beautiful view of Lake Huron
In many touristy cities, there are on-and-off trolleys or buses you can take. You ride around, get off to see stuff you want to see, and catch another one when you’re ready to move on. This is the Mackinac Island version of that. Only these trolleys poop a lot. There’s a poop clean-up crew up since it ends up being a gathering spot.
Fort Mackinac
The island has kind of a busy Disneyland feel to it when you’re near town, but once you get away on the other side, it’s simple and lovely.
One last dip before we catch the ferry back to St. Ignace (pronounced IG-nus)
Before leaving, we saw the package guy out delivering. There are horses on the front end.
This little girl was on the ferry ride back. She reminded us so much of Melbee as a puppy. So much about her was the same. It gave us all heart tickles to think of our little girl. It was exactly a year ago today we brought Melbee home. This day was her one year anniversary as a Malo. God gave us a precious reminder. What a treasure.
A Malo Walkabout 