6/12 Ice Breaker Mackinaw

The ice breaker Mackinaw was commissioned in 1944 and served as the only ice breaker in the Straits of Mackinaw until 2006 when it was replaced with a newer ship that used less fuel and thus was less expensive to operate.  (It used 600 gallons of oil per hour when ice breaking, which is a LOT.)

Here are some photos of our self-guided tour:

 

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.

 

 

6/10 Mackinaw City, MI, & Campground

I am in Mackinaw City, Michigan, at the tip of the lower "mitt" and the southern end of the Mackinac Bridge.  It spans 5 miles between the two peninsulas of Michigan and was a much-needed link in the 50s.  Previously, you could only go from one half of the state to the other by ferry, and during summer weekends the line of cars waiting for the ferry would go for miles along the highway. 

This part of Michigan was once a busy fur trading area under the French and then the English.  This is why the city is spelled the British way as "Mackinaw" and the island nearby is spelled the French way, "Mackinac."  (Either way, it is pronounced "Mackinaw.")  And as you stand next to the bridge, to your left is Lake Michigan and to your right is Lake Huron.

These photos were actually taken from the ferry to the island.

There is a very pretty park with a lighthouse just next to the bridge and a reconstructed fur trading fort on the other side. 

 
I made a good choice of a campground for the three days we spent here.  It is a couple of miles east of Mackinaw City and directly on Lake Huron.  Sites were a little narrow, but well worth the incredible view!