Mackinac

Here we are in the Straits State Park, St. Ignace, MI. A beautiful park, but fairly empty right now - midweek. We arrived here on Monday. Tuesday we went to Mackinac Island.
Was such a great trip! We didn't get up too early since we wanted to catch the 10a ferry. We arrived at the slip around 9:15 since we had to pick up our tickets. (We saved $28 by ordering on-line.) Roamed around in the gift shop for a bit and then overheard the clerks talking about Ooltewah, TN. Can you believe it? You are just never far from home.
The ferry was not crowded and was a smooth ride. Their season up here doesn't really start til around July 1. That was fine with us since we don't much like fighting the crowds. That also meant the island was not crowded and we could stroll and enjoy the scenery.
In case you don't know, Mackinac does not allow autos; all travel is done by horse or bicycle. Hundreds of bicycles for rent. Also you can rent horses. Unless you ask (and pay) for a guide, they just give you a map and let you go. Pretty cool. Saw more people renting more bikes than horses though. And, yes Apryl, they have tandem bikes for rent.
Since we had bought a package, we took a carriage tour. Saw historical sites, the horse barn and the carriage museum on the 1st part of the tour. The carriage held 24 people - 6 rows of 4 - and it was full At the museum, we changed to a larger carriage which was not crowded. In fact we had a bench for 5 to ourselves. This took us thru the woods to Arch Rock and Fort Mackinac. At the fort, we left the carriage to tour the fort. The fort was built by the British in 1780 and all buildings are original. It is quite large. We spent a few minutes talking with one of the "soldiers" and learning more about the place. Then we went on the "People of Mackinac" tour. The time period is 1880's when there was peace in the nation and the area had become a summer resort area. Each of the 7 "soldiers" gave us a bit of what it was like to live in the fort at that time. There was a woman who portrayed an officer's wife and told us what a great duty station that was. In 1875 Mackinac became a national park as well as an army base. Pretty easy duty and probably sort of fun. When the fort closed in 1895 the land was given to the state of Michigan and became (still is) a state park.
By the time we finished all of this, it was time for lunch. We ate at the Pink Pony and had a table outside overlooking the port. It was so beautiful and relaxing.
It was a great day and the weather was absolutely perfect for our time there.
God Bless