Mackinac Island

Tim and I had already made plans to travel to Mackinac Island way before May 15, 2018, when TripAdvisor named the 10 Hottest U. S. Destinations for Summer and ranked the island as No. 1, ahead of the likes of Bar Harbor, Jackson Hole and Martha's Vineyard.

Of course, we'd planned to have our children with us, but work commitments kept them home.  So we held onto our hotel reservation for one night and the four ferry tickets we'd pre-purchased.  If we couldn't hawk the two extra ferry tickets, it would be no hardship to cross the Straits of Mackinac twice to enjoy this charming 3.8 square-mile island.

The island's ban of automobiles right from their inception at the turn of the 20th century has resulted in the obvious--exhaust-free air and the absence of auto noise--but also in the island's ambiance that recalls that period of time.

The village lanes are narrow and lined with quaint shops

and picture-perfect Victorian homes.

Horse-drawn carriages line up in the early morning hours ready to carry tourists wherever they will

while cargo drays powered with--well, horsepower, of course-- transport goods.  I found it a little disconcerting to see shipment boxes labeled Amazon on the back of the latter.

So how did budget-conscious visitors like Tim and I get around?  By foot power, either walking or peddling.

We wanted to join the island's cycling craze, but I was without a bike or bloomers, those baggy trousers that once liberated ladies from cumbersome petticoats and skirts.  I could substitute my own duds for bloomers, but having left our bicycles back on the farm, we needed to rent two if we hoped to cycle around the island.  I didn't know if the island's bike rental shops would have enough for the day's crowd.  So we arrived at the dock of the Star Line Ferry in St. Ignace, Michigan early enough to catch the first ferry over.  I need not have worried.  With five rental shops on the island, there were plenty to go around.

What I noticed first when I walked off the ferry was the smell of chocolate.  Mackinac is world-famous for its homemade fudge.  Chocolate Turtle, Double-Dark Chocolate Cherry Walnut, Penuche Pecan and a host of other flavors designed to make you drool appeal not only to smell or taste but to sight as well.  Confectioners dump the stuff on marble-topped tables and scrape it around until sugar crystals form and the fudge becomes firm.  Then they shape the chocolate deliciousness into mounds that look like meatloafs before cutting them into 1 inch-wide slabs certain to add pounds to your behind.

So it's a good thing that most visitors bike the island's eight-mile perimeter

and climb the steep hill leading up to Fort Mackinac.  We did as well, dodging other cyclists, carriages and the crap left by the horsepower.

The picturesque route took us past Arch Rock, a geologic curiosity that spans 50 feet at its widest point, and British Landing where British, Canadian and Native Americans came ashore and overtook the island during the War of 1812

However, the showpiece of the island is the Grand Hotel.

Built in 1887 to accommodate the flood of summer visitors who still flock to it, the hotel sets its guests apart from the masses.  Not a guest?

Don't expect to climb up the steps to its 660-foot long porch without paying a $10 entry fee.  And if you are a guest, ladies must don their best dress while gentlemen are required to wear ties and jackets at dinner.

Our hotel reservation was not at the Grand Hotel.  Still, ours was pricey, but I found it totally worth it in order to experience the island after the day visitors were ferried away.

Near the island's public school (a place of learning for approximately 80 K-12 students with an average class size of 6 students), Tim and I found a good place to watch the sunset.

The next day was Friday and you could tell by the size of the crowds who arrived by ferry that the weekend was gearing up.  This was the weekend of the Chicago Yacht Club's Race to Mackinac, the longest freshwater race in the world.  The race would begin Saturday at 11:00 a.m. near the Chicago Lighthouse just off the Navy Pier and end 333 miles and between 40-60 hours later at Mackinac Island.

Tim and I used our last two ferry tickets to the island on Monday where we saw the boats arrive after their long jaunt.

Saturday's weather had been stormy and one man was swept overboard amid six to eight foot waves soon after the race began.  Despite a search by fellow competitors, the Coast Guard and Chicago's Fire Department and Police, he was not found.  A very sad tragedy!  My heart goes out to the man's family.