Mackinaw trip
Our Mackinaw trip was absolutely amazing; truly such a great time. Friday night, we drove into Mackinaw City to stay the night. We walked around downtown looking through a few of the shops. Since it's technically "off-season", a lot of them were closed, but the streets were so pretty and quite a few people were still out & about. We got some delicious ice-cream and headed back to our hotel for sleep. The next morning, we got on Star Line ferry to head to the island. The view approaching the island was gorgeous. We had a beautiful view of Grand Hotel. We got docked, got our bicycles and cycled to our bed and breakfast which was called Pine Cottage. Their porch was so quaint and cute; the whole house was so vintage and old. We had the cutest lilac room with flowered wallpaper, lovely.
After we checked in, we decided to bike around the island. It's about 8 miles around, so we did that + made a few stops. We saw Arch Rock, Sugar Loaf, Skull Cave & Hell's Kitchen. We took a nature trail walk. The hike to Arch Rock was intense!
After our biking adventures, we went to the main street where we ate at Fred's Burger Joint - I had fresh cut fries and a hot dog. We walked through some of the shops, window shopping, drooling over the many assortments of fudge they had in the windows! After that, we went to Fort Mackinaw to see the fort, built in the 1800's! We walked through all the different buildings; the schoolhouse, hospital, the bath-house, the apartment/houses where soldiers lived. It was so fun, plus the views of Lake Huron were breath-taking!
After the fort, we ate at Three Brothers pizza tavern. I ate an oversized slice of cheese pizza, which was scrumptious. After dinner, we all biked back to our B&B for naps and relaxation in our lilac bedroom. When we woke up, we all went down to enjoy the sunset evening on their beautiful porch. Rick and Colleen sat on the rocking chairs, while I enjoyed a cup of coffee and a game of go-fish with Brett. It was probably one of the most picturesque moments I've had. I don't think I'll ever forget that moment in time in my life. After that, we walked back downtown to peruse in the shops, and to eat even more delicious ice-cream. (You have to splurge there!) We took a haunted 2-hour walking tour of the island afterwards.
It was a blast. We just walked around with a tour guide, while he explained the "haunted" spots and creepy secrets of the island. Our tour guide told us that a little girl who was left to die in our bedroom, haunted the house and the two houses right by ours. Ooooo! After the haunted walking tour, we went back to our B&B to sleep. I didn't see the haunting of the little girl though! The next morning, we ate breakfast and took a quick bike ride around. The weather made a significant turn for the worse compared to Saturday. So we decided to check out and take the ferry back to the city. It still amazes me that you can't drive to (or on!) the island. It has the only state highway in the U.S. that bans automobiles! People who think Michigan isn't the place to be, obviously haven't been here.
We got to Mackinaw City and walked to eat at Nonna Lisa's Ristorante. It was like a beautiful log-cabin setting inside; the food was delicious. We each got individual pizzas and they were huge and way too much food. I had a huge doggie-bag to go afterwards; my belly hurt from all the food! We drove over to the Old Mackinaw Point Lighthouse to look around! Brett and I got the chance to climb up in the lighthouse tower and see the gorgeous view of the Mackinaw Bridge which connects the Lower Peninsula to the Upper Peninsula. The museum and other things to see were so fun as well. We skipped stones in Lake Huron afterwards. Rick and Colleen offered to drive us on the Mackinaw Bridge, so I was able to see it and ride on it and I got to be in the U.P. too!
It was my first time coming up to Mackinaw Island! I'd never been to the U.P. either; which is really exciting. It was such a wonderful trip and I had so much fun with my family. I couldn't have married into a better family; Rick and Colleen paid for everything this weekend and treated us to way more than we both deserve! They are truly the best in-laws in the world and I love them both to death. Brett and I wouldn't have half as much as we do without them, and their never-ending support and generosity.
