Mackinac Island – Heart’s Home

By Brenda Horton, Guest Blogger

Almost 20 years ago my husband Ted took me on my first trip to Mackinac Island. He’d been promising me for years we’d go to Michigan (I was born and raised in Georgia, and he had lived in Georgia since middle school) to visit where he’d spent his summers as a little boy. His grandparents had a cottage near Cedarville in the Les Cheneaux Islands of the Upper Peninsula, and he’d spent idyllic summers swimming, boating, fishing and playing in the woods around their property. He told me, “We’ll stay on Mackinac Island and make a day trip to Cedarville.”

When we left Georgia that hot July in 2000 it had been over 100 degrees, and three days later when we stepped off the ferry onto Mackinac Island it was a sunny 72. Not being a fan of hot weather, I thought to myself, “I’ve found paradise.”

For the next seven years we traveled annually to Mackinac for our two week vacation away from careers in Georgia. We rode bikes, hiked, ate great food, and got to know dozens of people who we would eventually call good friends. When we retired in 2008 we purchased a condo on Mackinac, and it became our summer home for the next seven years. We’d leave Georgia on Mother’s Day weekend and return the first weekend in November – at the end of Mackinac’s “season”. Five years ago we sold our condo and our Georgia home and moved to Florida to be near our grandchildren, but we still return to Mackinac for three months every summer.

I fell in love with Mackinac the first two weeks we were there in 2000. When we left on the ferry to return across the Straits of Mackinac to pick up our car, I cried the entire way across and for the first few hours of our trip south. I couldn’t wait to get back the next year. I would eventually begin to call the island my “heart’s home”. Over the years I’ve heard hundreds of times the phrase, “you either ‘get’ Mackinac, or you don’t”. Well, I “got” it big time! It calls to me as no other place on earth ever has. Any time my heart needs to go to its happy place, all I have to do is close my eyes and I’m transported to that magical island in Lake Huron, rising like a turtle out of those blue waters, beneath that Michigan blue sky.

I’ll try to explain how to get the most out of your trip to Mackinac with a few “insider” tips.

First of all, Mackinac is a step back in time to a simpler way of life. There are no motoroized vehicles except those used for emergency services, so visitors may go for days without any sign of anything with an engine. To get from point A to point B you either walk, bike, or call for a taxi, which is a horse-drawn buggy. Biking is definitely the quickest way to get somewhere, but if you’re on vacation, why are you worried about getting somewhere quickly?

There are two main streets on Mackinac – Huron Street (also known as Main) and Market Street. Both are lined with many fine hotels, bed and breakfast inns, restaurants and gift shops. You can’t go wrong, no matter where you stay on Mackinac. There’s not a bad room anywhere . . . because you’re ON Mackinac Island. So – stay, eat and shop wherever you like, but get OFF those two streets during the day and explore the real Mackinac.

Tip #1: Take either a Carriage Tour or a private buggy tour on your first day. The Carriage Tour office is on Main Street right next to the Tourist Bureau, and you can get a private buggy tour in front of Marquette Park on Main Street. Either one gets you a good “overview” of the main tourist attractions and will also give you a sense of what you want to go back and explore in more detail.

Tip #2: Stop at the Tourist Bureau for a map – and purchase the Historic Mackinac Island Visitor’s Guide from the State Park Visitors Center. Study these two documents! Ted and I brought the same map back to Mackinac for seven years, marking off trails and landmarks every year until we’d seen and done it all (OK, there are things we probably still haven’t done – but not many). Then, put on your good walking shoes and get up into the interior of the island on those trails. Believe me, once you’re in the woods (many, many well-defined trails), you are on your way to discovering the “real” Mackinac Island!

Tip #3: Rent a bike and ride around the island. That’s 8.2 miles of easy riding – almost all flat (a few very gentle hills). You can easily make the trip around in an hour if you don’t stop. But – if you have your camera or phone with you, I can almost guarantee you will stop numerous times for photos, so plan on at least two hours. There are restrooms half-way around at British Landing (also a spot to get drinks and food).

Tip #4: Visit Fort Mackinac! So much to see and do up there on the hill at the fort. And – if you time it right, you can have lunch at the Tea Room overlooking the downtown area and the marina. (See all those yellow umbrellas in the pic below. That’s the Tea Room.) Wonderful view!

Tip #5: Try to stay at least one night on the island. After the day trippers leave on the ferries, the island becomes an entirely different place. Downtown is peaceful, and the sidewalks are relatively empty. Staying overnight also offers you the island BEFORE the first ferries arrive. Downtown at daybreak is truly a must-see. The streets have been freshly cleaned overnight (yes, that really happens), and you’ll get to experience the island before the ferries bring the first visitors across. Seriously, you need to stay on the island at least one night!

Tip #6: Tour Grand Hotel. Yes, there’s a small admission charge if you’re not a guest there, but it is totally worth it. You can hang out on the longest front porch in the world and rock away a few hours admiring the Straits of Mackinac, tour the public rooms inside the hotel, have lunch (your admission fee will be deducted from price of lunch), and go up to the Cupola for a panoramic view of the island and the Straits. Oh, and make sure you tour the Grand Hotel gardens while you’re there also!

Free things to do? Here are a few of my favorites!

• Walk up to the East or West Bluff and check out the beautiful Victorian cottages up close. If you choose the West Bluff, make a point to walk on the roads both in front of and in back of the cottages. So much to see!

• Walk up to the Grand Stables at Surrey Hill (past Grand Hotel). So much fun to see this elegant (yes, an elegant stable) building packed full of vintage carriages and home to the horses that work for Grand Hotel.

• Grab lunch at Doud’s (ok, you have to pay for the food), and take it across the street to Marquette Park to eat. People watching at its best.

• Any time of the day, walk down to the library on Main Street. Go in and check it out – one of the most beautiful library interiors anywhere. But wait – there’s more. Walk around to the back of the library and sit in one of the chairs on the back porch. Usually this area is deserted and you can watch the ferries come in and listen to the waves lap up against the rocks. You might even put your head back and nod off for a few minutes. It’s ok – you’re on island time!

• If you’re there on a Wednesday morning during the summer, you can tour the Michigan Governor’s Summer Residence!

• At dusk, take a walk out the boardwalk on the west side of Main Street and watch the sun set.

• Hike up to Fort Holmes! Yes, it’s quite a walk, but on the way you’ll pass the island cemeteries and visit Point Lookout for an outstanding view of Sugar Loaf. Check out that map you picked up for directions!

• Find Anne’s Tablet (East Bluff) on your map and take a leisurely stroll up the stairs in back of Marquette Park.

One final comment.

Even if you don’t decide Mackinac Island is your favorite place in the world (like I did), be prepared to find a refuge there from today’s busy world. Embrace that. The clip-clop of horses’ hooves, the smell of fudge being made in copper kettles and poured out on marble-topped tables, the wind blowing through the trees up in the woods with an occasional sound of a pileated woodpecker hunting his dinner, the whir of bike wheels as you travel around the island – even the smell of horse poop . . . . I firmly believe you will remember those things when you return home. And, if you’re like so many others who “get” Mackinac Island, you will return again and again.. It may even become your heart’s home.

Brenda Horton wrote Bree’s Mackinac Island Blog (http://bree1972.wordpress.com) for many years while she and husband Ted were summer residents on the island.  The inactive blog remains online and offers an insider’s view of life on Mackinac.  Brenda is now a summer writer for the Facebook page Mackinac Island News & Views.