Mackinac Island

It was time to head to our second destination.
After all nine of us hit the dump station, we left the UP and headed south to Mackinac City.  

We stopped at a rest area right before we crossed the Mackinac Bridge we could take this picture.  It was quite an impressive caravan.

We crossed the Mackinac Bridge at 20 miles an hour due to high winds and bridge construction.  The bridge is five miles long and crosses the Mackinac Straits from Mackinac City to St. Ignace.  

The bridge is the 17th longest suspension bridge and the longest in the western hemisphere.

We all pulled into the campground and got set up for the next four days.

We were greeted by the local residents.  

Lake Huron and the bridge from the campground.

The following morning, we got up early to catch the sunrise over the lake.

We spent the day on Mackinac Island.  To get there, we took the ferry to the island.  We went under the bridge on the way there and got some great shots.  

Nice fast boats that leave a rooster tail.

We had a beautiful sunny day to visit.

Mackinac Island banned the use of the automobile in 1898.  The principle mode of transportation is the horse.  There are 600 of them on the island in the summer.  The other two means of getting around are bicycles and feet.

We took a carriage ride of the island.  The horses that are used are Belgian Draft Horses and Percheron's.

You can rent a horse to tour the island on horseback or go by rented buggy.  There is also a horse-drawn taxi service.

The first half of the carriage tour uses two horses and twenty passenger carriages.  The second half  is more hilly and three horse teams pull thirty-five passenger carriages.

The tour brought us to Arch Rock.

We went past the Grand Hotel.  $304.00 / person double occupancy per night plus 21.6% tax.  I.m glad we have an RV.  They charge $10.00 to walk on the balcony which is 600 feet long.  The hotel sits on a bluff and overlooks Lake Huron.

The tour stopped at the antique carriage house.

This hearse wagon is still used for funerals on the island.

The tour ended at Fort Mackinac where we spent the next couple of hours touring the fort.

This was a very desirable duty assignment because of the beautiful location.

We went into the kids building where the kids played.

After the fort tour, some of us stopped in a watering hole for happy hour.

We wandered around town before dinner and took in the beautiful scenery.  Here is a sample of some of the architecture.  Some are hotels and others are private homes.  

We took the late ferry back to the mainland so we could see the bridge lit up at night.

Another wonderful day.