Mackinac Island, MI
First a lesson: Mackinac is pronounced MAC-in-aw. Ok, now that we have that straight we can move on.
I was lucky enough to spend 2.5 days on this lovely island. The only way I've been able to describe it is Catalina crossed with St. Thomas. I mean, for all of those who have only been to Catalina, its what I think Catalina should be. Its clean, fairly priced, has yummy food and very friendly people. For those of you who have only been to St. Thomas, it has the same colonial feel in regards to the buildings but, unlike St. Thomas, there are no cars allowed, only bicycles and horses so its not nearly as crowded. Take the best part of both islands and you have Mackinac Island.
I dug this place. It was cool, a total pain to get to, but cool nonetheless. From Minneapolis, we had to drive across Wisconsin and Michigan to get there. Flying really wasn't possible and it still would have included renting a car and driving across Michigan. As far as I'm concerned, its the perfect revenge wedding location since it would involve planes, cars & boats to get there. For all of you who have made me cross the country for no good reason other than a view, suck it up.
Back to how much I dug this place. It is gorgeous. The island is 8.4 miles around, about 500 year-round residents, and TONS of history.
8.4 miles - We rented a tandem bike (yeah, we're dorks) and went for a spin. When you get about .2 miles away from the town, you feel like you're on another island. You have the lake for days on the left and wilderness on the right. There were houses here and there, but for the most part, the houses are on the center or the other side of the island. There were several obvious hiking trails and even more not so obvious. Biking around the island at about 5:30pm on a Wednesday evening afforded us most of the island to ourselves, which was quite a luxury unto itself. About 3/4s of the way through our ride we stumbled across Arch Rock. That was worth the hike (we went the difficult way) as the rock itself is very cool and the view is just amazing.
500 year round residents - So yeah, most of the people who work on the island, are seasonal. There were quite a few kids from other countries working, which begged the question, how did they hear about this odd little island? I meant to ask but never quite found the right opening. So, the housing was split into AMAZING houses, hotels, B&B's and these dorm sorts of places for the seasonal kids to stay. Don't get me wrong, the dorms were just like the B&B's in that they were converted houses done beautifully and several of them are right on the water...it was just a different vibe. But for the rest of the residents who own businesses and such what not on the island, they mainly live in the center of the island. And then all the AMAZING houses with the beach front property, we could only guess those were the sorts of places families had owned for years or the newly-monied MI people owned. They were beautiful, and many were already "closed up" for the season.
TONS of history - Most obvious, the fort is awesome and they really have done a great job with both the grounds and keeping it interesting to visitors. I'm not into history but I was really facinated by this place, much in the same way that I adore the War Rooms in London. Also, most of the houses and B&Bs and hotels are hundreds of years old. Now, they've been renovated many, many times over the years but the building itself is true to the original. It was pretty amazing staying in a hotel that was about 200 years old, especially since our room had a jacuzzi tub.
To wrap up, we had a great time. And, to experience Mackinac fully, it was manditory to buy the fudge. (They don't let you leave the island if you don't buy any.) And, I must admit, it was damn tastey.
I was lucky enough to spend 2.5 days on this lovely island. The only way I've been able to describe it is Catalina crossed with St. Thomas. I mean, for all of those who have only been to Catalina, its what I think Catalina should be. Its clean, fairly priced, has yummy food and very friendly people. For those of you who have only been to St. Thomas, it has the same colonial feel in regards to the buildings but, unlike St. Thomas, there are no cars allowed, only bicycles and horses so its not nearly as crowded. Take the best part of both islands and you have Mackinac Island.
I dug this place. It was cool, a total pain to get to, but cool nonetheless. From Minneapolis, we had to drive across Wisconsin and Michigan to get there. Flying really wasn't possible and it still would have included renting a car and driving across Michigan. As far as I'm concerned, its the perfect revenge wedding location since it would involve planes, cars & boats to get there. For all of you who have made me cross the country for no good reason other than a view, suck it up.
Back to how much I dug this place. It is gorgeous. The island is 8.4 miles around, about 500 year-round residents, and TONS of history.
8.4 miles - We rented a tandem bike (yeah, we're dorks) and went for a spin. When you get about .2 miles away from the town, you feel like you're on another island. You have the lake for days on the left and wilderness on the right. There were houses here and there, but for the most part, the houses are on the center or the other side of the island. There were several obvious hiking trails and even more not so obvious. Biking around the island at about 5:30pm on a Wednesday evening afforded us most of the island to ourselves, which was quite a luxury unto itself. About 3/4s of the way through our ride we stumbled across Arch Rock. That was worth the hike (we went the difficult way) as the rock itself is very cool and the view is just amazing.
500 year round residents - So yeah, most of the people who work on the island, are seasonal. There were quite a few kids from other countries working, which begged the question, how did they hear about this odd little island? I meant to ask but never quite found the right opening. So, the housing was split into AMAZING houses, hotels, B&B's and these dorm sorts of places for the seasonal kids to stay. Don't get me wrong, the dorms were just like the B&B's in that they were converted houses done beautifully and several of them are right on the water...it was just a different vibe. But for the rest of the residents who own businesses and such what not on the island, they mainly live in the center of the island. And then all the AMAZING houses with the beach front property, we could only guess those were the sorts of places families had owned for years or the newly-monied MI people owned. They were beautiful, and many were already "closed up" for the season.
TONS of history - Most obvious, the fort is awesome and they really have done a great job with both the grounds and keeping it interesting to visitors. I'm not into history but I was really facinated by this place, much in the same way that I adore the War Rooms in London. Also, most of the houses and B&Bs and hotels are hundreds of years old. Now, they've been renovated many, many times over the years but the building itself is true to the original. It was pretty amazing staying in a hotel that was about 200 years old, especially since our room had a jacuzzi tub.
To wrap up, we had a great time. And, to experience Mackinac fully, it was manditory to buy the fudge. (They don't let you leave the island if you don't buy any.) And, I must admit, it was damn tastey.
posted by jenna! at
4:31 PM
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