TRAVEL, TRAVEL, TRAVEL

Since I was a little girl I have wanted to go to Mackinac Island in Michigan.  My grandmother went there and talked all about it.  There are no motorized vehicles on the island, except police cars and ambulances.  Finally decided to go.  A beautiful step back in time.  It was amazing.  We left Ames and drove to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and spent the night.  Very lovely drive.  We then got up the next morning and drove to St. Ignace, Michigan.  We unloaded our bags, and they were taken and tagged by a couple of guys, and put on a cart.  We then boarded our ferry for the 6 mile ride to the island.

As we got closer to the island we could see the Grand Hotel.  Wow, what a gorgeous place.  We weren't staying there, but a very spectacular place.



When we arrived on the island, we met with the porter from our hotel, and then went and checked in.  We went off to explore, and the porter delivered our bags to our room.  Our hotel was two doors down from the dock where our ferry dropped us off, the Hotel Iroquios.

 
 Main Street was about 3-4 blocks long with lots and lots of stores and eateries.  Several places were along the way to rent bicycles.

Fudge is one of the really big items on the island, and there are several different fudge shops.  Watching this guy was so fascinating.  Poured it out onto the marble slab and then it was constant motion on his part, keeping it from the edges.  The muscles that this man had to have in his arms, wow.

Since there are no motorized vehicles, horses are used for all purposes.  This was a garbage wagon.  There was a hotel remodeling going on so all deliveries and pick-ups were done in this manner.

Another garbage wagon.  These horses are so very patient, and are also well taken care of.  There are 500 horses on the island during the season, so they don't work too many hours daily.  In the winter there are only 12.  It is just so wonderful to see these beautiful creatures, doing what they do best, and being so well taken care of.



Now, since there are all these horses, someone has to clean up after them, therefore you have to have street sweepers.  They are constantly riding up and down the streets, cleaning up the messes that the horses leave behind.  Also, they clean up well after all the tourists.  No litter and no cigarette butts anywhere.
For smaller deliveries, bicycles are used.  Couldn't believe the high heels this woman wore, to ride her bike.

We did take a tour, on this wagon, of the island.  This man was so good at his job, and had a great sense of humor.  The tour lasted about 1 1/2-2 hours, and was excellent.  Don enjoyed talking to him all about the horses.  Don had horses growing up and loves being around them.




This was one of the beautiful sites we got to see on our tour.  We got to get out and walk up and take pictures.  So beautiful.

Our hotel served a wonderful breakfast of juice, milk, and delicious pastries, every morning.  Such a beautiful old Victorian hotel, with such lovely rooms and a large wrap around porch.  Just such a nice relaxing place.


 This is a view from one of our windows, in our room.  We loved it.

There is a little light house out there, and I loved watching it in the late evening.




 
This bench was right outside out door.  Such a pretty setting.  We really had a wonderful time and talked about the next time, before we packed our bags to come home.  Highly recommend visiting this beautiful step back in time to anyone, wanting to get away for a couple of days.