The day dawns in a glorious manner and we are eager to get started for the next part of our Mackinaw adventure.
Off to the Post Office to send our certified mail and then to the Ferry Landing to ask about parking. If you are going to the Island (Mackinaw) for the day there is free parking a few blocks from the docks – with a shuttle to deliver you. We found this to be very efficient and were back at the docks in no time. A bit confusing here though as there are many different lines for people boarding. Our pre-purchased tickets get us on the next ferry that is leaving in minutes so that worked out great!
This is a fast speed Hydro Boat and the trip only takes 17 minutes. The lake is calm and the weather is good so we don’t have any difficulties. The view of the Grand Hotel from the Ferry is very noticeable as the Hotel is extremely large.
We have been told by multiple people that as soon as the ferry docks to high-tail it as quickly as possible to the carriage ride area and the carriages fill up early. Not wanting to miss out on the best way to see the Island we make a beeline for the carriage center. Once again there are many lines and it’s a bit confusing but when we present our pre-purchased tickets we are escorted onto the next carriage and take off right away.
There are no motorized vehicles allowed on the Island (except for an ambulance, police car, and fire trucks). Acceptable modes of transportation are bicycles, horses, horse and carriage, or feet. The streets are quite crowded with bikes and people and carriages.
As you can see the Island is very strict about means of transportation. There are about 500 horses on the island in Season; they eat about 25-30 pounds of grain and hay a day; they produce 25-30 pounds of manure a day. Better watch out where you are walking!
So – what did we see? First we see a park with a statue of Marquette. There is a Post Office – as about 500 people live here all year round. The usual fixtures of a small town.
There is one doctor, two nurses and a rigid schedule for the medical center. Of course there are other ways of being seen by a medical professional as there are 6 veterinarians!
There are several hills on the Island so we stop twice to rest the horses. The first part of the tour uses a carriage holding about 25 people with a team of two horses. Billy is our tour guide, here on a student visa from Romania. There are many students here on visas and most of them are getting ready to go back to their home countries. This part of the tour concludes at a gift shop (surprise!?) with rest rooms and freshly made donuts! The grounds are very pretty as is the whole island with so many flowers and plants and bushes.
The next part of our tour uses a three-horse hitch with a smaller carriage.
Our tour guide, Melany( Mel Any – not Melanie), is very funny and we thoroughly enjoy her. There are three cemeteries on the Island – original was located downtown and it was decided to move it because it was the first thing visitors would see when they arrived. Not the best marketing tool!
The three horses are in no danger as the carriage has brakes so the horses themselves do not slow the carriage down. But this hill has a reputation of being a very fast lane for bikers and there are times the local police stand at the bottom of the hill with a radar gun and ticket speeders! The speed limit on the Island is 25 miles per hour – one biker was caught doing 57 miles per hour. Needless to say he got a ticket!
The carriage tours are not able to take us to the Grand Hotel so we get out and have about a 10 minute walk. It is grand!
If you have ever seen the movie – “Somewhere in Time” – you will recognize the hotel immediately. The hotel does charge a fee for even walking on the property – $10. But that is the only way to get in to see the hotel. There are several mementoes and move items on display.
The lines inside with people waiting to have lunch at the Hotel were insanely long – and we had another mission. FUDGE! The Island is well known for its many fudge shops so we are in pursuit! And then maybe time for lunch too.
Murdicks has more than one store on the Island so they must be good! Time for lunch! The ladies at our hotel said we Have to go to the Pink Pony for lunch – so we do!
By now it is getting late and if we hope to catch the 3:00 o’clock ferry we need to be getting back to the docks.
We are amazed by the amount of luggage being brought from the ferries to the Island – a lot of people want to stay here. The average night at The Grand Hotel is $800 – a bit steep for us!
Once back in Mackinaw City we see an entire tour getting loaded onto the ferry!
The shuttle takes us back to the parking lot and we gas up the car and head back to our hotel. When we find one of the icons of Mackinaw City – Wienerlicious!
There is a pizza place that delivers to our hotel and we opt for that for dinner. Needless to say, we are a little weary from our excursion but so happy we made the trip!