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We visited Mackinaw Island in August, 2003. The weather was in the low 80's and beautiful. There are 500 year round residents on the island. They get around 180 inches of snow a year and the record snowfall for 1 year is 300 inches. I can't even imagine that much snow. You catch a ferry from either Mackinac City or St. Ignace for about $16 each. There are no cars allowed on the island, but the ferry will take bikes and luggage across for you if you stay in the hotels on the island. The Grand Hotel's front porch is 2 football fields long ( pictured below ). I understand all rooms are not air conditioned.
We took a carriage ride over the island. It was $l6 each but well worth it. It lasted several hours. You could bike or hike around but the island is very hilly. They use 350 Brazilian horses (Clydesdale family- big horses) to pull the carriages. There are 2 horses pulling the carriages uphill. At the top we changed carriages and it was pulled by 3 horses down hill. They take the horses off the island during the winter.
After the carriage ride we had lunch at one of the many cafes. They had something called a "pastie" which we had never heard of. Jim ordered it. It was a huge meal for lunch. It was beef, potatoes, onions, carrots, other vegetables inside a crust folded over with gravy on top. He said it was good. (He had an alker seltzer later) I had a turkey sandwich. The island's only business looked like tourism, so there were many small shops for souvenirs etc.
After browsing around the shops, we walked back to the docks for the ferry ride back to the mainland and our campground. It was a fun day. Everybody should come here at least once.
Pictures by Jim, |
