Mackinac Island, MI 1

An oldy worldy experience !

We have dropped the car for now and scaled back our luggage a fraction whilst we ferried out into Lake Huron and the grand location of Mackinac Island for two nights.

Our first stop today after filling up with gas in Traverse City was a town called Charlevoix where there is a collection of “mushroom houses”. They were built by a self-taught builder , Earl Young, starting in 1919 and continuing into the 1970’s. There are over two dozen buildings built using indigenous materials. They are made mostly of stone, using limestone, fieldstone, and boulders that he found throughout Northern Michigan. Each of these houses is individually different and was designed to blend in with its surrounding landscape. The buildings have been called Gnome Homes, Mushroom Houses, or Hobbit Houses.

We continued north to the tip of the “mitten” section of Michigan where we would pass over the straights between Lake Michigan & Lake Huron, over the impressive Mackinac Bridge. The scenery was probably less agricultural but …

The area generally is obviously well healed. Many of the bigger towns have “members only” golf clubs, yacht clubs and country clubs. From what we could see, the areas were beautifully manicured and maintained. And certainly ideal locations with many bordering the lake.

We took in one of the scenic drives, known as the “Tunnel of Trees” along M-119, said to be one of the states most spectacular drives. It runs for about 24 miles and the area was once largely inhabited by the Odawa, or Ottawa Indians. It is a narrow road engulfed in trees right up to the edge of the road. It is a mixed forest dominated by mature broad leaf and pine trees. It hugs the Lake Michigan shoreline however the thick trees can make it a bit difficult to see !

Before going over the bridge we stopped in a park in Mackinaw City for a coffee and to take in the views of the bridge. It is a bit confusing as you will see that I have used “Mackinac” and “Mackinaw” – it is the same thing and the pronunciation uses the “Mackinaw” version. The French occupied the territory first and used the “Mackinac” spelling whilst when the British took over they spelt it as it sounded – with the “w”. Another lighthouse, Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse, was in the park we stopped at.

After our coffee, we headed over the grand bridge to the town of St Ignace – now on the “U.P.” – the Upper Peninsula. This is where we parked our car to board the ferry across to Mackinac Island.

A bit about Mackinac Island – It was first visited by French explorers in the 1600s and until then the island was an ancient Indian burial ground called Michilimackinac (“Great Turtle”). In 1780, because of its strategic location, the British established a fort here. After the United States took possession in 1783, John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company used it as it’s headquarters and later it developed as a resort. Occupied by the British during the War of 1812, it was regained by the United States in 1815.

The ferry ride across to the island took about 20 minutes. It was very organised – we had valet parking where they collected and tagged our luggage with the details of our accommodation on the island. We then didn’t see our luggage until we arrived at our hotel. The ferries run about every half hour so no specific bookings are needed (hopefully the car is there when we get back !). Arriving on the island, we joined the throng of pedestrians, cyclists and horses – there are no cars – and wandered along the main street and in and out of the shops before heading to our hotel – just a bit further along the main street.

After checking in, we walked back along the main street and other back streets getting our bearings for our more detailed sight seeing tomorrow. Back at the hotel, Adrienne made some bookings for further into our tour and then we decided to have an early dinner at Ice House BBQ, a restaurant attached to the back of our hotel. The Island House Hotel where we are staying was actually the first hotel on the island. The current owner’s family bought it 50 years ago as it was about to be demolished. They now seem to own half the stores and restaurants in town !

The food for dinner was excellent – we shared nachos made with smoked brisket, whilst Adrienne had pulled pork for her main and I had a half rack of ribs. The accompanying Carolina mustard BBQ sauce was delicious !

Tomorrow we will hire bikes to do a circuit of the island and have a look around …

Today’s Tour Trivia – Detroit, MI residents were the first in the USA to have phone numbers. It seems that by 1879, the city had grown so large that the operators were no longer able to route the calls by name alone.