Texas Gypsies: Mackinac Island, MI

Tuesday, August 16, 2016

Today we plan to spend the day at Mackinac Island. We will ride the 9am ferry and plan to bicycle the island. For those that don't know, no motorized vehicles are allowed on the island.

It is a very foggy morning. We are hoping it will burn off soon.

We could see this LARGE house through the fog from the ferry as we were coming into the docks at Mackinac Island.

This is the GRAND Hotel through the fog while on the ferry.

This lighthouse is just off the shore of Mackinac Island. The ferry did actually go between the lighthouse and shore of the island.

Another smaller lighthouse just off the shore of Mackinac Island.

Father Jacques Marquette statue is in the park at the bottom of Fort Mackinac.

This beautiful Lutheran Church was on the hillside.

This is the GRAND HOTEL from the corner of the street. It is so large you cannot get it all into one picture from this close.

As you can tell the fog has lifted and the sky is still a little overcast. That is nice since it is keeping the temperatures moderate. However it is getting warmer and warmer. Maybe I feel that way because we are riding bicycles up hill. I rented a 3-speed tricycle. I had to walk it up this hill.

This is a taxi leaving the Grand Hotel with clients. Remember no motorized vehicles allowed on the island.

As we rounded a corner we saw this sign. We parked our bikes at the bottom of the hill and walked up.

This building housed the many surreys, carriages and sleighs on display. Also on the far right side were horse stalls. Everything was immaculate.

The carriage in the picture above is a Grand Hotel taxi not being used at this time. Below is the inside of this taxi. It is laid out like a limousine to haul a large group.

Notice the basket near the back seat. It is holding several umbrellas.

This carriage was made for a senator from Michigan. The carriage is wood with wicker fenders. The woodwork was elegant.

From Point Lookout, a steep uphill ride, we could see Sugar Loaf Rock. Sugar Loaf is a 75-foot-high landlocked rock or stack in the interior of Mackinac Island in Lake Huron.

We rode on to Arch Rock. Interesting formation.

My handsome Dude at Arch Rock.
Below is a description of how they believe the Arch was formed.

From Arch Rock it was downhill. Whoopie!!

As we came down the hill, there was a viewpoint. This shows the two lighthouses and 3 ferries coming into the docks at Mackinac Island.
Below is the dock with one ferry there now.

As we headed down the hill the street was filled with beautiful and unique houses.

Notice the miniature of the big house on the lower right side. Cute!

After we got down the hill, I decided we should ride all the way around the island. It was said to be 8 miles, but mostly flat. I thought we would have time before I needed to return my trike.

This is an 18 hole putting green. You can see the food and drink area in the middle of the course.

Here we are riding between Lake Huron and Mission Point Resort. Beautiful looking place.

Mission Point Resort face on.

As we continued to ride, on the rocky shore line we see people have chose this spot to make stacks of rocks. It looked magical. See Dusty sitting among the rocks?

Further along the ride we could see Arch Rock from below looking up.

Lunch break. We stopped here and sat in the shade on a bench and had our picnic lunch. What a beautiful spot for lunch. As you can see the sky had cleared. Needless to say the temperature was about 85 degrees F now. We were very warm riding in the sun. It was nice to find a shady spot for lunch.

It is hard to believe this is not an ocean. All you see is water as far as the eye can see.

By mid afternoon when we needed to return my trike, the streets of town had gotten very crowded with bicycles and people. Tic got this shot when it was just a little cleared of people so you could see the buildings.