Adventure 471: FOMO Tour/Day 9/Mackinac Island Visit

Ain't it Grand?

We woke to a cool morning, lounged around until ten, and then rode our bike down to the ferry boat dock for our day visit to Mackinac Island. Though breezy and a bit chilly, we braved the upper deck and oohed and ahhed when the ferry took a little turn under the Mackinac Bridge, which was once the longest span bridge in the world. It's now number seventeen, but the five mile structure is still a marvel. Our captain, a gregarious man who's been working the ferry for thirty years, filled us in on all the pertinent details. He makes 10-12 trips a day. In thirty years time that amount to nearly two thousand. He said that they've never missed a trip due to weather. Once at the island, we immediately left the hoards to make our first loop around the island. It's an 8.3 mile trail that is smooth, flat, scenic, and simply exquisite. We liked it so  much, we did it twice. We're not really t-shirt tourists, but we did admire the Victorian architecture, marvel at the lifestyle of the rich in the bygone days, and of course, we enjoyed reading about the history of the island. Amazing as it sounds, the island boasts a K-12 school, a year around population of over five hundred, and a sense of peace seldom found. No personal cars are allowed on the island, but there are bicycles galore as well as a fair number of horses. Crews can constantly be seen cleaning up road apples. Almost every other shop sells fudge, taffy, and other sweet stuff, and of course, there are curio shops, restaurants, bars, and not a few churches. The centerpiece of the island is the magnificent Grand Hotel, where you can stay for $625/night. The hotel serves a famously decadent lunch buffet for $45.00/person, and a tour of Fort Mackinac sets an adult back $13.00. I mention this only because this kind of tourist fare is quite out of the ordinary for Judy and me. We tend to explore natural wonders, take only pictures, and form firm memories to take home. I did have one item on my agenda, a reprise of a spontaneous event that happened when Ed, Neil, and I road cross country in 2004. Neil didn't want to go, but Ed and I made the trip to the island on our bicycle trip. I hadn't had one drop of alcohol since Yaak, Montana, the third day of our thirty-two day journey, but while on Mackinac Island, I bought a fat piece of the famed fudge, retired to the Pink Pony Bar next door where I proceeded to order a dram of Jack Daniels, neat. I dipped the fudge into the bourbon, clipped a small piece off with my front teeth, and otherwise enjoyed as much decadent behavior as any Northern explorer in from the woods after a good long while. Except for the hard travel through the North woods, I repeated the scene this afternoon. As you can imagine, life is good, especially today.

 A 2004 version when we rolled into Archbold to spend a few days in the swamp.

 Not too much worse for wear some 14 years later.

 And bourbon soaked fudge is ever so hard to beat.

 The bridge they said couldn't be built, a source of great pride for the folks of Michigan. One thing I didn't realize: The side this picture is taken from is Lake Michigan. On the other side of the bridge is Lake Huron.

 One of six thousand foot tankers that move cargo along the Great Lakes.

 Here's Bunny, my biker babe, getting ready to ride around the island.

 Father Marquette, holding service in a cedar shake long house.

 This is one of the many elegant homes on the island. During the industrial age, Mackinac Island was the summer playground for the well heeled. The governor of Michigan still maintains a summer residence here.

 Selfie of the day: Looking good and feeling grand.