Wednesday - September 16: Schlepping luggage to Mackinac Island via a "people ferry." One of the best things about RV-ing is not having to move into a new hotel at every stop. Overall it was a pretty entertaining experience. A shuttle van picked us up at the RV Park and the driver (Bill) told us all about the U.P. One of the things we asked him about is a food we saw advertised called a Pasty (pronounced past-ee). Pasties are a cross between a potpie and a empanada. He told us they are great to eat; but, that the Trolls (people from lower Michigan) eat them with gravy and the Uppers (pronounced: yoo-pers) eat them with ketchup. We don't have gravy along, so Dale ate his with ketchup.
We got to the Island about 3:30 PM and quickly realized we had stepped back in time. Patti dubbed it "an upscale Key West." Dale lamented that he hoped there would be a Starbucks on the Island. A little lady appearing to be a bit older than we are, spun around in her seat and asked that we let her know if we found one - it had been four days since her last Starbucks "fix". The only motor vehicles on the Island are emergency vehicles, including a firetruck and ambulance. Some 600 draft horses and about that many bicycles are the basic means of transportation. It was great. We got some serious steps in; many of them uphill and up stairways. The Grand Hotel; interior decor; and, grounds/gardens are stunning. The experience was similar to that of an oceanic cruise - meals included. We'll do this again. Probably for one of their annual Somewhere In Time rendezvous held in October of each year, or a Lilac festival in June. Halloween marks the seasonal closing. Opens again in May. Too cold; the Straits of Mackinac freeze over in the winter. Private plane or snowmobile are about the only way on and off the Island in winter. No commercial vehicles.
Before we "dressed" for dinner (coat & tie required in public areas of The Grand Hotel after 6:30 PM), we went for a walk around the hotel and grounds, including: the Labyrinth; the Esther Williams Swim Complex; the Rose Walk; the Wildflower Hill; and, saw dozens of Canadian Geese. Beautiful and Serene. Again, we're pretty quick learners. The escorts we thought were stationed to welcome us to the hotel turned out to be guardians of the $10 self-guided tour fee charged to non-guests. We wondered back out of the hotel and were immediately asked if we were checking in (again). Fortunately we had our room key to show that we were guests of the hotel. We watched others pay the fee or be turned away. Interesting.
We dressed for dinner. The first non-vacation type clothes we'd worn in a while. A very nice experience although it took the wait staff a while to warm up. Five courses: appetizer, soup, salad, entree and dessert. All for the price of admission - similar to the cruise ship approach. Excellent food and a great seat. Patti asked if we had a special ticket or something because our seating was so good; as was our room location. They said we had come in at the right time. Cool.
After an exhausting day and a great dinner we retired to our third floor room, adjacent to the Jacqueline Kennedy Suite, just a couple of doors away from the Somewhere In Time Suite. Our room was beyond beautiful and had a perfect view of the gardens and lake. Patti did take a walk back out to the porch to see the bridge lit up after dark
Thursday - September 17: After a good night's sleep, with the windows open, listening to the waves on Lake Huron (not Lake Michigan: We learned that the Mackinac Bridge and the Straits of Mackinac separate Lake Michigan from Lake Huron. Mackinac Island is in Lake Huron.
Interesting.) we headed down for an early breakfast (early for Patti). Another excellent dining experience once the wait staff warmed up. After breakfast we went for a morning walk around the grounds, then off to the downtown district and a horse drawn "open air bus" tour of the Island.
We had about a forty minute wait until our tour began, so we walked the main street to see if we could find something we just couldn't live without. Look! A Starbucks! Alright! We must be close to utopia for sure. Patti wondered if the "young" lady from yesterday's ferry ride had found it. Not to worry, we did; she probably did or will too.
The tour was in two stages. The first part of the tour took us through downtown, back up the hill and past the Grand Hotel. It held 24 passengers and was pulled by two draft horses. We stopped twice on the way up the hill to rest the horses. They make five or six trips a day. At the top of the hill we transferred to a larger (35 passengers) open air bus, drawn by three draft horses, Richard, Simon and Chance. We spent about an hour with them, including a rest stop in the middle of the Mackinac State Park at a sandstone formation call "the arch." The tour guide did a great job, corny jokes and all. In addition to the arch, we saw three active cemeteries, Fort Mackinac (built by the British in 1780) and the Michigan Governor's Summer Home. We exited the tour at the Governor's Mansion and walked back to the downtown area for lunch. We were told by our tour guide that there were 17 fudge stores on the Island (we believe that) and that if we ate a free sample in each of the stores we would be able to consume more than a pound of fudge before the day was over. While free samples were advertised in the windows, we steered clear of the offerings. Not healthy. OK, OK, Dale did have a sample outside one shop - creamsicle fudge. He says it was delicious, as you may expect.
Next stop, the return ferry. Returning to the mainland was interesting, but uneventful. We took the 5:00 PM boat and there were lots of State Park workers traveling with us. The trip seemed quicker that the initial ride over. It was time to get back and restock the RV's pantry. We can only hold about three days provisions. So, we have very fresh food most of the time. Hey kids, nothing gets to the expiration date in the RV. Interesting, it seems that St. Ignace MI rolls up the streets at 6:00 PM. Suzy's Pasty Shop was closed. We found the local grocery and an alternate Pasty Shop. We ate our usual side salad with the Columbia's 1905 dressing (our last bottle) and split a Chicken Pasty (Chicken, Potatoes, Carrots, Rutabaga, Peas and Onions). We've got a Tradition Beef Past for Friday evening's dinner. More about that next time.
Pictures coming in the next post.
#mackinacisland #upscalekeywest #thegrandhotel #trollsanduppers #pasties #openairbus #drafthorses #somewhereintime #lakehuron #creamsiclefudge #ferryride #starbucks
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