6/11 Mackinac Island During the Lilac Festival

Mackinac Island is a special place in Michigan because it does not allow cars or any motorized vehicles. Transportation is by foot, bike, or horse-drawn carriage.  This first photo is of the Grand Hotel from the ferry.

You might recognize this lighthouse from the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve.

Approaching the docks with the original fort in the background.

Main street in Mackinac.  It is mostly Victorian in architecture and truly a place in time.

I really did not plan it, but I was happy to be here during the lilac festival.  Some of the lilacs on the island are new, but many were planted by the French and are very old. All smell incredibly!!

Some of the back streets of the town, all with lilacs.

Wouldn't you love to own one of these homes?  Unless you have several million dollars, forget it, but they are pretty to look at. 

 

We took a carriage tour to the center of the island.  This is a stable, believe it or not.

And the Grand Hotel.  They charge you a substantial fee to walk on the porch and it is an expensive place, so few actually see this historical place, which is a shame.  I stayed here once with my parents as a teenager.

A weather rock.

This is the stables and carriage house museum for the Grand Hotel.  Not a bad home for their huge draft horses.

And a few of the carriages in the museum.

This one looks a little unstable to me!

Most of the island is a state park and heavily wooded, so I took some photos of wildflowers.  Thee are lily of the valley.

Not sure what these are.

Lady slippers.

 Trillium.

 

And a three-horse hitch that pulled our tour carriage.

 

 

Looking at Lake Huron through an arch.

And passing another ferry on the way home.