Here goes...
9/9- We packed up the good 'ol 4Runner, loaded our bikes and we left Valpo at our targeted time of 8:30a.m. to begin our long 7 hour journey to Mackinac Island! We had to make 3 stops along the way for my mom, it was also nice to stretch our legs a bit too! Bdude drove most of the way there, I did the last 2 hours of the journey. It's always so exciting when you can see the bridge, you know you have arrived!
It was overcast and spitting when we pulled up to the Starline Ferry dock. Bummer! A bit chilly too. But, the skies were looking like it would clear! Even though there was a nip in the air, I had to sit up top, I could not resist getting some pictures heading over to the island with my new SLR Canon!
This is one of my fav. sites, St. Ann's church:
My other fav. is seeing Grand Hotel getting closer and closer:
When we arrived, we collected our bikes and rode down to Harbour View Inn, we love staying here, you're steps away from the lake, far enough down the main street to make it quiet and right next to St. Ann's church. We love the garden view. They serve a nice continental breakfast every morning too. We were pleased to find that the rooms had just gotten an update, fresh carpet, paint, furnishings etc...nicely done!
We settled in, got cleaned up and walked into town for a nice dinner at the Yankee Rebel Inn. It did clear up and was a gorgeous evening!
9/10- What a glorious day! Partly cloudy and a high in the mid 70's! After we had breakfast, we headed to JL Beanery, our fav little coffee house from our last visit. It sits right on the water! But, we were extremely disappointed this time around, they no longer served the Mackinac Fudge coffee. The coffee was in styrofoam cups and sitting in carafes. No real 1/2 and 1/2, boo! We would have to find somewhere else to get our coffee this stay. We made the best of it though, we sat on the pier and enjoyed the water, how could not feel relaxed here?! We went to the info. center afterwards to collect pamphlets etc...and figure out what we wanted to do for the rest of the week. We decided since the weather was so beautiful, we should not put off our bike around the island. So, that's what we did!
I am a huge "Somewhere in Time" fan! We had to stop at the little monument and Bdude and I had to react the scene! "Is it you?"
After our 8 mile bike around the island, stopping for an ice cream break was a must! Wow, that tasted good! We sat by the water again, to enjoy our treat! My mom was a trooper, she made it all the way around the island! This was a good day for her!
We decided to have snacks on our patio outside of our rooms, facing the garden. This is when we made a friend, "Kevin" the chipmunk! (We are easily entertained) This little guy was so cute, we were feeding him peanuts and then he was posing for us! Too cute!
We relaxed afterwards, went up to the balcony facing the lake at our Inn and just took at all in. Later, when we were all hungry again, we walked into town to grab dinner, this time at Horn's Bar/Grill. Then did some window shopping!
9/11- This was my mom and dad's 42nd wedding anniversary! My mom was feeling extremely tired from the long trip and alot of activity the day before, so we brought breakfast to her in their room. Then Bdude and my dad went into town for our coffee, we had discovered Sander's (another chocolate shop on the island) had the chocolate coffee! Now, I am not a flavored coffee fan, but this stuff is out of this world, just a light hint of chocolate! mmmmmmm!
After we were all ready to head out, we stopped at St. Ann's church to say a prayer. We have much to be thankful for, that my mom is doing well at this time with her fight with cancer and that we were all healthy enough to make the trip.
My mom no longer likes pictures taken of herself, so I got a candid shot, of her and my dad hand in hand outside of church, this is her fav. view. Right next to our Inn and church.
It was another perfect day, so we decided to visit Fort Mackinac! The views from the Fort are incredible! There is so much history on this island and the Fort of course is full of histoy as well. Bdude really enjoyed this, he's a history buff! It's so incredible to see how soldiers and their families lived during that time. Makes me have a greater appreciation for what we have today!
View of bridge and Grand Hotel from the fort:
Was really ejoying playing with my new camera, this little guy was not afraid, I was able to get pretty close to him and zoom in!
After we walked about the Fort, we had to stop at the Tea Room, it's run by Grand Hotel, we found out a secret last visit in 2010, there is a host there that makes the best chocolate milkshakes in the world! It's not on the menu. He remembered us too! He brought out a special treat and sang to my parents for the anniversary, it really made it special! After the sugar overlaod...we needed to walk! We walked to the Wings of Mackinac butterfly house. My parents took a sit outside and bdude and I went in! It was so beautiful! The butterflies really liked bdude's red shirt b/c they kept landing on him! LOL. There were butterflies everywhere, so many species! Just gorgeous! I think I took 100 pictures!
