From the Passenger's Seat: By boat and by horse!

Departed: Lakeshore Campground 8:30

Arrived: Mackinac Island 9:30

Traveled by ferry 15 minute boat ride

Hey friends,

This is mostly boat, with bridge in the background. Below the cables going horizontal are 24" in diameter.

What an awesome day as we ventured across Lake Huron to Mackinac Island! We caught the 9:00 ferry in St. Ignace (pronounced Ignus) which unbeknownst to us is the one time they ride very close to the Mighty Macinaw bridge.

When we sat down on the ferry, the man behind me asked if we gave our dog a Benadryl or Dramamine for the trip over to the island. At that point I got a little concerned, as we certainly had not and I wasn’t really worried about Halle on the ferry, but now I was! Needless to say she and Bud did fine on the trip over.

Many of you may know that on Mackinac Island there are no gasoline powered vehicles , only horse drawn carriages and a bajillion bicycles! No sooner than we had stepped off the ferry Halle and Bud went crazy barking at the horses and carriages. Not being a horse person, it made me extremely nervous that the horses were going to get spooked and we would have caused a catastrophe! We had seen in a brochure that you could get your own horse and buggy and tour the island. Since we had our trusty horse expert, Gene, in tow, we thought we’d give it a shot. By now I’m thinking we had better do our own tour as the pups were going to ruin anybody else’s tour with their constant yapping everytime another carriage went by, or God forbid another dog!! We made it to Jack’s Livery Stable where Gene and Bill signed their lives away and got our horse, Tracey, hooked up and ready to roll. Maybe ready to roll might be the wrong phrase, how about “ready to stroll”, as that is what Tracey did most of the time. She was definitely not in a hurry at all. Gene led Tracey around the Lakeshore Drive trail as we enjoyed the scenery of the lake, gorgeous mansions, beautiful flora, and bicyclists galore! This took about 2 hours which was nice, but after about an hour we were sure the “short route” would be enough. A sudden thunder storm came up with a little shower. Bill happened to be on the side that was wet. And of course Halle had to hunker down between us as she was a tad frightened. But Buddy on the other hand was his feisty self the whole time, greeting every horse and bicyclist and even rabbit that came by!

As the tour concluded we drove by The Grand Hotel, a lovely old hotel built in the late 1800’s I believe. We watched the movie, Somewhere in Time, before we left home that was filmed there. Pretty neat movie, although not an academy award winner, I’m sure. I told Bill maybe we could come there for our 40^th wedding anniversary and stay… only 500 or so a night. Well worth it I’m sure!

There were so many beautiful houses and flower beds! I am so jealous, my pots look good til about July, just too hot! Check out this picture of the fanciest down spout I've ever seen!

Lovely yard and flower beds.

Hanging baskets all throughout the town.

After safely finishing our horse and buggy tour we walked downtown where all of the shops and places to spend money were. After Mary and I picked out some fudge from Reba’s Fudge shop (Voted Michigan’s #! Fudge shop) then picked out the obligatory t-shirt and hat, the group conferred and decided to go back to our campground where we could do some laundry and some more R&R. We are getting pretty good at R&R, on the way back had to make a grocery stop. An interesting note, right on the shelves next to the cokes, I mean pop, was a wide selection of liquor! Right there in the grocery store. Very convenient, I must add. Blue Moon and Jim Beam, we’re ready to go.

Now we are back at the Lakeshore Campground, ready to do a little laundry and enjoy the view. Just met some neighbors that set up next to us in a big fifth wheel… (they are full timers, meaning they do not have a permanent home)HUGE on the inside, family room with an island kitchen…when looking to buy our second motorhome because the first was too small, David Scott said to Bill,”. don’t do it, it’s a disease”, have to get bigger and better!! I see how that can be, seeing all of these fancy smancy huge units at the various campgrounds. Bill’s favorite saying is “I want my last check to bounce.” Who knows?? Sorry children we are continuing to be in SKI mode (spending kids inheritance):)

Off to get the clothes out of the dryer. Perfect blogging time while doing the laundry!

Headed to the western coast of Michigan tomorrow! Here are some more random pictures on Mackinac Island.