Mackinac Island: Jewel of Michigan
Though not very large, Mackinac Island packs a big punch for anyone who is visiting the state of Michigan. I'd venture to guess that even if someone has been nowhere else in the state, there is a good chance they have visited Mackinac Island. At a size of only 3.8 square miles, they pack enough stores, hotels, bars, and activities into a small space for people of all ages.
I'd like to point out that in my post yesterday I probably referred to the island incorrectly. I've lived in Michigan all my life and it still gets confusing when to use the 'w' or the 'c' at the end of the word Mackinac. I blame the British for being lazy and not wanting to spell it the French way...
The majority of the action on Mackinac Island takes place in the downtown area. As you can see from the photo above, it gets quite crowded in the summer. There are no automobiles allowed on Mackinac Island (with the exception of a single ambulance or fire truck). All other transportation is achieved either via walking, bicycle riding, or horse drawn carriage. You can bring your own bicycles over on the ferry, or close to 1500 bikes are available for rent on the island.
Additionally, close to 600 horses come to the island every year to be put to work.
There are folks who live on the island year round and I have been told that in the winter they have snowmobiles that they are able to drive around the island in certain areas.
Despite everything that the island has to offer, we actually only visited a very small portion of it on our trip. If you are using this post as a travel guide for visiting the island, I encourage you not to. I promise I am going to be leaving out way too much stuff.
In my opinion, the island is split up into a couple of different areas. There is the downtown area that I mentioned before. There is also the historic fort area that dates back to the 1700's. I'm going to cover the fort in my post on Monday.
Next, there is the resort area to the East of the downtown area. As far as sights to see, there are two different kinds on the island. There are historic sites that have a lot of information and educational value. Then there are also natural sights, which are spread out across the island in the same way as the historic sights.
The island has an airport and at least one or two golf courses. Actually, if I remember correctly, one of the golf courses was built over top of a battlefield from the War of 1812.
Finally, the remainder of the island consists of summer homes and year round residences. Unless you are one of those people who chooses to ride your bicycle around the island, the majority of your visit will probably be spent in the southern third of the island.
You might be surprised to hear this, but personally, I am not really a fan of the island. That being said, I think it would be cool to visit in the off season or fall when things die down a bit. In the middle of July though, it's just too many people, the whole downtown area smells like horse poop, and a lot of the stuff once you have seen it once, you are pretty much done.
I know there are tons of folks in Michigan who love visiting the island and they would probably argue to the death with me on my points, but that's just how I feel. Since our nephew had never been before, and neither had our friends son, we decided to go anyway.
The boys actually had a blast, so it wasn't a bad decision in the end. I will admit, despite all the things I despise about the island, there is a certain charm to it and I can see why that draws people in. There is a large hotel on the island called The Grand Hotel. I didn't get any photos of it in this trip (besides from the ferry which I shared yesterday), but it's kind of a big deal to some people.
Again, I personally don't see the draw, to me it gives off a very elitist vibe. People aren't allow on the grounds unless you are staying at the hotel. In fact they virtually have armed guards keeping folks away. On top of that, they seem to be leaning really hard into the antebellum feel where many of the workers are people of color.
Some might argue this is because they are mainly seasonal workers from Sudan or something like that, but it's still just a bad vibe. If you do a quick Google search you will find I'm not the only one who has expressed their misgivings about this.
It's actually been years since @mrsbozz or I had been on the island. I went several times as a child and once more maybe 20 years ago as an adult, but my wife had not been there since she was in middle school. They visited for a school trip and some of the students bought squirt guns at the souvenir shops in the downtown area.
They were running around squirting pretty much anyone and anything and subsequently, her school got asked not to return. We had a running joke about their possibly being wanted posters for @mrsbozz. At the very least some kind of blacklist that might keep her off the island!
Besides the Grand Hotel, one of the other things the island is best known for is it's fudge. It started small really with just one family named the Murdick's selling fudge and other sweet treats on the island in the late 1800's. Things didn't really explode until the 1960's when a guy named Harry Ryba had the ingenious idea of moving the fudge production area to the front of the store where everyone could see it as they were walking by. He also installed fans to waft the aroma of the fudge out into the street.