(I was sizing my pics down a bit for some reason Photobucket is not allowing me to do that now, it's giving me some error message, sorry this pics are so big!)
After the butterfly house we parted way with my parents, my mom was pooped! Bdude and I went on to Grand Hotel! I love this place, the history and the feel of it! We paid the admission, walked around the lobby area and headed up to the Cupola Bar, the views up here are out of this world! It was sunny, so the lake looked like it had a million diamonds sparkling on it! We had a drink and toasted! After the Cupola, we headed to the porch, the longest in the world! This is also where alot of the filming for "Somewhere in Time" was done. We sat in the rocking chairs for a while. Then headed back. We needed to get cleaned up for dinner. We went into town and ate at Yankee Rebel Inn again, bdude and my dad could not resist the special that night, lasagna! LOL.
View from Cupola Bar atop Grand Hotel:
Boiler Couple on Grand Hotel's famous porch:
We caught a partial sunset this evening, the clouds blocked it, but was still beautiful:
9/12- Cooler weather and breezy, but still beautiful! God was with us on this trip b/c it only rained at night! This was the day that I got Bdude to ride a horse for the first time in his life! I give my love an A+ for going outside of his comfort zone and handling himself really well! He was given Dusty and I rode Fritz. I am an experienced rider, I was a jumper, I've always rode English so I did not enjoy the Western saddle. But, riding past Grand Hotel and through the forest on horseback, simply amazing! I was trying to explain to bdude to not let the reins go slack, horses will test you and see if you are going to let them be the boss! Dusty was the boss of bdude, he was running him into branches and would stop periodically, LOL. Our guide sent us on our way and went to guide the other group. I obviously took a wrong turn b/c Fritz, stopped, took a deep sigh (as if in disgust with me) turned himself around and went down the correct path! They are so intelligent! The guide said they would get us back and he wasn't kidding! I could've rode all afternoon!
Fritz and Dusty are best friends and stall mates! How sweet is that?! Fritz was totally posing in the last pic!
We just wanted a light lunch, so we stopped at Doud's supermarket and got sandwiches and drinks. This is a great deal, you get a delicious sub and a drink for $6, eating can get pricey on the island! After our lunch we wanted to try and get a ride through the middle of the island in. We mom didn't make it very far, it was chilly this day and windy. Along with her cancer she suffers with Scleroderma (rare auto immune disease) and one of the nasty things that goes along with that is Reynaud's. Her fingers turn purple then white and it's painful. Obviously if not corrected quickly she could suffer nerve damage. She uses "hot hands" and has every glove imagineable, but sometimes it's still not enough. We were all disappointed, my parent's turned back and bdude and I continued on. The middle of the island is unique, there are different trails you can take, riding through dense woods is so beautiful! You can see "Arch Rock" and there is a the cemetary, rather eerie but neat! And other landmarks along the way. We ended up back by the lake and made our way back around into town, we rode more aggresively, so I felt like we got a good workout! We stopped a long the way to take pictures, of course! There is a bluff looking out over the town, I almost feel like it's our secret spot, it's not on the map, it's where the "Somewhere in Time" gazebo was moved to and there is never anyone there, it's off the beaten path a bit.
Arch Rock:
Lookout from Arch Rock:
After our bike ride, we met up with my parents at the Inn and headed back into town together for our last dinner on the island, *sigh*. We ate at Mary's Bistro, right on the water, what a view!
The next few pics. are from sunrise on the 13th, my dad and I got up early and biked to my fav. lookout point! We biked up the huge hill w/o stopping, that will get you going in the a.m. along with the brisk 47 degree weather!!!! Well worth it though!
We left the island on the 1:30 ferry and started our long trek back home to Indiana! It was a wonderful trip, wish we had more time. Every time we go, we find more we like to do! If I was not injured we would've ran around the island too. In 2010 we ran the Mackianc 8 and loved it! The scenery is amazing! I took hundreds of pics, literally, but tried to scale it down for my report. I will still try to figure out a way to post a link for my video!
Now we're home and settling back into the grind. It was a nice break, that's for sure!
Thanks for reading!
This weather is horrible. In the 90s today and tomorrow and a slight chance of rain on Wednesday. Sounds like you won't be too cold on your trip, although it should be a bit nicer up north.
The photos are excellent! You're not quite the photog novice you lead us to believe you are!