Mackinac Island & The Grand Hotel

Since the weather was supposed to be nicer today, we planned to go to Mackinac Island today.  I had bought our ferry tickets including our bike passes from the campground because they sold them at a slight discount.  We could have ridden a shuttle to the ferry but decided to just ride the rail trail back into town plus I needed to exchange the t-shirt that I had bought yesterday and had to stop by the Post Office.  After taking care of the errands, we rode a short distance to what I thought was the ferry we were taking.

We got in line and waited about 20-30 minutes.

When the ferry arrived, we started to board and when they looked at our tickets, we found out we were at the wrong ferry.  Boy, did I make a mistake!  I thought our ferry was the Shepler Ferry but it was the Star Line Ferry.  We got back on our bikes and rode several blocks down the road to the Star Line Ferry and waited in an even longer line.

When we reached Star Ferry, we had to put our bikes in their bike loading area and our bikes made it over to Mackinac Island before we did!  We ended up waiting for over an hour before we were able to board on the next ferry to the island.

After two hours of waiting in lines, everyone boarding, the ferry ride,

and then finding our bikes after we disembarked, we finally arrived at Mackinac Island.  No motorized vehicles are allowed on Mackinac Island.  Walking, horse-drawn carriages, or bikes are the only modes of transportation; and by far, bicycles are what most people use to get around.

We began riding east out of the town and the bike crowds began to thin as we got out of town.  Because the horse-drawn carriages use the same roads as the bikes, you really have to watch where your ride to avoid riding through horse poop!

Once we were out of town, we entered Mackinac Island State Park.  The road runs along the perimeter of the island.

We stopped at Arch Rock and climbed the 200+ steps up to the top of the hill...

...so we could join the other hundred or so people who stopped on their bikes or took carriage tours up to see Arch Rock.

There was a very nice view of Lake Huron from the lookout at the top of Arch Rock.

As we rode along the shore, we would see many places where people had build rock statues along the rocky shore.

We rode around the entire perimeter of the island and parked our bikes at the western side of the town.  After parking our bikes, we walked through town to find some place to eat lunch.  We ended up eating at a little dockside cafe.

After lunch, we walked up Market Street towards the Grand Hotel.  One of the historic markers we passed by talked about how in 1822, at the peak of the fur trade, furs valued at $3,000,000 went through John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company located here on Market Street.

We turned onto Cadotte Street and walked up the hill toward the magnificent Grand Hotel.

The Grand Hotel opened in 1887 and has the longest front porch of any hotel in the world.  With the Grand Hotel only being open from the last weekend in April to the first weekend in November,  it is also the world's largest summer hotel.  One of my favorite movies, Somewhere in Time, starring Christopher Reeves and Jane Seymour was filmed here in 1980.  I guess visiting The Grand Hotel has always been a "bucket-list" item for me.

We walked up the street to the front of the hotel...

and then up the entrance steps to the longest front porch in the world.

As you walk into the Parlor of the hotel, it is like walking back in time.

In keeping with the Grand's tradition, they were in the middle of their Afternoon Tea served each day in the Parlor.

Below are some of the different areas in the hotel we visited:

Audubon Wine Bar

Waiting area outside the Terrace Room.

Mirror outside one of the Gerald R. Ford
Conference Room

The Main Dining Room

But our favorite part of the hotel was the front porch.

We walked all the way to the eastern side of the porch...

... and then walked back towards the middle, sat in the rockers, and enjoyed the views.

We decided to enjoy the "afternoon tea" by treating ourselves to a couple of strawberry daiquiris out on the porch.

There was a little 9 year old girl peddling a bicycle up and down the front porch selling Cokes and Sprites.  The little ringing bells on the bicycle reminded you of an old ice cream truck.

Remember how I told you there are no motor vehicles allowed on Mackinac Island?  It makes you wonder how the hotels and businesses get all their supplies.

Horse-drawn "tractor-trailer" carriage.  :)

Sitting on the front porch of The Grand Hotel was definitely our favorite part of the day!

After finishing our daiquiris, we walked all the way to the western end of the porch.

From here, we could see the homes further up the hill,

the Mackinac Bridge,

and the entire 660 feet of the Grand Hotel porch.

The landscaping surrounding the hotel is absolutely gorgeous.

As we walked back down the street in front of the hotel,

there were a lot more carriages pulled up out front like taxis waiting to take their guests to some destination on the island.

We walked through the Cedar Forest...

...because I wanted to get a picture of the entire front of the hotel.

Wow!  What a beautiful, Grand Hotel!  As we walked down some of the side streets going back to town, we noticed another beautiful garden behind one of the homes on Mackinac Island.

After we got back to town, we walked to Murdick's Fudge and bought some of that famous Mackinac Island fudge and then headed back to get our bikes and stand in another line for the return trip home.

Once we got on the boat, I noticed these people relaxing and enjoying the views at a hotel near the ferry dock.

As we departed out of the harbor, we once again passed by the Mackinac Island lighthouse,

and could see Fort Mackinac back on the hill,

and the surrounding homes, hotels, and St. Anne's church.

When I researched about top things to do on Mackinac Island, one of them was to stay overnight at the Grand Hotel.  I imagine that after all the hundreds of ferry-boat tourists leave for the day, Mackinac Island regains some of its gentleness and peacefulness.  Our visit to Mackinac Island was fun but our restful afternoon stop at the Grand Hotel was wonderful!