Henceforth, island visitors were dubbed "fudgies" and history was effectively made. You can't walk down the downtown strip these days without passing at least ten fudge shops. Supposedly the island has a total of 13 fudge shops and 10 tons of sugar is imported weekly to make the fudge in peak season.
Sadly, the smell of the fudge does little to overpower the smell of horse crap that I mentioned earlier. At least once you get a few feet away from the storefronts.
If you have never been, you should at least visit the island once. It's definitely worth it to say you did it. I'll leave it up to you if you want to visit the Grand Hotel. Oh, I forgot to point out The Grand Hotel was featured in the movie "Somewhere In Time" starring Superman himself, Christopher Reeves.
If you want more info on the island, check out this link, and this link.
Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports
The whole place looks wonderful and it looks like a peaceful island too!🤩
During peak season it's anything but peaceful, but definitely a cool place to visit!
What a beautiful island. I never seen before it. All scenes around it very beautiful. Spending time there is Will be very memorable
It's definitely and experience to remember. There are other islands I prefer more, but there is always something a bit magical about visiting Mackinac.
What a lovely insightful post about Mackinac Island. You may not personally like it there but I can see the pull factor, I think to visit for a day would be an awesome experience. It looks lovely actually.
Now what's all this about the British being lazy? Pfffft! I am British and I would like to beg to differ if you don't mind. Lol! Back in those times the last thing we were was lazy. While it still isn't explained in the post what the 'w' and the 'c' refers to when speaking about Mackinac Island I would imagine if it was to do with anything French the Brits would have gone out of their way to avoid the French aspect of it all given the wars we had with France.
Just one further thing, it's interesting to note that the place you visited in Michigan is called Mackinac Island as 'Mack' is very much a Scottish name, so I would imagine there is a strong Scottish link to this place.
If you ever get the chance to go here I would give yourself two or three days to see everything. That way you don't have to come back if you don't want to. I've never spent the night on the island, but I know a lot of people do and love it. I think the spelling goes back to the French using the "C" but pronouncing it with the "aw" sounds, so the Brits just changed the spelling to AW. It's actually further from the Scots than you would think, but I will get into that more on Monday!
Ah right, well this gets more interesting. Looking forward to learning more.
Going in-season is out of the question with over populated places, horse poop through the town not glamorous unless you climbed out of an old Western.
Looks well maintained old structures, if the lads had fun you achieved what you set out to do.
They try to do a good job of cleaning up the droppings, but it still smells. I just think it is unavoidable. I would guess some people consider it part of the charm of the town or the setting, but it's just kind of blah for me.
I remember the small towns when young still using horse power, the smell under the hot sun can be staggering, well leave you staggering !LOLZ
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Beautiful, thank you for sharing ur visit to this beautiful place. Would love to visit this place sometime...
It's definitely worth visiting at least once in your life. After that you might not care if you go back. The views alone make it worth it though.
The island look so cool , they really live in a different way seems really a place stopped in another time, thanks for explaining so good about the life in the island and the transportation ❤️
Yes, it is a totally different way of life. I can't imagine how rough the winters must be on the island being in the middle of Lake Huron like that.
!LOL I'm sure it is interesting to many people! It looks like a pretty town... of course I don't know how it smells, hehehe!
A really fascinating location, though. The hotel's upscale vibe is detrimental to their business and may be causing losses.
The fudge sounds delicious!
Thank you for sharing your trip Mackinac Island, @bozz !
Wishing you and @mrsbozz a lovely day!
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The fudge really is the best part honestly! I brought home three slices of it! The Grand Hotel is something I should probably try to experience at least once, but like I said, the eliteness of it kind of drives me away. Both our dads were auto workers so we are blue collar by nature.
Very interesting place. Too bad the hotel has the elite vibe going on, it's their company and it is probably costing them business. Overall looks like a nice place. The fudge sounds really good but the smell of horse I'll pass on!
I honestly don't think the hotel is hurting too bad. People come from all over the world to visit. On the ferry ride over you can usually hear at least four conversations going on in different languages among families.
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