Day 12 - Mackinac Island

I had plans for staying in De Tour Village with my friends Ben and Diana but Diana looked at the weather and told me there would be a big thunderstorm rolling in Tuesday and Wednesday so I decided to get to Mackinac while the weather was beautiful.

So I said good bye, hopped on the Harley and made the run to an island I had not seen in 40 years. As far as I know there are only two ways to get to the island, by boat or plane. You can't drive.

There is on exception. During exceptionally cold winters, Lake Huron will freeze enough to cross on foot, ski, or snowmobile between Saint Ignace and the Island. Locals will mark the way with Christmas trees. That, I imagine would be quite a sight.

But today I'm taking the jet ferry from St. Ignace to the island. Parking his free at St. Ignace but I think there's a charge on the other side of the bridge.

My big plan was to rent a bike, but it is crowded today. And from what I can tell, the island has not changed in the four decades since I last set foot on it.

A (very) brief history of the island. Way back in the day, some British officer recognized the island would make an ideal location for a fort because it was located near the narrow channel between Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, plus the high lime stone cliffs made for a good location for a fort. This cave the canon a range of well over a mile, perfect for defending.

Once the fort was built, women who wanted to marry soldiers, or to get jobs working for the army doing domestic chores soon followed. Then traders, businessmen, tradesmen, and eventually, yes tourists.

Every day they reenact some of the routines of living in the fort, including firing the canon out over the bay.

The fort and island became a hub for the fur trade. John Jacob Astor, one of the first truly wealthy global entrepreneurs set up shop here and in one year moved $3M in furs through the island. In today's dollars that would be like $140M. At the time the average person earned $300 to $500 a year. Yeah, Astor was a rich dude. So he built a mansion on the island, and soon other wealthy businessmen followed.

The island became sort of an escape from the big cities. When the Grand Hotel was built in 1887, then the tourist trade hit the big time. Made almost entirely out of lumber, they built the hotel in less than 4 months. Tourism was now in full swing and never seemed to let up.

The hotel remains famous today, and was the sight of the movie Somewhere In Time - they even set up a little shrine to the making of the movie in the lobby with pictures of Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymore.

I don't know when the majority of the island became a national park, but there are no cars allowed on the island. (They had to get special permission to allow cars on the island for the movie).

Famous Fudge

The burritos in Mason City IA may not be world famous, but the Fudge on Mackinac Island definitely is. No sooner do I walk off the boat then I walk into Ryba's and buy a box of pink fudge. There are at least a dozen places on Main Street where you can buy the sweet treat, but I dive into the first place I see.

Peanut butter and Chocalate with Pecans. Yum!

I had considered renting a bike, but the island is so crowded I decide to walk instead. Unfortunately I'm dressed in riding gear. That means boots, long jeans, long sleeve shirt, but I'm also sufficiently fit and I've learned that discomfort is not a bad thing, so I just start walking. If there's one thing I can do, it's walk.

So I walk a big loop, by the famous cottages overlooking the bay, and through the back roads, until I reach fort Mackinac. It seems like you have to pay to enter everything here, but it's okay.

I see the Haunted "house" where my sister dropped the fudge when we were kids. One of the "ghosts" smashed it with his shovel then tried to pick it up and apologize - the scary guy wearing the mask scared her even more. Ah, rejoicing at the (mostly harmless) suffering of siblings... yeah, that's the Novis family.

The restaurants are too crowded and I've seen what I consider to be the essentials. I don't want to ride at night - too many deer. So I decide to head back.

I am really glad I got to spend some time on a perfect day on the island. I would love to come back with more time and perhaps stay, but for now, this touches some nostalgia for me. I take the ferry home and then head to Mackinac City where I'll visit the Harley store, pick up a poker chip then find something to eat.

I'll find a lakeside motel and stop for the night.